I know of a couple whose daughter disappeared from home in a fit of rebellion on her 18thbirthday. Her parents were devastated. For years, they didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
Early on, her mother made a simple decision. Every night – all night – she would turn on the porch light. It was an unspoken message to her daughter: “You’re always welcome home.”
Many nights, tears streamed down that mother’s face as she locked the front door, switched on the light, and prayed for her daughter.
What the mother didn’t know was that her daughter often parked down the street and would sit there for hours, staring at the porch light. She desperately wanted to come home, but she was afraid she’d caused her family too much pain.
Finally, six years after she’d walked out of her parents’ lives, she walked back in. The family’s reconciliation started at that moment, but the healing had begun years before – thanks to that mother’s prayers and her loving acceptance expressed as a beacon of light that cut through the darkness and offered her daughter hope.
When your children are little, you can wrap them in your arms. When they grow up, sometimes all you can do is wrap them in your prayers. Your adult children might be physically out of your reach, but they’re never out of God’s reach. God invites us to partner with Him in their lives through prayer.
How does God respond when we pray for our kids?
We’re answering that question on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Trusting God with Your Adult Child”with our guest, author Jodie Berndt, who’s written about her journey of learning to entrust her children to God in her book Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children: Trusting God with the Ones You Love.
In our conversation, she shares about the simple prayers that changed her perspective on parenting and the impact God has made in her kids’ lives as a result.
Jodie says, “When and I wasn’t getting the outcomes I desired and my child’s choices weren’t what I’d prayed for, God reminded me, ‘You’re trusting in an outcome. You’re not trusting in Me.’”
Even when your child is making bad decisions, God is shaping him or her through these circumstances. Your child will be shaped in the valleys more so than on the mountaintops. I know that’s been true in my own life and in my kids’ lives.
Tune in for our broadcaston your local radio station,online, oniTunes, via Podcast, or on our free phone app, or watch the full program on our YouTubechannel.
We’d like to offer you a copy of Jodie’s book Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children: Trusting God with the Ones You Lovefor a gift of any amount. Give us a call at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) or visit our websitefor more information.
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