During a short season of our parenting journey, my husband and I felt like we were holding the reins of a runaway horse. Daily bedtime battles and boundary negotiations have replaced warm conversations and laughter around the table. We mourned the loss as we searched for words to pray for family life that seemed like a war zone. We were desperately trying to hold back against the pressure of hormones to loosen biblical standards of holiness in the home, while avoiding the pressure of impending college and career decisions that brought us to our knees. But at a time when prayer should have been a crucial lifesaver, I found that I didn’t trust my own prayers for my teens. Could I even know what to ask God when I’m not sure of my own reasons? How does a mother ask God to help her in her daily disputes without falling into imprecatory psalms? Prayer in the pressure cooker Because I have a practical framework for reflection, my prayers for the people I love are, for the most part, tied to everyday concerns. However, am I learning to adopt the prayers that God gives us in his word? Prayers of far more lasting importance than those I am normally inclined to pray. Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John 17 comes from the pressure cooker of his last hours on this earth. Amid a dark and heartbreaking backdrop of betrayal and mental anguish, she has managed to put into words her deepest wishes for her beloved friends. After three years of intense ministry, love, and leadership from a rebellious group of disciples (who were actually young adults), Jesus spread words of hope for his future. His prayer reached out beyond immediate impact to reach a world that still desperately needs to behold his glory. Praying the words of Jesus for my adolescence raises my eyes beyond immediate need to the greatest and most urgent concerns that Jesus has expressed for his disciples of all time, those who were with him at the Last Supper and those who are seated. around. our tables today. 1. Lord, are they yours? Make your name known to the men you gave me in the world. They were yours, you trusted me. . . It is for them that I pray; I do not pray for the world, but for those you have given me, because they are yours. (John 17: 6, 9) Jesus knew that each of his faithful disciples was a gift from God. He said this out loud as he prepared to leave them, trusting in the sanctifying power of God’s word to keep them (John 17:17). Turning our children over to God as children was relatively easy compared to the task of turning them over to God’s care now, as they toss the car keys in their pockets and make their first financial decisions. “Lord, is this boy yours, and is your love for him more perfect and pure than mine? It becomes an important recognition on the way to a peaceful heart. The power of the word and the Spirit is always at work. , and does not diminish my fear or my lack of faith 2. Lord, make us one, Holy Father, keep them in your name that you gave me, so that they may be one, like us (John 17:11). Jesus was born in a divided world The knots against them of the Jewish-Gentile interactions that characterized first-century Palestine were painted on a canvas of Roman occupation. He chose twelve disciples whose ideological ranks ranged from political fanatics to professional tax collectors, and his Prayer for unity among the faithful still echoes along racial and ethnic lines today. In our pews and in our homes, God calls us to be one. With the progression of independence and the natural beginning of these teenage years, I keep praying p So that our family unit is not harmed by different opinions and policies or by the distance that accompanies new directions and agendas. I pray that Jesus himself will unite us, despite all our differences and distances.
There is also an inner unity or integrity that may seem elusive, but is crucial to the spiritual formation of a young adult. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard defined purity of heart as the ability to “want something”, and my prayer for my young Christian adults is “something. ” be the glory of God. 3. Lord, do you keep them from evil? I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to protect them from harm. (John 17:15) On a dark night, when the enemy seemed to be controlling the game, Jesus prayed for the protection of his loved ones. He knew that their effectiveness would require close contact with the world and all its confusion, but he trusted in the power of God to keep them pure, faithful, and without blemish. A moment of carelessness, a lack of judgment, an immature lack of discretion – there are ten thousand ways for a teenager to accidentally fall into error. (And chances are good they are looking for you too. ) Rather than letting my imagination produce mind-blowing stories, I strive to follow the advice of Paul Miller in The Power of a Prayer Life. When we “take our anxiety to God,” he said, “will we see that we slip into constant prayers? (57). This is not a bad formula for surviving adolescence. 4. Lord, give them your joy, but now I come to you and say it in the world so that they may have my complete joy in themselves. (John 17:13) Aware that joy might be lacking among his disciples, Jesus prayed that they would seek it out in the right places. The hatred of the world cannot extinguish the joy of the Lord. Teens with running water, high-speed Internet access, and access to antibiotics can still be chronically dissatisfied with life. John Piper’s classic quote: Is God most glorified in us when we are most satisfied with him? It serves as a model for my prayers for all my children. Jesus was consumed by the righteousness that represents the glory of God (John 17: 4), and the greatest joy of my children will also be found in cooperating with God in the accomplishment of his will for his glory. 5. Lord, sanctify them, sanctify them in the truth; your word is the truth. (John 17. 17)
- As we faithfully hold the reins.
- As we pray for wisdom to provide roots and wings for our growing children.
- It is a relief to know that we too can set our teens free in an independent search for truth through God’s word.
- The questions they ask at the table.
- Choking us on our roast as we search for an answer.
- Are a good sign that internal processing is happening behind your eyes.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to use the Bible verses that your children memorized in their early years.
- Introduce your teen to classic Christian literature and favorite podcasts that set the stage for a feast of truth.
- When parents pray over an open Bible.
- The words of Scripture attract the desires of our hearts and give us words that we do not have.
- Jesus ends his prayer for his disciples by offering himself.
- Fully sanctified to the will of the Father.
- This is perhaps what our adolescents need most: parents with a single and decided purpose to follow him.
- We won’t do it perfectly.
- But does our own progress.
- Fraught with barriers to discipleship.
- Put us on the same path as our teens? and what a joy to travel together towards Christ.