Praying about Behavior Medications for a Child or Teenager
Making decisions to start or change behavior or anti-depressant medications for a child or teenager can be extremely difficult. This guided prayer will help you talk productively with God about the many issues involved.
Parents Have Struggled Since Bible Times
Although back in the time of Jesus parents didn’t face the types of complex medication decisions we now struggle with, there are striking examples of parents who came to Jesus in desperation about their child’s behavior. In Mark chapter 9, a man brings his son to Jesus saying, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.” (Mark 9:17,18) Jesus asks the man how long the boy has been like this and the father says, “From childhood. It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:21,22)
Notice that the man asks Jesus to “take pity on us and help us.” Although modern medicine has made enormous strides in the treatment of behavioral health issues, one factor remains the same. All of us as parents share our child’s pain and problems to the point that it feels that whatever is happening to our child is happening just as intensely to us as well.
Christians Need Medicine
In my own personal experience, I have observed that being a Christian and having deep faith does not exempt us from the need to benefit from behavioral medication. My mother suffered from fairly severe depression for the last 20 years of her life. She was an outstanding Christian saint who had experienced God’s miraculous healing power from severe asthma as a young woman. Yet despite her worthiness and her prayers and personal testimony that God can miraculously heal, prayer alone did not make my mother’s depression go away. It was only after she sought medical help which included taking anti-depressant medication and undergoing counseling that she was able to function normally again. Because of my mother’s experience, I believe that God uses a variety of healing paths for each of us and that prayer will help us have the courage and wisdom to follow the healing paths He provides.
Warning! It’s dangerous to stop taking medication or to change the dosage without consulting your child’s doctor!
This prayer article is meant to help you sort through your emotions and thoughts so you can talk with more clarity with your doctor about medications and to work more closely with your health care professional in making medication decisions. Several times my mother tried stopping her depression medication without consulting her doctor because she thought she was better, and each time the result was disastrous.
Guided Prayer about Behavior Medications for Your Child or Teen
Dear Father, I thank you for giving me this child. You know how much I love (him/her) and how I would do anything to help them have a healthier, happier life. I know that You have heard my impassioned prayers that you would heal and help my child. And now I am praying just as passionately that you will help me. Please open my heart and mind up to the healing paths that will be most beneficial for my child. Here are some of the things I need your help and guidance with today:
My feelings:
Lord, because I love my child so much, my emotions are very strong. At different times here are some of the ways I have been feeling.
I have been feeling frustrated because….
I feel powerless because…
I feel that others have judged me or my child because…
I feel like this is having an adverse affect on my marriage, my other children because…
I feel guilty and wonder if I’m a good parent because….
My heart breaks for my child because….
My faith is suffering because…
I feel like crying for my child when I see the following things my child goes through because of their behavior….
My relationship with well meaning relatives, teachers and friends has suffered because…
Father, thank you that you know all that I am feeling and all that I have been going through. I give my emotions to you, knowing that you experienced the same anguish when you saw your only Son Jesus suffer and die on the cross. Give me your supernatural strength at the times my emotions overcome me. Thank you so much for listening and for caring for me.
Your Healing Path for my child
Father, you know how long I have been looking for the right healing path for my child. In the story in Mark 9 about the father of the little boy who was brought him to Jesus for healing, You said to him, “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Sometimes I dare to believe, sometimes circumstances dare me to stop believing. I pray honestly to you right now just as that father did, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24) Thank you that I don’t have to believe hard enough for you to hear and me and help us. So I am offering up to you today the things I know I believe with all of my heart. I believe that you gave me this child to love. I believe that you love my child more than I could possibly love them myself, which in itself is beyond my ability to grasp. I also believe that you uniquely created my child and know them so intimately that you have counted every hair on their head, as Jesus says in Luke 12:7. And I also believe that my child is “fearfully and wonderfully made” and that while they were still being formed in the womb, your eyes were on them as you tell us in Psalm 139:14,15)
Here are other things I believe about You and my child with all of my heart ….
On the other hand, there are things that I still have a hard time believing…
I pray that you will show us a healing path for my child. Here is a healing path that we are now considering…
Here are the things that I hope this healing path will do…
Here are the things that worry me and scare me about this path…
I pray that you will help me be part of the healing path for my child. Help me be able to listen carefully to teachers, doctors and psychologists. And please help me express myself well to them. Help me ask the right questions. Here is a professional I need your help to communicate with….
I pray that every appointment will be a divine appointment. Go with us. Open the doors you want opened. Give me the mind of Christ, as you promise in First Corinthians 2:16. I also pray that you will provide me with trustworthy sources of information. Here are things I need more clarity on…
I pray that you will give me the right words to say to my child when we discuss treatment options with them. Give us a good place and time so my child will be able to share their honest feelings and questions. I especially pray you will help me answer this question or worry that my child might have about…
I pray that you will give me the ability to see warning signs and indicators of needs to change medications or treatments. Here are some things that I see in my child now that worry me…
I admit to you that I wish for quick fixes and easy answers and pray for the ability to endure and persevere when the healing path is a long one.
And finally, I pray for your peace. Help me pray until I feel that I have done all I could to make the very best decision for my child and our family and then help me leave the rest in your hands. Thank you for being there, for caring and for the knowledge that you will never leave me or forsake me. I pray in tender and loving name of Jesus who blesses all children. Amen.
Copyright Karen Barber 2012 All rights reserved.
