Pray more, worry less.
Pray more, see God working more.
Right?
Praying for your teen is at the crux of parenting your teen. And the most important thing you can do to begin letting him spread his wings to fly.
As a parent, you’ve got a lot on your plate. Your wonderful, amiable child has turned into a young person with opinions and ideas all her own. Gone are the days when you could tell her to put on her shoes and jump in the car because you wanted to take a “quick” trip to Target.
Now, you’ve either got to bribe her with a coffee drink or be okay leaving her at home. Alone. With her phone. And texting.
Everything changes when a teen comes on the scene. You are no longer teaching him to do things, you are training him for life. Your role has changed from center stage to backstage as he starts to become the star of his own show.
It’s enough to make you fall on your face and cry out to the Lord for help.
The great news is, you can do just that because He’s got you.
When you bring your teen before the Lord in prayer He will listen, hear, and act according to His good will.
Just as your parenting style has changed with having a teenager, so does your prayer life. You go from praying over your child to praying beside your teen. Once, you prayed that you’d do everything right because that was in your control. Now, you pray for all the things that aren’t.
Some prayer requests are the same, from a future spouse to health to safety.
But, where you used to pray for what your child saw and heard, stuff still under your control, now, you pray for the Lord to protect his eyes and ears because you have so little say in the matter. You need the Lord to step in and create a buffer zone between your sweet boy and the big, bad world.
This new realization leaves you with a couple of choices. One is to worry, fret, bite your nails, and hope for the best. The other is to get on your knees every day and ask the Creator of the Universe, the one who also formed your teen so perfectly, to do a good work in her life.
I opt for option two, how about you?
Maybe this is all old hat to you. You’ve been a prayer warrior for your teen since day one. To that, I say, “Thank you!” Thank you for taking the time to lift your child up before the throne of God. My only request is that you teach someone else how to do it. Share your story with another parent about how your prayers have made a tangible difference in your life and the life of your teen.
But maybe you are new to this whole prayer thing and you don’t even know where to start. I’m here for ya!
You can start by asking God to be with your kid. That’s all, just say the words. The Lord will hear you and He will respond. There’s no fancy language or special prayer you have to say. Just talk to God. He’s listening.
You can pray anywhere.
- In your car
- On a walk
- On the couch
- While you’re making dinner
- On your lunch break
- With your spouse
- With friends
- On the treadmill
It doesn’t matter where you pray. It just matters that you do it.
A simple way to remember how to develop an effective prayer life is P.R.A.Y.
P is for Pause
Stop for a minute and focus. Focus on your kid, on how much you love her, and how thankful you are for her. Take a full 60 to 120 seconds. Let all your other junk fade into the background. Don’t say anything. Don’t do anything. Just sit.
R is for Rejoice
Now, express your gratitude for this life the Lord has given you to raise and send out into the world. Tell God how thankful you are for his gifts, talents, and the memories you’ve made together. This doesn’t have to take long. A few sentences will do.
A is for Ask
Next, it’s time to ask God for the deepest desires you have for your teen. Go big. Be audacious. The Lord wants to bless your child in amazing ways. You can be a partner in this by making your requests known to God.
Y is for Yield
Finally, yield to the Lord. Wait, what? I know we don’t yield very well. It’s hard to let go and let God do his thing. I looked up the word in the thesaurus and saw words like, submit, give way, and defer. But I also saw relax as a synonym. That’s the one I like. You’ve talked to the Lord, now relax. Let Him do His work.
And again, this is all just a conversation. No special words or language are needed.
My challenge to you is, try it for seven days. Pray for seven days and see if God doesn’t go to work, making something new for your family.
I’d love to help you get started. Download this list of FREE prayer prompts for parents of tweens and teens. If you’ve got a kid between the ages of 8 and 18, these are for you. There are 45 prompts on the list. Pick 7. Pick 14. Pick 21 and pray them over your kid.
Click to download your FREE prayer prompts
You have an amazing kid. You are an amazing parent. God wants to bless your family. Take a little time this week to pray for your teen and watch the King of the Universe do His thing. It’s gonna be awesome!
Are you going to try this challenge?
Photo by Diana Simumpande on Unsplash
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Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
