Prayers for Your Strong-Willed TeenSample

Prayer for Protection

As our teens morph into these brand-new young adults that we barely recognize, they are often out of our sight. It isn't easy allowing a piece of your heart to walk around this world without you.

Newsflash: We are not in control.

Not only can we not control our teens, but we can't control how they operate. We can do our best to set them up for success by ensuring they take the right AP classes to prepare for college, or know who their friends are. We can take them to church, get them involved in volunteering, and teach them manners.

But the hard part of parenting is letting them go into the world daily, having all kinds of interactions we know nothing about. We don't always know if they are being bullied at school or on the internet. We can't be with them 24/7 to ensure no one is taking advantage of them or leading them down the wrong path.

This is where we have to put them into the hands of our own Abba (Father). We can learn to trust the Lord even more regarding our kids.

I don't know why bad things happen to good kids. I don't understand why some teens sail through their teen years and others get off track. It's above my pay grade to know why some kids turn to drugs and alcohol, yet some stay on the straight and narrow.

As our tiny humans become giant pre-adult humans, we can't forget that their brains are still developing. We must give them the space to become the young adults the Lord is shaping them into, all while setting firm boundaries that show them how to navigate this world safely.

Praying for their protection--body, mind, heart, and soul--is vital!

Though we don't want anything bad to happen to them, as grown-ups ourselves, we know they will not get through this life unscathed. We have excellent weapons in our arsenal! Psalm 91 is a prayer of protection--I pray this over my own kids every day.

I also remind them, especially in times of turmoil, that no weapon formed against them will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). That means a weapon may form, but it won't beat them.

The best thing we can do for them as they go out into the world is pray and trust that our good Father has their best interest in his heart.

Prayer: Protector, Warrior, Father God--protect the hearts, minds, bodies, and souls of my teens. Keep them from making foolish, life-altering decisions. Keep them protected under your feathers. Thank you for your angels charged with watching over them, and thank you that no weapon the enemy tries to use against them will succeed! In Jesus' name, amen.