{"id":19819,"date":"2026-03-11T08:19:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T08:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/hope-for-the-prodigal-teenager\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:08:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:08:41","slug":"hope-for-the-prodigal-teenager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/parenting\/teenagers\/hope-for-the-prodigal-teenager\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope for the Prodigal Teenager"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Today&#8217;s guest blogger, Andrea Merrell, has written a powerful book for parents with prodigal children<\/em>\u2013Praying for the Prodigal<em>. If you need hope for your kids, Andrea\u2019s book is for you. Your children may be rebelling against God now, but stand firm in your faith. Stand in the gap for them and remember that God loves your children even more than you do. I hope Andrea\u2019s blog will touch your heart as it did mine.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Blessings, Michelle<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">Blue lights flashed as I made my way to the drive-thru line at a local fast-food restaurant. The gas station adjacent to the parking lot was roped off with tape and blocked by several police cars. I fought uneasiness and the urge to keep driving.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"240\" height=\"240\" class=\" alignright size-full wp-image-42966\" alt=\"Andrea Merrell\" src=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Andrea-Merrell-Photo-10.JPG\" style=\"width: 240px;height: 240px;margin-left: 15px;margin-right: 15px;float: right\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Andrea-Merrell-Photo-10.JPG 240w, https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Andrea-Merrell-Photo-10-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/>When I reached the window to pay for my food, I asked what was going on. Thinking there might have been a robbery, I was shocked to hear, \u201cYoung guy went in the bathroom, shot up, and OD\u2019d.<span style=\"line-height: 18.1818180084229px\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">As I drove away, my heart broke and the tears fell. I didn\u2019t know the young man, but I grieved for him\u2014for his friends and family\u2014for all the young people caught up in this destructive lifestyle. Perhaps my tears were also tears of joy and thankfulness. Whenever there is a senseless tragedy like this, I always hear the words, \u201cThat could have been your kids.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">And it almost was.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">For several years, both my son and daughter were caught up in a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. My husband and I did everything we knew to raise them in a godly environment, and this was this last thing we ever expected to happen. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/guideposts.org\/blog\/wheres-your-focus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>READ MORE: BIG PROBLEMS? GOD IS BIGGER<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">Statistics say that 88 percent of children raised in an evangelical Christian home will leave the church by the age of 18. Many will turn away from authority, parental values and biblical teaching, losing their potential, their health, and their destiny\u2014sometimes even their lives. We just never thought it could happen to us. Suddenly we found ourselves dealing with not one but two prodigals, and we had no idea what to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">During those dark, dreadful days, there were tears, anger, frustration, exorbitant expenses and many sleepless nights. It was only by God\u2019s grace that my children survived. There were many times they could have gone to jail, been critically injured, or even died. Because I blamed myself, my guilt and condemnation caused me to doubt myself and even God. How could He possibly let this happen?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">The truth is: Even <\/span><em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">good<\/em><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\"> kids rebel\u2014and even <\/span><em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">good<\/em><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\"> parents can end up with a prodigal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">I learned that God loves my kids even more than I do, and He is well-able to take care of them. My responsibility is to love them and pray His Word over them daily. Before I could do that with faith and confidence, I had to get my relationship with Him back on track by forgiving myself, forgiving my kids, and by learning to trust God with my whole heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">The road was long and filled with potholes, but God was faithful. He protected my son and daughter, delivered them from the drugs and alcohol, and restored them to a right relationship with Him and with their family. The lessons we learned along the way were numerous. He gave us practical survival tips to keep our sanity in the midst of the crisis and taught us how to stand firmly upon His promises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If you or someone you love is dealing with a prodigal, know that there is always hope. Take it from someone who has been there\u2014and survived.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">Andrea Merrell is an associate editor for Christian Devotions Ministries and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She<\/span><em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\"> is the author of <\/em><\/em>Murder of a Manuscript<em>,<em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\"> <\/em><\/em>The Gift<em><em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\"> and <\/em><\/em>Praying for the Prodigal<em><em style=\"line-height: 1.428571429\">.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s guest blogger, Andrea Merrell, has written a powerful book for parents with prodigal children\u2013Praying for the Prodigal. If you need hope for your kids, Andrea\u2019s book is for you. Your children may be rebelling against God now, but stand firm in your faith. Stand in the gap for them and remember that God loves [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":28580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[361],"tags":[14,80],"ppma_author":[487],"class_list":["post-19819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teenagers","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-stories-of-hope"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hope for the Prodigal Teenager - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hope for the Prodigal Teenager\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today&#8217;s guest blogger, Andrea Merrell, has written a powerful book for parents with prodigal children\u2013Praying for the Prodigal. 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