Watching a teenager pull away from faith — or fall into dangerous choices — is one of the hardest things a parent can face. Here are two honest prayers for the long, uncertain road of loving a wayward teen.
A Prayer for a Wayward Teenager
Father, my heart is heavy today. I’m watching my child — someone I love more than I can put into words — make choices that are hurting them. I don’t fully understand what’s going on inside them. I’m scared, and I don’t always know what to say or do.
So I’m bringing them to You.
You know them better than I do. You knew them before they were born. You know the pain behind the rebellion, the fear behind the anger, the longing behind the distance. What I can only see from the outside, You see all the way through.
I ask You to reach them where I cannot. To be present in the moments I’m not there. To put people in their path who will speak truth into their life. To plant seeds that will take root even when I can’t see it happening.
Give me patience when I want to push. Give me wisdom when I want to lecture. Help me to love them without losing them, to hold on without holding so tight I push them further away.
I trust that You are not done with them. Keep working. Keep reaching. Bring them home.
Amen.
A Prayer for Peace While You Wait
Lord, I need grace for this waiting — because it’s hard to love someone who is hurting themselves and not be able to fix it.
When I lie awake at night worrying, remind me that You never sleep. When I replay conversations in my head wondering what I said wrong, whisper that You are writing a story I cannot see the end of yet.
Protect my child from the worst consequences of their choices. Surround them with Your mercy. And where they’ve gone further than I know, let Your love reach further still.
Give me hope. Not the desperate hope that grasps and controls, but the quiet hope that trusts You — the One who left the 99 to go after the one.
You went after me once too. Go after them now.
Amen.
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Holding On in Scripture
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
The seeds you planted aren’t wasted — they’re waiting.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” — Jeremiah 29:11
God’s plans include your teenager, even now.
“And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him.” — Luke 15:20
The prodigal son came home. The father was watching and waiting. So can you.
Parenting a wayward teenager is one of the loneliest roads. Say a Little Prayer has prayers for parents, for prodigal children, and for the long nights in between. Download it free and pray whenever you need to.
