A Prayer for Heartbroken Parents
By Lynette Kittle
“The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled” - Genesis 6:6
As a parent, has your heart ever been deeply troubled? If so, know if anyone understands, God does. He knows the challenges, disappointments, and regrets of parenting. Let’s face it, parenting from the very beginning has been extremely tough and for many heartbreaking as well.
As the perfect Father, God created two perfect humans, and yet they still turned away from Him and willfully sinned. From this falling away, all following generations still carry the consequences of their sin. God understands the anguish and heartache of children who turn away from Him. “Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me’” (Isaiah 1:2).
If God the perfect parent had children who willingly and sinfully turn away from Him, how much more can it happen to human parents who are dealing with their own weaknesses and struggles? As well, Adam and Eve, as the first human parents, witnessed one of their children turning on the other to the point of taking his sibling’s life (Genesis 4:8). Sadly, parenting often comes with much heartache.
God’s Not Pointing a Finger at You
Even though humans point fingers and blame themselves and each other, God is not pointing a finger at parents, telling them all the ways they’ve failed and disappointed their kids, themselves, and mostly Him in parenting their children.
Many a weary parent has felt God is displeased, angry, and disappointed in them, but it’s not God’s scorn they’re sensing but the enemy of our soul, the accuser of the brethren who is out to blame us for the sin he instigated in the world. Revelation 12:10 describes how he is actively accusing us, night and day, non-stop before God. He’s the one accusing parents of their failures with their children, of it being their fault if they are not following God and choosing to live sinful lifestyles over living righteously. Wherever the devil can find a way to speak guilt to a parent, he will.
Although parents may fail their children, God wants them to know He is there for them during tough times. Like 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 explains, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
Let’s pray:
Dear Father,
You are the perfect Father, right in all your ways, and yet your children strayed from your truth. Sadly our children, too, have broken our hearts by the choices they have and are making in life. Although we tried to teach them Your word, they have chosen to follow the world over serving You. We ask for Your comfort to help us through the sadness and heartbreak we are experiencing with their choices, decisions, and lifestyles.
Even though we know each person will stand before You to give an account for their own life (Romans 14:12), we struggle at times with guilt and condemnation, believing the lies of the enemy by carrying the responsibility and fault for our children’s sins. But only You, Lord, have the power to free them from sin, so we ask You to reach out to our children today and reveal the truth of Your word to them, to move upon their hearts in ways we as parents are unable to reach or speak to. Like Hebrews 4:12 describes, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
As well, we ask You to remind them of the ways we loved, cared, and taught them about You, to let the ways we planted and watered Your truth into their lives to take root and grow. And Lord for the ways where we did fail our children, we ask You to help us receive Your forgiveness and comfort, knowing You are able to make up for our parenting deficiencies and weaknesses. You knew God when You gave us our children that we would not be perfect parents and would need to rely on You. Help us to trust You to reach out to our kids with Your perfect love and truth.
In Jesus’ name, Amen
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Quils
Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.
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