Few things are more heartbreaking than watching someone you love make distressing, hurtful choices. Whether it’s a spouse, sibling, parent, child, or close friend, their actions can leave you feeling helpless, burdened, and broken. You may be praying, hoping, and waiting for change—but in the waiting, how do you move forward in faith?
The good news is that God is not finished with their story—or with yours. He is still working, even when you can’t see it. Here are six ways to hold on to faith, stay strong, and trust God in the waiting.
1. Release the burden to God (again and again).
It’s easy to carry the weight of their choices, replaying every decision and wondering what you could have done differently. But God never meant for you to carry this burden alone. He invites you to surrender it into His capable hands.
📖 Scripture: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
✍️ Quote: “You can’t fix everything, but you can trust the One who can.” – Max Lucado
💡 Action Step: Each time worry floods your heart, release it in prayer. Picture placing your loved one in Jesus’ arms, saying, “Lord, I trust You with them.”
2. Realize that God loves them more than you do.
The enemy wants to convince us that it’s all up to us to “fix” our loved ones. But God loves them infinitely more than we ever could.
📖 Scripture: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
✍️ Quote: “God loves us too much to let us stay the way we are.” — Max Lucado
💡 Action Step: Replace worry with worship. Every time fear creeps in, turn it into a moment of praise, thanking God for His relentless love for your loved one.
3. Recognize the power of prayer.
Prayer is not just a last resort—it is our greatest weapon in spiritual battles. The enemy wants to keep our loved ones in darkness, but prayer brings them before the throne of grace.
📖 Scripture: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
✍️ Quote: “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Corrie ten Boom
💡 Action Step: Commit to interceding for them daily. Pray scripture over their life and ask a trusted Christian friend to pray with you for this person.
4. Rest in the knowledge that God’s timing is perfect.
Waiting is hard, but God’s delays are not His denials. The Bible is full of stories of people who had to wait—Abraham for a son, Joseph for freedom, and the prodigal son’s father for his child’s return.
📖 Scripture: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14
✍️ Quote: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie ten Boom
💡 Action Step: Keep a journal of how God is faithful to you every day; then let His previous faithfulness be a reminder that He is at work, even now.
5. Rehearse this fact: God can redeem any story.
No one is too far gone for God’s grace. The Bible is filled with stories of redemption, reminding us that God specializes in transforming broken lives.
📖 Scripture: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27
✍️ Quote: “What if your worst chapters could become your greatest victories?” Sharon Jaynes
💡 Action Step: Declare God’s promises over your loved one. Speak life over them, even when their actions suggest otherwise. Trust that God is not finished with them yet.
6. Repeat these statements: “I will guard my heart. I will trust God with the results.”
While praying and believing for your loved one’s breakthrough, don’t neglect your own well-being. God calls us to carry burdens, but not to be consumed by them.
📖 Scripture: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
✍️ Quote: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Corrie ten Boom
💡 Action Step: Stay connected to a strong community of faith. Seek wise counsel, practice self-care, and lean into God’s presence for strength.
Final Encouragement
God is faithful, even in the waiting. Your prayers, your love, and your unwavering faith are not in vain. Keep believing, keep praying, and hold on to hope—because God is still in the business of miracles.
What miracle are you asking God for today? I’d love to pray for you.
Join Gene & Carol Kent, Carol McLeod, and Angela Donadio on September 8-16, 2025 for The Footsteps of Paul tour, with an optional extension to Israel on September 16-20, 2025. You’ll find the complete itinerary and registration information here.
I need a miracle for my marriage. Please pray my husband would have a relationship with Jesus and believe in all his wonders. Pray for me to forgive my husband for false accusations and to rely on Christ for my future
Kristin, I’m praying right now that God will mightily be at work in your husband’s life. I know the “waiting” is hard and forgiveness is a struggle–but it’s also the most freeing choice you can make. God bless you!
Thank you for this helpful email. I thank you for making a difficult time in your life your ministry!
Your words today are so helpful to me and I know others as well!
God Bless You!
Thank you for your encouraging words, Kathleen. Have a blessed day.
Prayers please for my 28 year old daughter, Mallory to be healed from an anoxic brain injury. Thank you
My heart hurts for your pain as you prayerfully wait for healing for your daughter. As I pray for your daughter, I’m also praying that you will experience God’s presence and peace.
Thank you for these words of hope and encouragement. I struggle with not succumbing to despair over our prodigal son, with a history of substance abuse and now in a poor relationship. Please pray for him. Thank you.
Oh, Gracia, I understand the struggle of praying for a loved one over a long period of time. Never give up. I’m praying that God will bring people into your daughter’s life who will remind her of her Christian roots and that He will draw her to Himself. Surround yourself with praise music and know that God hears your prayers.
Carol, bless you!
You have no idea how your words encouraged me today! Every point you gave the Lord has already given to me, but because of the circumstances in the lives of nearly all those I pray for, I wondered if it was really GOD or if I was simply reading into the word some hope for myself. My prayers for my family have gone unanswered for 50 years! I MUST be doing something wrong. I’ve taught the word to women and have loved doing that, but now wonder if I have the right to teach others when my family life seems so barren. Other women come to me for fellowship and encouragement, but today I needed YOUR encouragement so much. Please pray that I would know for certain if God wants me to continue in the ministry I have, because I don’t want to take on what HE hasn’t given me. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I love his Word, but I need to be certain that HE wants me in the position I now hold with my sisters at church. TY.
I’m praying for you right now, Mary!! Much love and prayers.
I’m praying for the restoration of my marriage
Please pray for my adult children. One to forgive and let go of bitterness The other to realize addiction and the hurt caused and quit blaming anyone else. For me to not be prideful and know what more to do. We need reconciliation, healing and relationships restored
Thank you for these words of encouragement. Please pray for our son Jeremy who has been incarcerated in federal prison for nearly 17 years. We have all grown weary in this journey and are praying for relief. We have been waiting for the judge to answer a motion for reduction of sentence since March 26th of last year. He has not said no, so the door is still open. Please God, move in this situation mightily we pray. In Jests name.
Thank you for this such helpful post. It was very encouraging to read. Please pray for me about my weight loss struggles for my health & happiness. Please pray for God’s guidance, wisdom & strength to successfully & with ease get me through these practicums & test I must take to earn my principal certification I’m pursuing. Thank you!
Pray for me to experience true forgiveness again and again. It’s been 10 years since I discovered my husband’s sex addiction. (Porn, strip clubs, massage parlors, prostitutes, affairs, one night stands). I felt so stupid that it had been going on for 40 years without me knowing. It began before we were engaged. He has yet to show true remorse. Quit his counseling. He is doing better but 2 weeks ago I discovered yet another relapse by going to a massage parlor. Pray that he can control this. Pray for me as I am old, tired, frustrated, living with heart failure (which God has blessed me with a good prognosis), wishing I had divorced him 10 years ago, still carrying around resentment, and not sharing this with anyone but my therapist and group therapy. All the world thinks he is a wonderful husband. Thank God for restraining me from shouting to the world!
My son Tyler is currently in jail miles away, fighting drug addiction and felony charges. It’s so surreal, scary and I grieve as his mama to hear his heart after 45days sober. I don’t know the future for him, but I wrestle with God hearing my prayers, finding my own peace and trying to encourage my son while he sits in his mess. It’s hard to find my joy in this season. Pray for my prodigal to surrender his life back to Jesus and that God will fill me with peace and hope in Him.
Prayer for deliverance and salvation for my husband a job. He was laid off recently. For God to intercede concering a house we want to purchase but funds are limited. We need a finanicial breakthrough in that area.
Prayer for deliverance and salvation for my husband and a job. He was laid off recently. For God to intercede concering a house we want to purchase but funds are limited. We need a finanicial breakthrough in that area.
My son is also incarcerated. I have read your books, devotional and heard you speak. We are in our 7th year of this unexpected journey. I pray every day that God will bring our son home, sooner rather than later. My husband and I are trying our best to heal and live our lives. Please pray for all 3 of us, mostly that God brings him home. He was baptized 3 years ago. He was stationed in Colorado. We do not get to visit often. It was hard to go from proud Army parents to prison parents. Bless all of us on this incredibly hard journey.
Carol, your words will minister to countless hearts today and going forward as your post is read. I am finishing preparation to speak at a one-day conference in Idaho in ten days, and one of our sessions is on maintaining communication and relationship with loved ones who feel (or are) far away., whether physically or spiritually.. You and Gene exemplify that. I will include at least one quote from this post in my messages. Thank you for helping us help others!
Please pray for me to trust God through this hardship, its bigger than anything I’ve ever faced . Pray God restores our marriage & draws us closer to him my husband moved out almost 6 months ago and I need God’s strength daily to move on each day . My children also need prayers through this.
please Pray for my son who was diagnosed 14 years ago after a suicide attempt He also struggles with an alcohol and sex addiction He is still really struggling and unable to work talking about suicide We had to call the police when he tried kicking our front door in after a change in meds and the court lied about his plea deal being expunged after 9 months which would prevent him from working with special needs people his God given gift and feeling of purpose I am still trusting God for a miraculous healing He is a believer but I think He is questioning and angry with God
Christina – I am praying for you and your family right now. This is a very difficult journey and I want to encourage you. I advocate for families with mental health challenges as part of their life’s story. You can visit my website http://www.tracyarntzen.com for encouragement and community. May God’s power as manifested through the death and resurrection of Christ be witnessed today in the life of your son. Healing, Praise and may God be gloried in all of this. Amen and Amen
mental illnesses
Thank you for your encouragement for today. I have read 3 of your books over the years and so encouraged how Jesus speaks through you.
Please pray for my son who is living on the street, using drugs and just very difficult person. I have raised 2 of his daughters. They want nothing to do with him. I am tired but I want to focus on Jesus.
What a powerful message! Thank you, Carol.
Thank you for these words of encouragement. I printed them out to use as I pray for my daughter. She was so in love with Jesus and a worshipper. During the COVID shutdown, she started following a “spiritualist” who has led her away from the church. She has gradually been distancing herself and her family from me. I stopped sending scriptures and trying to discuss matters with her and am relying on the true Shepard to use His rod to beat back the deceiver and His staff to catch her from the edge and bring her back to the fold. Please pray with me for her.
Please pray for my son, Matt, who is still awaiting trial for a murder I do not believe he committed. I adopted him from Romania and have struggled with his attachment disorder and his drug use and selling and now he is 34. He gave me 5 grandchildren by 5 different moms. I have tried so hard to help them all and lead them to the Lord and am, at age 73, raising his 8 year old daughter. The 15 year old whom I have helped raise was on suicide watch 2 weeks ago and is being treated for severe depression. I feel so hopeless and don’t understand why with my strong faith and prayer I continue facing all this. I feel attacked from every side and my health is starting to fail. Please pray for all of us Carol. I know your story and have read your books. This blog helped me today! Thank you.
Thank you! I needed this today. Your post was an answer to a prayer. Thank you for being the face of God to so many.
Please pray for the restoration of my marriage and for my husband Steve to come back to the Father. Thank you and God bless!
Thank you,
I will keep reading this weekly. I’m going through so much right now. What an encouragement for me. My daughter and her family, my son and his family and my self going through hardship. I have to remember to keep prayer as my steering wheel. To keep calling on God.
Please pray for my son. He struggles with mental health issues that have turned abusive and violent in the past few years. He will be 20 this year and has already tried so many substances to calm his fears, anxieties and impulses.
God isn’t finished with him and has taught his dad and I so many beautiful lessons through this experience, but it is hard. Some days, I don’t know how to move forward at all.
My brother Steve who has had a problem with drugs had a heart attack on 1-3-25. He has brain damage from lack of oxygen to the brain. We tried taking care of him but it was just too much. I’m praying for him all the time and am so full of fear. How should I pray?