Lord, my kids know the name of Jesus. They’ve heard your Word that tells of your love and power. They have been taught your ways—to love you fully and love others as themselves. Even so, I see my children struggling to listen. To obey. To believe. Hard hearts will lead them down hard roads away from you.

You warn us of the danger of “sin that so easily entangles.” (Hebrews 12:1) My children are tempted to bend the truth and break the rules. They’re curious to touch, taste, and see what the world has to offer. Inner pride says “me first!” and demands its own way. It’s easier to go along with their friends than stand firm and do what’s right.

I pray you will set my children free from the power of sin. Give them strength to overcome temptation. Spare them from falling into addiction, an angry temper, or foolish risk-taking. Fill them with the kind of “godly sorrow” for their words and choices that “brings repentance that leads to salvation.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) Let them discover the peace of a clean conscience and the reward of a good reputation.

Open my kids’ ears so they hear you, Lord. The world is shouting its own “hollow and deceptive philosophy” to deny your truth and deceive them. (Colossians 2:8) The noisy busyness of our days can drown out the voice of your Spirit. Stubborn, rebellious attitudes make them resist what you have to say. I pray “they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn,” so you “would heal them” and make them your own. (Matthew 13:15)

When my kids resist you they resist me, too. I’m weary of the arguing.

Complaining.

Testing.

Ignoring.

Disobeying.

You’ve called me to train my kids in the way they should go, but they reject wisdom and push back against my authority.

Help to obey you as a parent, even when it feels like my words fall on deaf ears. Make me faithful to share and live by the truths of your Word. Teach me how to “impress them on my children” throughout all the moments of our days together. (Deuteronomy 6:7) Built trust between us so they can come to me with their doubts, failures, and questions. Give me endurance with the kind of love that “always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) Fill me with compassion that keeps on loving and believing without giving up.

Lord, you are the source of the greatest blessings and joy my kids will ever know. Capture their hearts with your love. Give them the confidence and hope that come from putting their futures in your hands. Build up their sense of worth as they realize they’re fully cherished and known by their Father. Open their hands to receive the gifts and abundant life you promise your children. Let them fulfill their deepest hearts’ longings in you alone.

I believe you hold the power to break through to my children. No matter how far they move away from you, they’ll never be out of reach of your love. Thank you for the hope we have in Jesus through it all.

Amen.

“But they refused to pay attention;
stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.
They made their hearts as hard as flint
and would not listen to the law or to the words
that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit…”
(Zechariah 7:11-12)

My goal is that they may be
encouraged in heart and united in love,
so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding,
in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live your lives in him,
rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness.
(Colossians 2:2-3, 6-7)