When I met 11-year-old Emily, the two of us bonded so much that she seemed like a granddaughter. I enjoyed watching her grow into a fine young Christian woman.

Emily was a good student—until her senior year of high school. Ten days before graduation, Emily still had an incomplete in one subject. Her mother lamented to me, “Emily wants to save the world, go to college, get married, have babies—and then finish high school.” She pressed a hand on each of my shoulders and pleaded with me: “Pray!” After seeking God for wisdom, I had an idea. I wrote Emily a note and said, “Emily, I wish we could get together to pray in person, but I know that time is of the essence. Instead, I wrote out a prayer from my heart and I ask you to pray with me.”

I formatted the prayer to fit inside the heart I drew around the words. I referred to the Scripture passage: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). Then I wrote out a prayer for Emily:

Dear God,
I come to You on behalf of one of Your dear children. I love Emily so much, but I know You love her even more. You know the desires of her heart, including her desire to serve You and show Your love to others. Those things are good, but sometimes our zeal for the future gets in the way of tending to the mundane tasks of the present. The future will not unfold without fulfilling the requirements of the present.

Lord, I know the young adult years can be challenging. It’s hard to shape a future without the experience of the past. I pray that You will help Emily to put her past, present, and future into perspective. It’s easy to look at the big picture to the point of neglecting to put together the pieces of the puzzle that are required to move on.

When Emily was a little girl, she said she had a lot of fear until You came into her life and home. She then had a sense of peace. Lord, I pray that You will restore that sense of peace into Emily’s life. Still her mind so she can focus on whatever she needs to do to complete her high school requirements before graduation.

Lord, please thwart Satan’s attempts to derail Your plans for her future. Remove any anxiety that is hindering her ability to function. Send the power of the Holy Spirit to surge through her veins and program her mind with creative ideas that will amaze her and her teachers. Help her prove to the world that she can do all things through the strength You give her.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

After Emily graduated, she thanked me for the prayer. “I read it over and over,” she said. If you know of someone in crisis, write out a prayer for him or her. You might put it on a heart-shaped piece of paper or similar design to express your love and commitment to pray. It could become a lifeline and encouragement for someone who needs an extra lift during a difficult time of life.