Teen = Rebellion
Oh that wonderful word – REBELLION. You beg and plead for your child to change their ways; Stop smoking! Stop drinking! Stop hanging out with the wrong kids! Stop getting into trouble with the law! Stop, Stop, STOP!!!
Kids live off of it and you want to do everything in your power to stop that rebellion. But the fact is, you can’t. I have cried my eyes over my daughter’s rebellious behavior to no avail. Some parents get desperate and find ways to discipline them into change. They remove their precious treasures like the phone, sports, and friends. They bribe them with money, games, trips, and so on. You name it, parents have tried it.
Some parents have even gone so far to step outside the boundary lines of good parenting and continue the enabling behavior of their child as if being a friend and counselor will do the trick. It doesn’t work.
What is a parent to do? If you have tried everything, there really isn’t anything you can do except………..PRAY!
Well, some of you may say, “I tried that and nothing.”
But here is the key. God’s word says in I Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” NASB Note the word “WITHOUT” ceasing:
My definition on this verse – Pray without coming to an end, Pray without coming to a halt, Pray without coming to a stop, etc…. Ceasing: end, halt, stop, conclude, terminate, finish, wind up, draw to a close, be over, come to a standstill, pause, break off, peter out, fizzle out, abate, fade away, die away, bring to a stop, discontinue, desist from, refrain from, leave off, quit, shut down, etc…. **
It is easy to give up when there has been no immediate turnarounds in your child’s destructive lifestyle. I get it! We are discouraged, fearful, downtrodden, sad, filled with guilt, shamed, and more.
However, God is very clear in His word that we are to not stop praying. We do not see what is going on in the background that God is working on or the plans He has in store for our child. Many times, God is setting in place just the right people, the right circumstances, the right avenue for Him to reveal Himself to our child in the wayward place. If we chose to stop praying, we may be delaying the plans that God has chosen to minister to our child.
When I continued in praying, even when things looked hopeless, that is when the breakthrough transpired. Huge ones too! If you get discouraged, have someone else pray with you and for you. When you feel like giving up, remember that Christ did not give up on you and gave His all for you. So today, take a few minutes, and pray for your son or daughter. God will take care of the rest.
** Google Docs Dictionary
Amen, Stacy! As the Word says in Galatians 6: 9, “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Prayer is certainly a good thing!