A Parent's Prayer for their Teens

Dear God,

I need to talk to you for a minute about these kids you gave me.

First of all, let me make this clear. I adore them. They amaze me, million different times throughout each day.

They are clearly your creation and not my own. And for this, I am thankful. I could have never come up with something this wonderful, even if you had asked me to write out what I had in mind on paper before they were born.

But, I want you to know that I am scared. The world looks to me, as their parent, to teach them and protect them, raising them to be successful adults. I wonder why, then, must the world work against me on every step?

As a little girl, my precious daughter – well, actually, she is Your precious daughter – happily skipped through each day, treasuring each moment and believing anything was possible. But she lost her joy along the way to being a teenager. Now, her days are filled with paralyzing self doubt and deceptive invitations to the path of acceptance.

My adorable son, who once started each day by holding my face in his hands just to tell me he loved me, can no longer look me in the eye. He tries to hide behind walls built over time, convinced that I will never understand him. But I see through to his breaking heart, and mine breaks right along with his. It always has. Always will.

These are your children. And they are perfect. How can I get them to see that? How can I protect them from the false expectations of their peers, who are all struggling to find their way just the same? How can I prove to them that they were designed to stand out, rather than to fit in?

Sometimes, I watch them sleeping and this is my silent prayer for them:

Hold them in your arms as they go through their day.

Reveal yourself to them often, proving that they are never alone.

Help them to be strong enough to make a difference; to change the lives of others rather than changing who they are to fit in.

Make their paths straight before them, just as you promised to do, and then give them the strength to follow.

The decisions they make today can alter the path of the rest of their lives. Please help them to better understand this, and protect them when the time arrives to make those choices.

Show them that the rules we have in place are to protect them; not to prevent them from having fun, but rather to keep them from crossing lines into adulthood long before they are ready. Help them understand that once you cross those lines, there is no going back to being a kid.

Help them never to doubt you, especially when teachers and others cause them to question their beliefs. How can they ever find their true value if they believe they were an accident or grew from the ground or from monkeys of some sort? Their very existence proves that You are real, so please comfort them and give them your answers long before they need them.   

I pray these same things for their future spouses and children. Protect their future and create it in a way that brings them all closer together and to you in the end.

And God, please keep whispering these things to them until they are ready for me to tell them face to face. 

Because Lord, I adore my teens, and am so thankful you chose me to be their parent.

Give me what I need to do the job you asked of me, and hold me when I’m scared. I never want to let either you or them down.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Janet Morris Grimes is a Christian wife and mother of three from Nashville, TN.  Recently relocating to Michigan through her husband's job transfer, she has chosen writing as her profession, admitting that "sometimes we chase our dreams, but other times, they chase us, wrestling us to the ground until we finally surrender to their power."  View her blog as she chronicles this journey on "Writing for the Pursuit of Sappiness" at www.janetmorrisgrimes.com

Comments

[Kim A]

Thank you so much. I have a 17 daughter who is struggling with dating or I am more so. This made me cry it is the prayer of every parents. Thank you for letting the Lord use you.

[Lori Radun]

That is all you can do Lisa! The teen years are such an unsettling time for us as moms. Just keeping talking to your daughter and try to keep the lines of communication open as you pray for her.

[Lisa K]

Thank You, It so awesome how your prayer has and is touching so many peoples lives, especially MINE!! I am in that struggle now with my 14yr old daughter, whose falling under the dooms of this world. I am also scared, and hurting in pain for the consequences that her actions might have her face. I stay in prayer and cry out to the Lord to cover her for he knows the plans that he has for her, not to harm but to prosper her. So I will continually stay in God's will and keep praying on her behalf.

[Lois]

AWESOME !!!! TRUE TRUE TRUE . Thank you for sharing. Bless you

[trish]

Wow this is great! Long but all so true and spoke to me at just the right time. Thank you and thank God!!!

[Michelle McGee]

Beautiful and so true. Thanks for posting. It brought tears to my eyes.