A Prayer for Your Adult Children This Holiday Season
By Jessica Van Roekel
Bible Reading:
“So, you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous.” – Proverbs 2:20
Listen or Read Below:
Each stage of parenting brings new challenges. We go from sleep deprived during the infant through toddler years to activities coordinator through elementary into middle school to curfew watchers in the teen years. We grow accustomed to being involved in the many areas of our children’s lives and their transition into adulthood can be hard on us. We’ve poured into them for most of their lives by caring for their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Along the way, we hope we’ve laid a firm enough foundation in Christ for them to build their lives on. In their adulthood, it’s time to step away from the parenting and coaching role and begin building a friendship with our grown kids. Does this mean we no longer have influence? Not necessarily. After all, friends hold hearts, conversations, dreams, and disappointments. While we build this friendship based on mutual respect and understanding, we can lean more into the power of prayer.
My greatest desire is for my adult daughters and son to live for God, but I know how busy and distracting life can be as a semi-middle-aged mom. It’s the same for our adult sons and daughters. Life pulls them in many directions. They carry the pressure of home, work, and juggling activities in a world that spins faster and faster each year. It’s tempting to think we know what’s best for our kids and our prayers start sounding like commands of “Do this, God. Don’t do that. It would be great if you could make this happen so they do that.”
I’ve been there and I’ve also been in the place of deep disappointment with God because he didn’t do what I thought would be best. I needed to change the way I pray. When I started praying God’s word for my adult children, I stopped worrying and started trusting. Today’s verse is about wisdom and our adult kids need wisdom, especially in busy seasons like this holiday.
God gives the gift of wisdom to those who search for it. Those who find it reap its benefits and know its protective power. Wisdom keeps us from the wrong paths, guides us in the right paths, and arms us against temptation or compromise. We can pray that our adult children learn to respect and honor God or continue to do so. Wisdom gives them the ability to determine the difference between good and evil choices and stirs a desire to associate with those who help them do what is right. Following God’s wisdom leads to gaining God’s promised blessings.
We want our adult children to be blessed and enjoy a relationship with God. As their parents, we can intercede for them by praying Scripture over them. God loves them and knows them. We can trust God to keep them close to his heart and give them wisdom through the busy holiday season when so many events and expectations keep them racing.
Let’s pray:
Holy God,
Thank you for your heart for my adult children. Lord, they are so incredibly busy. I pray they “will walk in the way of good and keep to the paths of righteous.” Show them your way, Lord. Help them desire your wisdom so they can find the direction they need. And Lord, if they are making choices that cause them to step away from your good path, knock on the door of their heart so they realize it before they get too far down it. Stir in their heart a desire for your goodness this holiday season. Help them to see you all around them and to slow down long enough to recognize how you are with them through it all. Draw them close to you and let this holiday season be one of renewed faith and trust in you. May they search for your wisdom and find it. May the sparkling lights remind them to shine bright for you. May the smiles of delighted children remind them to delight in you. May the party meals and treats be a reminder to taste and see that you are good. Let them walk in your way and keep to your paths.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
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Editor’s Note: We’re proud to announce we’ve just launched a new nighttime companion to Your Daily Prayer: the Your Nightly Prayer devotional. You’ll soon be able to subscribe to receive Your Nightly Prayer via email, or as a podcast, but for now you can find it on the website at crosswalk.com/devotionals/your-nightly-prayer. We hope it’s a relaxing and soothing way to wind down your day with rich meditations on who God is.
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