4 Prayers for Foster ParentsSample

Pray for Wisdom

Being a foster parent will throw out every illusion of control you thought you had. It comes with high uncertainty, unpredictability, and uncharted territory. As foster parents, we need God’s wisdom. We have to have His discernment to walk wisely in these places where the boundary lines are blurred, and every case seems more confusing than the last.

In the year and a half that I’ve been a foster mom, I have had three placements and two respites, and no one case has been like the other. With every new case, I was faced with difficulties that were not like the last. With every new case, it has become ever more apparent that I lack important knowledge.

Prior to becoming a foster parent, I read a dozen books on foster care, listened to every podcast about fostering I could find, and completed 30 hours of trauma-informed parenting training. Yet, I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.

I could let that discourage me, or I could turn to the One who does know what He is doing.

In James, we are told that God gives wisdom generously and ungrudgingly. We do not need to fear that the Lord is tiresome of our many requests of “lead me,” “tell me what to do,” and “what do I do next?”

We have to be humble enough to admit that so often, in our roles as foster parents, we lack wisdom. We do not know what is best. We do not have the infinite knowledge that our God holds.

But praise be to God; we have access to the God who holds that infinite knowledge. We can go to him and ask Him for wisdom, and James tells us it will be given to us.

Today, pray this prayer, “Holy Spirit, help me discern wisely as I lead the children that come into my care. I want to do things Your way. Guide me and give me the wisdom I need today to lead these children.”