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Summary
- Three prayers from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer fit a troubled son: “For Children,” “For a Person under Affliction” and “For the Absent,” with a fourth, “For the Children,” for parents.
- Short prayers cover bad company, anger, drinking or drugs, trouble with the law, hopelessness, old hurts, safety, direction, lost faith and a son’s return home.
- In the US, 988 takes calls from people worried about someone else; the Boys Town National Hotline (800-448-3000) serves parents and teens at all hours; SAMHSA’s helpline (1-800-662-4357) refers families to drug and alcohol treatment.
- Mark 9 records a father who cried, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief,” before Jesus healed his son; Luke 15 and 2 Samuel 18 show two other fathers of sons who went wrong.
- Catholics ask the prayers of Saint Monica, whose son Augustine records a bishop’s words to her: “it is not possible that the son of these tears should perish.”
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (2 Samuel 18:5, 33; Psalm 121:8; 147:3; Proverbs 2:6; Isaiah 40:31; Ezekiel 36:26; Mark 9:22–24, 27; Luke 15:13, 20, 24; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 6:4; Philippians 4:7; James 1:19). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Prayers and Thanksgivings, “For Children,” p. 43, and “For a Person under Affliction,” pp. 45–46; Family Prayer, “For the Children” and “For the Absent,” pp. 595–596. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Augustine of Hippo. The Confessions of St. Augustine, Book 3 and Book 8. Translated by E. B. Pusey. Project Gutenberg eBook no. 3296. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3296
- Pope, Hugh. “St. Monica.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/St._Monica
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. “Help Someone Else.” https://988lifeline.org/help-someone-else/
- Boys Town. “Crisis Services: Boys Town National Hotline and Crisis Support.” https://www.boystown.org/child-family-services/crisis
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. “SAMHSA’s National Helpline.” https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline
- Samaritans. “Contact a Samaritan.” https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
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