Pray for teens out of faith, not worry

How can you pray for your teenagers during troubled times? Olly Goldenberg explains.

Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” This is so important when you’re a parent of teenagers.

We tend to pray out of fear and worry rather than faith and expectation. An example is when our kids start new schools: “Please God, help them not to get mixed up with the wrong crowd.”

But imagine praying the same prayer out of faith instead: “I pray you will connect them with the people they need to meet to have the greatest impact and to grow stronger in you.”

What about when teens are pushing boundaries – something that causes worry and anxiety for us as parents and creates friction and barriers with our teens? Again, the solution is presenting our worries as prayers and petitions with thanksgiving.

Here, we can pray, “Lord, I’m bringing my child to you. I pray you will change and soften their heart, that you will remove them from the bad influences in their life and that you will give me wisdom to know how to deal with this situation. Thank you for them.”

What you’re doing is actively trusting God to step in. As the next verse in the Philippians passage says, the result is his peace in your heart and mind.

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