Eight Powerful Prayers Our Teens & Tweens Need Today: Part 1
We were talking about what it was like when our kids were younger. Laughing, as we remembered the silly-but-sweet things they used to do. Suddenly, she got serious, this sweet mom of a 12-year-old.
“What’s it like to have a teenager,” she asked me, “I just want to be prepared before it hits me.”
“Well,” I smiled, “it’s a rollercoaster, but I’m not screaming yet.” (Ahem, on most days, at least.)
It is quite the journey, isn’t it? Traveling through the teen years with our children. Lots of curveballs, a boatload of questions. Days that warm your heart. And days that leave you speechless (in more ways than one).
But today, I want to put aside my parenting hat for a bit. I want to look at this from their side of the room.
What’s it like being a teen or tween today?
Honestly? I don’t know.
When I was a teen, most of life happened in the real-world. Chatting out loud, not on Insta. Playing outside, not online. There was no know-it-all, see-it-all, endlessly scrolling screen. No pressure to be always “connected”.
Today’s world is different.
And while I may not completely comprehend what it’s like, researchers the world over are trying to piece this puzzle together.
If this is not the reality in our own homes right now, let’s stop right here and praise God for that! We are truly blessed!
But surely, we’ve seen enough around us to know this pressure is real – teens smiling on the outside, silently breaking down inside. Growing up in a world that’s always online, always “influencing,” always watching and commenting. It can be a bit too much at times. And some are quietly struggling under the weight of it all.
How do we help them? Where do we start?
Right where we are. With prayer.
Now, I’ve often heard people say: “The least I can do is pray.” Let’s set the record straight.
Praying is not the least we can do. It’s the most powerful thing we can do. It moves heaven and draws down the power of God into our lives.
Gen Z is right in the middle of a war for their hearts, minds, and relationships. And prayer is our strongest weapon.
If real impact is what we’re after, we need to get down on our knees. And pray. Not just for our own children, but for every teen God has placed around us – in our communities, friends’ circles, churches, and schools.
So in this two-part series, I invite you to pause with me and do just that.
Let’s lift our teens and tweens up — one intentional prayer at a time — as we walk through eight ways in which we can intercede for them.
Part 1: Praying for Teens’ Hearts & Minds
Here are three prayers to cover their hearts and minds of our teens and tweens, to fill them with peace, confidence, and wisdom.
Peace, for their overloaded minds
Confidence, in who they are
Wisdom, to filter the noise and hold fast to Truth
Pray boldly for the next generation!
Gen Z is battling pressures we didn’t have. Get the “Prayers for a Generation” guide – 15 powerful scriptural prayers for teens & tweens, covering health, heart, mind, relationships, vocation & faith.
A hedge of protection
There’s no denying it: Teens today are facing pressures we never did. It’s not just school, college, parents, and friends anymore. It’s the whole world — claiming their attention, shaping who they are. So let’s go down on our knees for them. Today and every day. For our own teens, their classmates and friends, the teens around us. Let’s pray for them by name.
Come, join me, and we’ll build a hedge of protection around them, starting today.
In faith,
