There comes a season when our children’s dreams move beyond our reach—sent off into the unknown, waiting on decisions we cannot control. For parents of high school seniors, this year holds both celebration and ache, pride and letting go. God alone sees the full picture. As the year ahead unfolds, He invites us to trust Him more deeply—to place both our children’s futures and our own hearts into His steady, faithful hands. He is the One who holds all things together.
TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
— Romans 15:13 (NLT)
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father,
Tonight we come to You with full hearts and open hands. You see the dreams being sent out, the waiting, the wondering, and the quiet ache of letting go. Increase our trust in You as we step into this new year. Fill us with joy and peace that do not depend on outcomes, but on Your presence. Hold our children as You have always done, and hold us too as we learn to release what we love most back into Your care. We trust that You are writing a story far greater than anything we could imagine.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
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Speak Romans 15:13 aloud and pray it daily over yourself and your child, asking God to replace anxiety with confident hope.
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Reflect on this truth: God is the source of all hope. Where have you been tempted to place your hope elsewhere this season?
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Consider what it looks like to trust God one day at a time. What worry can you intentionally place at His feet tonight?
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Episode Transcript
Life Audio. Thank you for tuning in to your Nightly Prayer,
a podcast designed to help you rest and connect with
your Father in Heaven as the day ends. God is
ready to meet you in this moment of peace. As
you settle into sleep. After this short word from our sponsor,
(00:24):
we'll encounter tonight's devotional, Trusting God with the Year Ahead,
written by Meg Butcher and read by your host, Brooke McLoughlin.
(00:44):
Tonight's scripture, I pray that God, the source of hope,
will fill you completely with joy and peace. Because you
trust in Him, then you will overflow with confident hope
through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans fifteen thirteen.
Something to ponder. There is a prayer I picked up
(01:06):
from a beloved pastor that has worked its way into
my daily prayers. You are the one who holds all
things together, including me. As my oldest daughter turns the
pages on her senior year in high school and submits
her college applications, all the dreams she has been dreaming
are now off in cyber space, waiting on directions. That's
(01:29):
how it can seem when everything we can do to
make them come true is stored in the barn and
waiting on the next step is all that's left. I
have faithfully dreamed those dreams beside her since she was
able to speak them into the air. The word count
between us is criminal, and we're so aware of it.
Her dreams are my dreams for her. When the pressure
(01:52):
and possibility of it all somehow looking different than the
picture in our minds and the plan in our hearts,
is an overwhelming amount of pressure as the applications are
off in cyberspace, and unknown eyes will read letters of
recommendation and make decisions that will alter the next course
of my daughter's life and therefore mine the apostle. Paul
(02:15):
reminds us in this verse of the importance of an
ever increasing trust in God. Each day brings a new
challenge we have to submit to Him in exchange for renewed, refreshed,
and strengthened trust in God. He's the only one who
has all the answers we're looking for, the source of
(02:36):
all life, the one who holds all things together. He
is holding me together quite literally, as I watch all
of the lasts and witness the marking of time in
this final year of her residence under my roof in
my home in close proximity. Letting go will be a
joyous celebration, launching her into the world to bring glory
(03:00):
to God with all of those big dreams and hard work.
What it will look like is something only God knows.
Right now, For now we wait as the new year
flips over. My resolution is to trust God more. It's
the only way I'll make it through the anticipation and
separation of watching my grown baby fly into who she
(03:23):
was always meant to be. Your nightly prayer, Father, bless
and calm us this evening as we wait and wonder
what the next steps in our lives, and for some
of us, our children's lives, will be. Increase our trust
in You God, Joy, peace, and confident hope. These are
(03:45):
the products of trusting You. God. Help us to know
You better, feel your presence more prominently, and habitually leave
our worries at your feet. I pray my daughter's big
dreams and all of the high school seniors a new
chapter in their lives come true in a way only
You can write them, more than we can ask for
(04:07):
or imagine. In Jesus' name. Amen. Three things to meditate upon.
Number one most importantly, recite this verse aloud, stick it
somewhere you can see it frequently, and pray it over
your life and your child's life. I pray that God,
the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy
(04:30):
and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will
overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy
Spirit Romans fifteen thirteen. Two. God is the source of
all hope. So often we allow our thoughts to entangle
us with worry. Focus on this truth. God is the
source of all hope. And number three, God will fill
(04:54):
you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him.
I can't summarize the truth of this scripture any better
than that you will overflow with confident hope. What is
required to accomplish these feats, This is God's character, and
through our full acceptance of Jesus's sacrificial death, we receive
(05:15):
His very spirit who resides in us and accomplishes these
miraculous realities in our everyday lives. Reflect on tonight's prayer
and share how God met you there. Join the Your
Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum. Thank you for
(05:35):
listening to Your Nightly Prayer, a production of the Life
Audio Network. If you found comfort and inspiration in tonight's prayer.
Be sure to follow and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or
wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow Today so you never
miss a moment of peace and reflection to end your day.
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