13 Powerful Prayers for Wayward Son
There are so many temptations in the world around us that can easily grab attention of our children. These powerful prayers for a wayward son will encourage you to seek God’s strength and encouragement to help bring your child back to the Lord.
Prayer #1
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you as a fellow parent, knowing that you understand how my heart breaks for (name) my grown child’s situation. I am praying now for your help and hope to be reborn in all of us as I pray the words of Isaiah over them.
This is what the Lord says;
“In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritance, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
I claim this prayer time as the day of favor for my child. I thank you that you have promised to help us. I thank you that you have promised to restore the lost and broken parts.
I pray these things in the strong and loving name of Jesus Christ, God’s only son. Amen
Prayer #2
Dear Father, help my child to not feel alone and forgotten by the world or by you. Instead, help them turn to you that they may be healed and helped. Help them to know the deep love I have for them as a parent. I ask for your guidance on how to express my deep love for my child in a way that they will accept and understand.
Help me to trust you totally, knowing that you have not forgotten me or my child. Help me to stand in your presence, knowing that you always see me. I pray against the following things that have laid waste to my child. May these things depart from them by your power. I pray these things in the strong and loving name of Jesus Christ, God’s only son. Amen
Prayer #3
Great God in heaven,
I have a child that has fallen away from their belief in You and they have forsaken all that they have been taught about You. I know in their heart they know what is right and what is wrong. I pray God that You would send Your Holy Spirit and grant them repentance (2nd Tim 2:25) and to help them seek forgiveness and restoration with You. I know that all I can do is pray but I know You can do all things. It seems impossible for me, but nothing is for You. Please Father, grant my child repentance so that they might return to You again and to our family. I trust You in this and not my heart. I know that whatever happens is for their very best (Rom 8:28).
Please forgive me where I have failed my child and failed You in bringing them up in the admonition of the Lord and please guide their heart back to You and to the family that loves them and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I pray, Amen.
Prayer #4
Lord, I pray that my son will develop an eternal perspective and purpose, not an earthly one. Help him to see life–and every challenge–through Your eyes, eager and unafraid to share with others the good news of Jesus wherever he goes. I pray that they will set his minds on things above, not just what’s going on here, and that he will be rooted and grounded in Your love. I pray that he will come to understand the extent of Your own love for him–that it surpasses all the head knowledge they will acquire in school. I pray he will be filled up with You from morning ’til night.
Prayer #5
Lord, Your Word says “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Lord, I need that kind of wisdom to know when to speak to my son and when to be silent. “Do not let any unwholesome talk, lecturing, judging, or accusing come of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building my son up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph. 4:29). Let me also be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for my anger doesn’t bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:19).
Prayer #6
God, I am so heartsick that my child has left us and left You. Please, I pray, send them a conviction from the Holy Spirit that only He can bring. I can only tell them how much I love them unconditionally and I have done all that I know to do so reveal to me what else I might be able do, if anything, but I ultimately I trust You for You can convict the heart of sin and humble the heart like no other. You know the heart, You direct the heart, and You can convict the heart and turn it back to You or to You for the very first time.
I cannot know for sure whether my child is saved or not because of their leaving home and turning away from You, but You know their heart and in fact, You know their every secret thought and intent (Heb 4:12-13). Please place it in their heart to return to You and to us so that we might give You praise and may further glorify Jesus’ great name, in which we pray, Amen.
Prayer #7
Lord, forgive our unbelief. Forgive the times we’ve doubted that you could ever change a distant heart. Forgive our hard-heartedness, our weariness, or forgetfulness to “pray continually.” Thank you that you never give up on us. Remind us of how you’ve changed our own hearts. How your miracle of life and hope has sprung up deep within our souls. We love you Lord, we need you, and we thank you that you hear our prayers and are at work even now. Powerfully. Faithfully. Miraculously. Thank you for the gift of our Savior, God with us. Thank you for your goodness and love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer #8
First, oh Lord, forgive us for the times when we have misplaced our priorities so that we haven’t been available to model a strong relationship with You in front of our kids. Help us to understand the power of our influence in our children’s lives and to reorder our schedule so that we can be available to both directly and indirectly offer the godly influence that our sons desperately need.
Second, while we do pray that our sons would be protected from negative influences, we also pray that you would surround them with friendships and mentor-type relationships that portray what it means to have an authentic relationship with Christ. In turn, we pray that you would raise our sons up to be the influencers of the next generation. We pray that you would allow godliness and righteousness to dwell in their hearts so richly that these evidences of your truth spill out of them and to every person they encounter.
Through it all, we pray that they would not be prone to laziness or complacency, but that they would believe that even a single candle burning in the dark makes a difference and would boldly stand up for truth, even when it’s unpopular.
Prayer #9
God, I know that sometimes you can send trials and tribulations to us when we drift away from You or turn our back on You and so if my wayward child is experiencing any difficulties, let those troubles humble them and bring them back to a need for You. Sometimes I know I have enabled my child and I have gotten between the rock and the hammer; between what You want to do in them and what troubles are hopefully humbling them. I have interfered where You were trying to bring them to their knees and to open their eyes to see their need for You.
Please forgive me for that gracious Father. I ask You to cause them to return to You and to us too so that we can both welcome them back into the family and rejoice that our son who was once lost is now found (Luke 15:24) and in the might name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Prayer #10
Dear God,You know our hearts, you hear our prayers, and care about all that concerns us. You understand the burden we carry and how we want, more than anything, to see our loved ones come to you. Help us to remember that you love them more than we ever could. And you desire to extend your great love and forgiveness, your mercy and hope. Thank you that nothing is too difficult for you. Thank you that your power is unlimited and you came to set the captives free. Thank you that you wait, arms open, for the prodigal to return, that you look for his arrival to lavishly celebrate that he’s come home. We praise you for you are Redeemer and Rescuer, Savior and Lord. We know and believe that there’s no pit so deep that your love can’t reach us still. We understand that your mercies are new every morning, and your faithfulness is great.
We pray for the miraculous intervention of your Spirit to draw them to yourself, to work strong on behalf of our loved ones who are lost and wandering. For you came with good news, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for captives and release for the prisoners. Though we deserved penalty for our wrong, you stood in our place and took the blows on our behalf. You choose to die, so that we can live. Forever and free. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Prayer #11
Dear Jesus, help my son know that we are all born as sinners and separated from God because of our wicked hearts. However, at an early age, him grasp the life-transforming concept that he does not have to live as a sinner under that condemnation.
Teach my son that he has the opportunity to accept a new, beautiful identity that is called “good,” not because of what he has done or what he looks like, but because he is secure in who YOU say they are: treasured, delightful, known and protected. Let him not place their self-worth in accomplishments he may or may not achieve, but let him discover these deeper truths about who You believe he is and build every decision he makes on that sure foundation.
Prayer #12
Lord, I pray Your emotional, physical, and spiritual protection over my son. Keep evil far from him, and help him to trust You as his refuge and strength. I pray You will guard his mind from harmful instruction, and grant him discernment to recognize truth. I pray You will make him strong and courageous in the presence of danger, recognizing that You have overcome and will set right all injustice and wrong one day. Help him to find rest in Your shadow, as he lives in the spiritual shelter You provide for him. Let him know that the only safe place is in Jesus,and that his home on earth is only temporary.
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Prayer #13
Dear Lord, you have witnessed the rebelliousness of youth since the very beginnings of time. You understand a parent’s anguish and helplessness over the actions of his child. Please help us to transform our anger and frustration into loving care for our child who has gone astray. Help us begin to mend our broken fences and heal our broken hearts. Bless our child and also help him to mend the error of his ways. Help and bless us all to do right in Your name and restore us to peace and tranquility. Amen.
When we do not see results, it can become easy to feel hopeless and discouraged. Here is a great video from Pastor Rick Warren that serves as an example on how to fight discouragement.
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