Vietnam Evangelical Covenant Church – Our Father in heaven loves to take seemingly hopeless lives, like mine once was, and display Himself in mercy and power. Give your child the gift of prayer, and trust that God will use their life for His good purposes: a life that grows and is transformed.
There is no pain like watching your child walk away from God. But Scripture shows that God is a loving Father who always waits for prodigal children to come home. This article shares three ways parents can pray for a prodigal child to return to God. Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB).
I was once that prodigal: lost, angry and trying to find my identity. Hard on the outside, but deeply wounded inside. The consequences of my choices not only destroyed me but caused suffering in my family and broke my relationships with those who loved me most.
By God’s grace, my parents did not give up on me, though there were times they were tempted to. Instead, they entrusted my life to God, prayed for brokenness and fought for me in prayer, prayers God eventually answered.
Parents, if you are raising a rebellious, hard-hearted child (inside or out), I challenge you to raise your hands, enter the spiritual battle and fight with all the strength God gives you, refusing to give up on your child’s life. Let me encourage you with three prayers for lost children.
3 Ways to Pray Your Child Home
1. Pray for a broken heart, whatever it costs
It is easy to pray for little more than a comfortable, successful, pain-free life for our children. But as Christian parents, the eternal good we can pray for is their salvation, above all earthly joy and comfort. We must fight for our children in a world of temporary pleasures, self-satisfaction and blurred lines, entrusting their lives to our Lord, even if the road to salvation passes through pain.
I am forever grateful that my parents loved me enough to pray for my heart to be broken, a brokenness that led to healing. After losing my identity as an athlete and being mistreated by peers, my life spiraled out of control. I looked for identity and purpose in anything but Jesus. I sank into crisis and wanted to escape this world, and I ended up in the hospital. In that bare white hospital room, the choice before me was clear: be crushed under the weight of my sin, or lay the broken pieces of my life at Jesus’ feet. By His grace, I knelt, and the broken pieces of my life began to heal from there.
We will only be strong enough to pray for our children’s brokenness when we have been broken before God ourselves and trust His love for our children and for us. Only when we have fully surrendered our children to Him can we pray: “Father, do whatever it takes to save my child from eternal separation from You, whatever it costs me.”
2. Pray against the enemy’s desire to claim your child
A battle is raging in our children’s lives. We must fight for them, especially when blindness keeps them from fighting the enemy themselves.
I remember my mother telling me about a time I was standing in the kitchen with her, angry at the world and taking it out on her. She looked at me and said firmly, “I am fighting for you, and I will not let Satan have you!” After she said those words, I collapsed on the floor and wept.
Though we have no guarantee of our children’s salvation or the outcome we hope for, we can be confident that God is faithful to His promises and hears our prayers. One of the great weapons God has given parents against the pull of the world and the schemes of the enemy is to pray as Christ prayed for Peter: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31–32). Although Peter was a believer and the children we pray for may not be, we can still ask God to rescue them from Satan’s power, give them faith in Christ and use their lives to proclaim the gospel and strengthen others.
3. Pray specific Scripture over your child’s life
Even if your child wants nothing to do with the truth and hates hearing God’s Word, they cannot stop you from praying Scripture over them. This is another powerful weapon God gives parents.
My parents regularly prayed Psalm 18:16–19 over my life:
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me. They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:16–19)
I am amazed when I look back and see how faithfully God answered that prayer. I was drowning in self-destruction, being used by others, rebellion and pain I couldn’t understand. God, in His mercy, pulled me out of the deep waters and rescued me from my flesh and the devil’s schemes against me.
As I sat in that hospital room, no longer wanting to live, God rescued me, brought me out into a spacious place and showed me that He delighted in me though I did not deserve it. He continues to be faithful to this prayer, keeping me through many deep waters and carrying me through dark days. Parents, no matter how far your child has wandered from Jesus or what other path they are on, you can fight for their life with the powerful weapon of God’s Word.
The Power of a Praying Parent
The truth is that while we must teach and train our children and set boundaries, we cannot control their hearts. In the end, only God can fill their souls with love for Christ and open their eyes to see His beauty and glory.
I have learned this at a new level and from a different angle as I face struggles with my own children, which often leave me discouraged. But we are not powerless, and certainly not hopeless. Whether our children are young or grown, tender-hearted or hard-hearted, we have the power of prayer, the living Word of God and One we can trust.
Our Father in heaven loves to take seemingly hopeless lives, like mine once was, and display Himself in mercy and power. Give your child the gift of prayer, and trust that God will use their life for His good purposes: a life that grows and is transformed.
Persevering in Prayer for Your Child
Praying a child home may take many years. Don’t lose heart. Remember the father in the parable of the prodigal son, always watching the road for his son’s return. God is waiting for your child too.
Along with prayer, keep the door of love open. Sometimes what draws a child home is not advice, but the patient love of a parent.
You may also like: 10 Tips for Christian Parents and 10 Ways to Weave Prayer Into Family Life.
Prayer
Father, we lift up to You the children who are far from You. Touch their hearts, draw them back to Jesus and give us patience and faith to keep praying. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Article: Sơn Tùng
Adapted from: DesiringGod.org
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