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New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all your creation, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

"A Liturgy for Morning Prayer," Upper Room Worshipbook

Used by permission from the Book of Common Worship, © 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved. This prayer appears in “A Liturgy for Morning Prayer” in Upper Room Worshipbook.

Praying Their Way

24 Prayer Practices for Kids and the Adults Who Love Them

L. Roger Owens, with Mary Clare Owens • September 2025

BUY Print $19.99

Learn how to help kids develop an authentic relationship with God.

Children have a natural curiosity about God and an innate draw towards mystery. As they grow, kids ask bigger, more complex spiritual questions, and they need guides to help them explore their budding faith lives. Frustratingly, many of us lack the confidence or skills to talk to kids about prayer. We need resources to help us help them pray, in their own words and on their terms.

In Praying Their Way, seminary professor, pastor, and dad Roger Owens partners with his 14-year-old daughter Mary Clare to offer a unique guidebook for introducing kids to a lifelong journey with prayer. Filled with an abundance of tools to engage kids between the ages of 10-14 on the topic of prayer, this book provides support for that awkward time as kids grow from young children into teenagers and their faith grows and evolves too.

In this new resource for adults and the "tweens" they care for, you'll discover a new vocabulary for talking about prayer, specific prompts for conversation, and two dozen prayer practices in six different categories (scripture, silence, body, nature, together, and justice) to explore with kids in grades 5-8. Praying Their Way is easily adaptable for younger kids and kids through 9th grade, as well as the spiritual-but-not-religious audience.

Written for parents, grandparents, godparents, pastors, children's ministers, and Sunday school teachers, Praying Their Way is the book we have all been longing for. With Roger and Mary Clare as your wise guides, you will embark on a joyful journey of discovery and holy connection with the kids you love. And, as you share these practices with these young people, you may find that your own relationship with God is deepened and enriched as well.


L. Roger Owens is professor of Christian spirituality and ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including What We Need Is Here: Practicing the Heart of Christian Spirituality and Threshold of Discovery: A Field Guide to Spirituality in Midlife. Owens holds a PhD and MDiv from Duke University and a BA from Anderson University. An ordained United Methodist minister, he has pastored urban and rural congregations in North Carolina. Owens is married to Rev. Ginger Thomas, and they are the parents of three children. He loves to read, sing, listen to his children make music, and take quiet walks.

ISBN: 978-0-8358-2063-9

Imprint: Upper Room Books

Pub Date: September 2025

Trim Size: 6 x 9

Page Count: 192

BISAC Categories:

BISAC1: RELIGION / Christian Living / Prayer

BISAC2: RELIGION / Christian Living / Parenting

BISAC3: RELIGION / Christian Ministry / Children