A prayer for my child’s safety

Dear Lord Jesus,

You hear the hammering of my heart,

the ache of letting a child go out into the world,
although it terrifies me.
Your mother must have felt that way every day.
Today I’m releasing my child a little bit more,
and it hurts deeply–
not because I don’t want him to go
(although there’s a teeny piece of that)–
but because I don’t want him to be hurt.

I ask You–I beg You–put a hedge of protection around my child.
Send Your angels to encircle him,
to fight for him, to protect him against the forces of this world that seek his harm.
Protect his mind from secular thinking.
Protect his heart from loving the temporary things of this world.
Protect his body from physical and emotional damage,
from impurity, from hate, from unforgiveness, from bodily harm.

And while You protect him, breathe life into his spirit.
May he feel the most free, the most happy, the most fulfilled, when he is in Your presence.
Give him a longing for You and for Your Spirit.
Only You can do that.
I can only wish it and pray for it.

Speak to him in Your still, small voice.
Help him to make time to hear it.

And lastly, fill me up with faith and love for You,
so that I can trust him to You.
Every day, I struggle with this task of giving him into Your care
and believing that You know best
and that You are working in him according to Your own timeline.

Thank You for entrusting him to me for this short time on earth,
and the even shorter time called childhood.
Oh, how fleeting are the days during which I am a primary influence.
I cherish them, and I ask You to bless them,
in spite of the millions of mistakes I have made and am making.

Bless us, Jesus. Bless us with Your spirit and Your protective hand.
In Your holy name,
Amen.