Silas
Beloved of All
Your cry for help for your teen son is heard, and thank you for bringing it so honestly before the Lord and before others who can pray with you. That urgent prayer, make haste to help me, O God, is one the Scripture understands well. It comes from knowing our own weakness and inability. Like David we can say, I am poor and needy, you are my help and my deliverer. God does not turn away from that kind of humble cry.
Prayer begins with relationship. The Father's ear is open to His children, and that relationship is opened through Jesus Christ. When we can truly say Father because we have come through Christ, we have a basis for coming boldly. If your son does not yet know Jesus as his Savior, the greatest prayer for him is that he would come to say, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and receive new life. And for you as his parent, to keep resting in that same relationship is what gives prayer its power. God is not only interested in giving help, He wants us to know the Helper Himself, not just deliverance but the Deliverer.
It is also honest to say we do not always have easy answers about why a struggle with a teenager happens or how quickly God will intervene. We measure everything by Scripture, whether it keeps with the Word of God. And we have to come to the place Paul describes at the end of Romans 7. He stops looking for another self help formula or another way to try harder, and he cries out, who shall deliver me. That is the right cry. We cannot change a heart by our own efforts, and our son cannot change himself by willpower alone. We need outside help, and that help is Jesus Christ.
God sometimes answers immediately, as when the ten lepers were healed as they went, and sometimes He allows a delay for a purpose. Hannah prayed for years for a son, and Abraham waited long for the promise of a son. God used that waiting to bring Hannah into harmony with His purpose, so that when she prayed, give me a son and I will give him back to you, God could answer in a way that fulfilled His larger plan. Waiting is hard, we want help now, but God uses the waiting to shape us, to deepen trust, and to accomplish His will on earth, which is always the first purpose of prayer. Prayer is not a way to get our will done, but to open the door for God's will to be done. He will not force His way against the choice He has given each person, but prayer opens the door for Him to work in a life in the way He longs to do.
That is why we keep praying fervently and continually. The Scripture says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything, it shall be done. You are not praying alone. We are agreeing with you now for your son, laboring in prayer for you as one who bears you on our heart. We can do more through prayer than through all our activity, especially when our activity is not backed by prayer.
Prayer also goes together with watchful action. Nehemiah prayed and then set a watch, and he called the people to fight for their families and remember that the Lord was with them. So keep praying, and keep standing faithfully for your son. Keep loving him, keep speaking truth with grace, keep setting wise and loving boundaries, keep pointing him to Christ and to the Scripture, and trust the Lord to be his help.
Let us pray together for him now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift this teen son to you. You know his needs, his struggles, and the pressures on him far better than we do. We ask that you would be his help and deliverer, that you would protect him, draw his heart to yourself, and give him a desire for your truth and your way. Give his parent wisdom, strength, patience, and peace as they wait on you. Bring your will to pass in his life, and let him know that you are his hope and trust. We ask for your mercy and power to work in him, and we thank you that you hear the cry of your children. In Jesus name, amen.
Prayer begins with relationship. The Father's ear is open to His children, and that relationship is opened through Jesus Christ. When we can truly say Father because we have come through Christ, we have a basis for coming boldly. If your son does not yet know Jesus as his Savior, the greatest prayer for him is that he would come to say, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and receive new life. And for you as his parent, to keep resting in that same relationship is what gives prayer its power. God is not only interested in giving help, He wants us to know the Helper Himself, not just deliverance but the Deliverer.
It is also honest to say we do not always have easy answers about why a struggle with a teenager happens or how quickly God will intervene. We measure everything by Scripture, whether it keeps with the Word of God. And we have to come to the place Paul describes at the end of Romans 7. He stops looking for another self help formula or another way to try harder, and he cries out, who shall deliver me. That is the right cry. We cannot change a heart by our own efforts, and our son cannot change himself by willpower alone. We need outside help, and that help is Jesus Christ.
God sometimes answers immediately, as when the ten lepers were healed as they went, and sometimes He allows a delay for a purpose. Hannah prayed for years for a son, and Abraham waited long for the promise of a son. God used that waiting to bring Hannah into harmony with His purpose, so that when she prayed, give me a son and I will give him back to you, God could answer in a way that fulfilled His larger plan. Waiting is hard, we want help now, but God uses the waiting to shape us, to deepen trust, and to accomplish His will on earth, which is always the first purpose of prayer. Prayer is not a way to get our will done, but to open the door for God's will to be done. He will not force His way against the choice He has given each person, but prayer opens the door for Him to work in a life in the way He longs to do.
That is why we keep praying fervently and continually. The Scripture says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much, and that if two or three agree on earth concerning anything, it shall be done. You are not praying alone. We are agreeing with you now for your son, laboring in prayer for you as one who bears you on our heart. We can do more through prayer than through all our activity, especially when our activity is not backed by prayer.
Prayer also goes together with watchful action. Nehemiah prayed and then set a watch, and he called the people to fight for their families and remember that the Lord was with them. So keep praying, and keep standing faithfully for your son. Keep loving him, keep speaking truth with grace, keep setting wise and loving boundaries, keep pointing him to Christ and to the Scripture, and trust the Lord to be his help.
Let us pray together for him now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we lift this teen son to you. You know his needs, his struggles, and the pressures on him far better than we do. We ask that you would be his help and deliverer, that you would protect him, draw his heart to yourself, and give him a desire for your truth and your way. Give his parent wisdom, strength, patience, and peace as they wait on you. Bring your will to pass in his life, and let him know that you are his hope and trust. We ask for your mercy and power to work in him, and we thank you that you hear the cry of your children. In Jesus name, amen.
