Praying for Your Teen: Day Eleven
Posted on December 28, 2015 in Parenting
Praying for Your Teen & Their Future
Almost every morning, the Lord reminds me to pray for parents. You can rest assured that I also pray over my husband Brian and myself as we raise our family. One of my prayers is that we would raise children of influence. For so many years in our nation, we (the body of Christ) have retreated and been afraid that our children would fall to peer pressure. Fear is never a good motivator. The spirit of fear never comes from the Father. Actually, the Word tells us that He has not given us a spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). How many of us would shout hallelujah to that “sound mind” as we deal with media, technology, and peer pressure in the lives of our teens? We are raising our children to follow the ways of the Lord, yet we doubt and worry that maybe He will forget us—forget them.
We have so many questions. How do I insure that my teens don’t fall to peer pressure? How can I prevent my children from being negatively impacted by this culture? What if all of a sudden my family becomes aware of what I know: that I don’t know what I’m doing?!
Simply, we teach our teens to be the influence— to be the ones who are influencing their peers.
A few years ago Brian and I took our two youngest children, Jake and Madison, to see Princeton University. One afternoon our family visited a historic establishment where many Princeton alumni have studied. It’s customary for people to carve their names into the tables, and as we were looking around we saw the names of many influential people spanning decades—Einstein, Bill Frist, and many more. That same day we took a wonderful tour of the Princeton campus, which ironically began as a Christian seminary. I was blown away by the history and nostalgia. It has become one of my favorite family memories, as I watched Jake and Madi taking it all in. As we sat down for a meal, I imagined how incredible it would be if one of our children attended Princeton, and then immediately I had the thought, “But I would never want one of my children to attend here.”
Most professors today are extremely liberal, and in general universities do not support Christian values. It was overwhelming to imagine that a university founded on Christian principles does not currently even hold a biblical worldview. Later that night, Brian and I sat in the tap room and it was a solemn moment. My thoughts were, “Why wouldn’t I want my children to attend Princeton? Why couldn’t our approach be: we are going to put you in unique situations, expose you to information, train you spiritually, strengthen and equip you so that you might go to Princeton or wherever the Lord leads you and be an influence of change. Be a world changer.”
Our approach as parents changed that night from, “How do we keep them from being influenced?” to “How do we train them to be the influence?” It is time for us as parents to stop being motivated by fear and to understand the power that we have through the Word of God to equip our children to be who God has called them to be.
May I tell you that, as a mother, I know how emotionally overwhelming it can be to raise teens? I will concede that many nights I have kissed my kids goodnight and then cried myself to sleep over something they have to overcome. But we are not those who will be governed or motivated by our emotions; we will choose to be governed and moved by the very Word of God.
That being said, we must understand the fact that our children will be different in the world, and that they may sometimes feel left out. We certainly do want our children to be “different.” They have been sanctified, to make an impact—to leave a mark on this earth. I want your teens to leave some footprints behind letting the world know they took some ground for their King!
Lord, I thank you that you hem our children in and that you have laid Your hand on them (Psalm 139:5). You have unique and exciting plans for each of them. I ask You, Lord, to increase our faith as parents to love, support, and encourage them to take boldly the ground you have set before them. Whatever your plans are, we know they are good. Lord, help us train our teens to flex their spiritual muscles, stretch themselves in their faith, and stand for what they believe in. We trust you completely for their destiny. We love You.
Job 8:7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 Pray continually.
Psalm 22:30 Posterity will serve him;future generations will be told about the Lord.
Proverbs 24:14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
Psalm 37:37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright; a future awaits those who seek peace.
Only the Lord knows what He had designed for our children to accomplish and it was outside of my control. Thank you for praying for your teen with me today. God is good and has good things in store for them!
My love,
