{"id":10727,"date":"2026-05-20T14:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/?p=10727"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:24:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T14:24:33","slug":"less-than-a-third-of-parents-are-praying-with-their-children-every-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/strongermarriages\/2026\/05\/less-than-a-third-of-parents-are-praying-with-their-children-every-day.html","title":{"rendered":"Less Than a Third of Parents Are Praying With Their Children Every Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new survey is showing that less than one-third of US parents pray with their children daily or often. The study comes from the American Bible Society\u2019s \u201cState of the Bible USA 2026<\/a>.\u201d The study interviewed 2,649 U.S. adults from January 8 to 27. The study found that only 16% prayed with their children daily, while 13% stated they prayed with their children \u201coften.\u201d Thirty-five percent stated they never pray with their children. The numbers were even lower for Bible reading, with only 14% reading the Bible with their children often or daily while 62% stated they either rarely or never read the Bible with their children.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the numbers for prayer and Bible engagement were higher amongst engaged Christians over casual Christians or non-Christians. Seventy-two percent of practicing Christians reported praying with their children either often or every day. However, less than half of practicing Christians (45%) reported reading the Bible daily or often with their children. The majority preferred using children\u2019s storybook Bibles as their main resource. \u201cMost American parents are open to the Bible, but behavior hasn’t kept pace with that openness. They’re curious but not deeply engaged,\u201d said John Farquhar Plake, American Bible Society’s chief innovation officer.<\/p>\n

The report also seemed to indicate that children\u2019s enjoyment of church lessened with age. Seventy-two percent of parents stated their children from ages two to five enjoyed church, which declined to 66% for children aged six to 12 and 61% for teens aged 13 to 17. Regarding support from churches, 92% of parents stated they felt supported by their church.<\/p>\n

The report found a myriad of concerns amongst parents that could be drawing them away from focusing on their children\u2019s spiritual growth. Forty-two percent identified \u201cmanaging work-family balance\u201d as the highest stressor in their life. \u201cPreventing fatigue or exhaustion\u201d and \u201caddressing their family\u2019s financial needs\u201d were tied at 27%. \u201cAddressing the spiritual needs\u201d of their children was the second to last priority on the list at 10%. The report did find that non-parents tended to score lower in areas of feeling purpose, life satisfaction and meaning. However, parents were less Bible engaged than non-parents (46% vs. 59%). The number may indicate, according to Plake, the need for churches to step in and help parents with establishing better patterns for biblical engagement. \u201cWith support from their church, these caregivers can establish life-giving rhythms of prayer and Scripture engagement with their children, and in their own personal discipleship,\u201d he said. \u201cParents are carrying a heavy load, and all of us in the Church can help them carry it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new survey is showing that less than one-third of US parents pray with their children daily or often. The study comes from the American Bible Society\u2019s \u201cState of the Bible USA 2026.\u201d The study interviewed 2,649 U.S. adults from January 8 to 27. The study found that only 16% prayed with their children daily,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":10730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLess Than a Third of Parents Are Praying With Their Children Every Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New survey finds fewer than 3 in 10 U.S. parents pray with their children often or daily, highlighting a gap in family Bible engagement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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