[Please join me in praying for our children and future on Thursdays this year.]
“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.” (Psalm 127:3 NIV)
“Please stand up for the poor, help the children of the needy, come down hard on the cruel tyrants.”
(Psalm 72:4 MSG)
I was recently talking with a man who has retired from 40 years of being a probation officer in the juvenile system. He was telling me some of the stories of his time there, stories that are racked with such darkness and hopelessness, they remind me how dark the world is where there is no Light of Christ.
There was a fifteen year old girl who hadn’t talked in months. The social worker said they *knew* the father was raping her, but the girl wouldn’t talk and so the authorities didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute him. When she was brought into the lockdown facility, I helped her put her suitcase away and then offered to listen if she ever wanted to talk. I turned to leave but realized she’d spoken. When I turned around, she said, “I know what my dad did is wrong, but I still love him.” I talked with her for a few minutes, went to write up my report, and went home for the night. The next morning her social worker called to bawl me out because the girl had run away. I don’t know what ever happened to her.
Another time I was working and there was a teenager that was pretty big and strong, so much that the other staff were a little nervous about him. When I came in the room he was pretty upset and mad and getting in people’s faces. When he started to hit me, I had to take him down. Then the other staff took him into solitary confinement. When he had cooled down some, I went to talk with him. He looked at me like he’d been betrayed. “I thought you were a Christian! Why did you hit me?” I told him that I couldn’t let him hurt other people. We talked awhile as he continued to calm down. The next day when I came in to work he was gone. My boss told me that the young man knew that yesterday’s incident had been his last chance and so he’d been moved to a maximum security prison. But he’d left a small envelope for me. There was no note in it, but he’d told my co-worker to tell me, “He’ll understand what it means.” When I dug a little farther I found a paper cross that he’d folded in one corner. I don’t know whatever happened to him.
I realize that these are just two of the heart-crushing stories of young people whose lives are a mess. Today, let us pray for the broken, the hopeless, the hurting in our juvenile system who need God’s Light in their lives and strong, godly mentors to help them find and walk God’s path for their lives.
God of the Oppressed,
Thank you for the many righteous men and women who work with hurting young people in the juvenile system. We pray today that they would have an overflowing well of the wisdom, discernment, courage, strength, endurance, and love they need to positively influence those within their care. Help them bring protection, healing, and your Love to these situations. We also pray to the King of Kings for mercy on these precious young people in the juvenile system whose stories are heartbreaking. Even if many seemed as ignored as a broken pot, their tears, grief, distress, and hopelessness are not forgotten by you, our faithful God. Turn your ear to listen to the cry of our prayers and the cries of their hearts. Rescue them quickly, be their rock of protection and a fortress where they are safe. Lead them out of the dangers they face from within and from without and rescue them from evil that leads to bad choices. Help them to have people and relationships in their lives – parents, friends, social workers, counselors, pastors, and others – who can speak your Word into their situations. May your good people help them seek for and walk in your Good Way so these broken children may find rest for their souls. We pray in the name of Jesus against every demonic spirit that has captured these precious ones. We have come to you for their protection; save them, for you do what is right. Where there can be healing and restoration with their families, we pray for that. And we pray that families and their local communities would be places in which they can be brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. We are trusting you, O Lord, for their future is in your hands. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
O Lord, I have come to you for protection;
don’t let me be disgraced.
Save me, for you do what is right.
Turn your ear to listen to me;
rescue me quickly.
Be my rock of protection,
a fortress where I will be safe.
You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of your name, lead me out of this danger.
Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me,
for I find protection in you alone.
I entrust my spirit into your hand.
Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God.
Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away.
I am dying from grief;
my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength;
I am wasting away from within.
I am scorned by all my enemies
and despised by my neighbors—
even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street,
they run the other way.
I am ignored as if I were dead,
as if I were a broken pot.
I have heard the many rumors about me,
and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me,
plotting to take my life.
But I am trusting you, O Lord,
saying, “You are my God!”
My future is in your hands.” (Psalm 31:1-5, 9-15 NLT)
“May the poor and humble have an advocate with the king. May he consider the children of the poor and crush the cruel oppressor.” (Psalm 72:4 TPT)
“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is; then walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls.'” (Jeremiah 6:16 AMP)
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4 AMP)