How to Grow Your Faith as a Family: A Pastor's 10 Picks That Actually Get Used

The most important discipleship your kids will ever get doesn't happen at church — it happens at your kitchen table. Here's what actually works.

By Nate Freeman · Pastor & author · Last updated July 10, 2026

The most important discipleship your kids will ever get doesn’t happen at church — it happens at your kitchen table. As a pastor and a dad, I’ve watched families try to “do devotions” and quit within a month because the resource was boring, too old, or too complicated.

These are the ones that actually work: a Bible kids will beg for, devotionals short enough to finish, and simple tools that turn an ordinary evening into a moment they’ll remember. Everything here is solidly evangelical, and I’ve put the shoppable version on Benable. Start with one — consistency beats ambition every time.

1. The Jesus Storybook Bible — Sally Lloyd-Jones

If your family owns one children’s Bible, make it this one. Every story whispers His name — Lloyd-Jones shows how the whole Bible points to Jesus, not just a collection of moral tales.

Here’s the secret: it lands just as hard on the parent reading aloud as on the kids. I’ve watched grown adults tear up at bedtime. Works from toddler through early elementary.

2. The Beginner's Bible

For the littlest ones who can’t sit still yet. Short, bright, and it keeps the big story moving fast enough to hold a two-year-old’s attention.

This is the one that gets a toddler asking for “the God book” before bed — the on-ramp to everything else on this list.

3. The Adventure Bible (NIV) — Zonderkidz

For the kid around 8 to 12 who’s ready for the real text instead of a storybook. Full Scripture with maps, facts, and questions built right in.

It’s the one I’d hand a child who’s starting to read the Bible on their own — and it makes them want to, which is the whole game at that age.

4. The Gospel Story Bible — Marty Machowski

A read-aloud Bible built specifically for family devotions — every story, Old Testament and New, pointing to Jesus. Machowski writes like a pastor who actually has kids at home.

That’s why it holds a room instead of losing it. This is the one I’d put in the middle of the dinner table and work through a story at a time.

5. Indescribable: 100 Devotions About God and Science — Louie Giglio

The devotional for the kid who loves how things work. A hundred short readings tying the wonders of science — stars, animals, the human body — back to the God who made them.

Giglio makes wonder feel like worship. It turns bedtime into stargazing and stargazing into worship, all in about five minutes a night.

6. Wild Faith Devotional for Kids — Valerie Ellis

Fifty-two short readings, each hung on an amazing animal, that leave kids marveling at how creative God is.

Perfect for the family that wants one page a night, not a program to keep up with. A gentle on-ramp for younger kids who aren’t ready for heavier material yet.

7. Talking with Your Kids about Jesus — Natasha Crain

This one’s for the parents. Crain gives you plain-language answers to the hard questions your kids are already asking — the ones that catch you flat-footed at bedtime.

Read a chapter ahead of the conversations you know are coming, and you’ll be ready with something better than “we’ll talk about it later.”

8. The Ungame (Christian Version)

Keep this on the dinner table. One card, one honest question, and suddenly the whole family is talking about something that matters instead of scrolling.

It’s the cheapest discipleship tool in the house — just be sure you grab the Christian version, not the plain edition.

9. A family prayer journal

Give each kid a place to write down what they’re praying for, and date it. Months later they read back and see how many God answered.

There’s no faith-builder for a child quite like watching the list come true in their own handwriting. Grab one per kid.

10. The Biggest Story Bible Storybook — Kevin DeYoung

If you want one gorgeous read-aloud to carry a family for a year, this is it — 104 stories with stunning art, all showing how the whole Bible fits into one story about Jesus.

It’s gift-quality, and the kind of book kids actually pull off the shelf themselves. A beautiful alternative or companion to the Gospel Story Bible.

How to make it actually stick

One honest word after years of watching families try this: the best devotional is the one you don’t quit. Pick one Bible and one short devotional, protect the same five minutes each night, and let consistency do the work. Everything above lives as a shoppable list on my Benable page, each item linked to a real product so you can pick what fits your kids’ ages. For a marriage growing alongside the family, my marriage-book lists are the natural companion.

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