A Teenager's Prayer

​“Dear God.

I am young and don’t understand what it is like to be a parent, but it must be hard. I pray you will help Mom and Dad to be good parents, strong in the ways you want them to be. I want to look up to them with admiration and feel confident that their instruction is right.

Help me, dear Lord, to understand my parents. Remind me that when I don’t get my way, it is because they love me and not because they want to be mean or deprive me of a good time.

When I become stubborn and refuse to listen, help me, God to accept the fact that they have wisdom and experience since they were once teenagers themselves; whereas I have never been a parent.

Put in my heart the respect and consideration they deserve for their years of hard work and sacrifice. They raised me as best they could. Let me not repay them with grief or shame. Rather, help me to give them obedience, respect, forgiveness, and love.

Most of all, God, while I still have my parents here on earth, help me to appreciate them and let them know I do. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” Proverbs 10:1.

~The Salina Journal, adapted