Do Your Teenage Grandchildren Know you Pray for them?

Teenager—desperate for a place to belong—walks awkwardly along the fringe, trying to keep in step with a group of wayward peers. Weeks pass, and his awkwardness disappears. Soon he is found standing in the way of sinners, counted as part of the crowd. He’ll eventually sit in the company of mockers, revered by another teen desperate to belong.

I spoke with the principal of a private Christian school, grades K4-12. She agonizes about the generation slipping through our fingers and the snowball-effect, which will follow. She says, “Families desperately need grandparents to step in and get involved.”

We, as grandparents, need to stop watching from the sidelines. We need to be intentional building relationships with our grandchildren, affirming them of their value, creating an environment where they know they’re loved and praying for them on a daily, if not more, basis.

The Psalmist writes, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).

• Pray that our grandchildren are like trees planted by the Stream of Living Water.

Sherry Schuman is part of the Christian Grandparenting Network Prayer Team.

15 Scriptures to Pray for Teenagers will be posted on this website next week.