Prayer For Mothers With Challenging Teens
My mother is gone, loving God. I am so grateful I was at her side as she breathed her last, her agony complete. She lived a full and complete life and all of us felt relieved, for a moment, when she finally slipped away to be at your side.
But now I am left with the sorrow and grief. My mother is gone. My mother who had been a part of my life for each day of it, is not here. I have such a sadness and it surprises me.
In her years of Alzheimer's, it seemed as if she died a little each day. The differences were almost invisible, but real. She responded less, sang less, prayed less. She became unsteady on her feet, then she couldn't walk, then she no longer spoke. Finally, her loving eyes gazed on me with no recognition.
Watching that decline was hard over the years and I grieved every time I saw her. I was letting her go with each visit as she slowly moved through the sacred "thin spaces" to be with us a little less each day, and as she drew a little closer to you each day.
Help me to rejoice with my mother in her new life of the resurrection. This is what her faith taught her and help that belief bring me comfort in my sorrow.
Loving God, how can I thank you for the generous woman who gave us her child? Our years of sorrow and emptiness ended with a phone call and a new child in our home. We rejoiced in the utter happiness that this birth mother - and her child - gave us then. We have received so much joy over the years.
We think of this special mother, Lord, this generous woman who bore our child. The one who went through the discomfort of pregnancy and the pains of birth - only to hand her child over to someone else to love and care for.
Please, God, bless the life of this incredibly noble woman. She gave me the great gift of motherhood, and I can imagine the cost to her: an empty spot in her own heart where this child we somehow share, will always abide.
Bless her life, dear Lord. Give her an abundance of happiness and love and family. Please let her feel the prayers we have for her on each birthday of our child, each Mother's Day. We think of her with reverence and love and inexpressible gratitude.
Lord Jesus Christ, I pray over my teen's room and ask for revelation. I pray you show me where to pray, what to get rid of, and how to pray in their room. May You send Your warrior angels to come in and cleanse this room of anything that is not from you.
LORD, SHOW ME THE PATH I MUST WALK. SHOW ME WHAT GOOD WORKS I CAN DO TO SERVE YOU. I NEED YOUR GUIDANCE, AND ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES I FEEL RAGE, LORD, TRANSFORM MY ANGER INTO LOVE, AND USE ME AS AN INSTRUMENT OF YOUR PURPOSE.
Lord Jesus Christ, I lift up my teen to You and ask for Your Holy cleansing over their life. If there is anything within them that is not of You, I ask that You come in and cleanse them from all powers and principalities, anything said against them, any doorways that have been opened to be shut, in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus Christ, show me where I need to pray and how I need to pray. I lift up my home to You and ask for Your cleansing from the very top to the very bottom, and around the property line. I pray over every room, passageway, and entrance. May You send Your army of angels to stand post and protect this home.
LORD, KEEP MY FAITH BURNING BRIGHT. I BELIEVE IN YOU AND I BELIEVE IN YOUR POWER AND LOVE, BUT SOMETIMES I AM TEMPTED TO ACT IN YOUR STEAD. I HURT SO MUCH WATCHING MY SON DESTROY HIMSELF. GRANT ME FAITH, SO THAT I MAY RECEIVE YOUR GRACE AND ACT AS YOUR INSTRUMENT OF LOVE.
Lord, thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed on me. Most of all, thank you for this wonderful child that has taught me more about you than anything else you have done in my life. I have seen them grow in you since the day you blessed my life with them. I have seen you in their eyes, in their actions, and in the words that they say. I now understand better your love for each of us, that unconditional love that leads you to great joy when we honor you and great heartbreak when we disappoint. I now get the true sacrifice of your Son dying on a cross for our sins.
So today, Lord, I lift us my own child to you for your blessings and guidance. You know that teenagers are not always easy. There are times when they are challenging me to be the adult they think they are, but I know it's not time yet. There are other times when I struggle to give them the freedom to live and grow and learn because all I remember is that it was just yesterday when I was putting band-aids on scrapes and a hug and kiss was enough to make the nightmares go away.
Lord, there are so many ways of the world that terrify me as they enter it more and more on their own. There are the obvious evils done by other people. The threat of physical harm by those we see on the news every night. I ask that you protect them from that, but I also ask that you protect them from the emotional harm that comes in these years of great emotions. I know that there are dating and friendship relationships that will come and go, and I ask that you guard their heart against things that will make them bitter. I ask that you help them make good decisions and that they remember the things I tried to teach them every day about how to honor you.
I also ask, Lord, that you guide their footsteps as they walk on their own. I ask that they have your strength as peers try to lead them down paths of destruction. I ask that they have your voice both in their heads and your voice as they speak so that they honor you in all that they do and say. I ask that they feel the strength of their faith as others try to tell them that you are not real or you are not worth following. Lord, please let them see you as the most important thing in their life, and that no matter the hardships, their faith will be solid.
And Lord, I ask for the patience to be a good example to my child during a time when they will test every part of me. Lord, help me not lose my temper, give me the strength to both stand firm when I need to and let go when the time is right. Guide my words and actions so that I am leading my child in your ways. Let me offer the right advice and set the right rules for my child to help them be the person of God you desire.
In your holy name, Amen.