Not Doing This Alone: Faith for Single Moms and Single Dads

For the parent who does the drop-off, the pickup, the bills, the bedtime and the 2 a.m. fever, alone.

Maybe you’re a single parent through divorce, the death of a spouse, or a relationship that never became a marriage. However you got here, you know the weight: every decision, every “no,” every bill and every prayer lands on you.

Here are some true things to hold.

1. God sees the single parent

When Hagar was alone in the wilderness with her son, out of water and out of hope, she put him under a bush because she couldn’t watch him suffer. “And God heard the voice of the lad” and opened her eyes to a well (Genesis 21:17–19). Earlier, she had named God “Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13). He sees you too.

2. God calls Himself a Father to the fatherless

“A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation” (Psalm 68:5). Whatever is missing in your home, God has made it personal: He steps into that gap for your children, and He defends you.

3. Your family is not a lesser family

Timothy, one of the most trusted leaders in the New Testament, received his faith from his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). God doesn’t need a certain family shape to raise up faithful children.

4. The church is supposed to show up for you

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Needing help isn’t failure. It’s exactly what the church was made for. Let people bring meals, give rides and sit with your kids.

5. You need care too

Single parents pour out all day and often have no one pouring back in. Jesus withdrew to rest and pray even when people needed Him (Luke 5:16). Taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. It’s how you keep going.

6. Grace for the hard days

You will lose your temper. You’ll forget the field trip form. You’ll feed them cereal for dinner. “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed… they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22–23). Tomorrow is a new mercy.

Start here

Our free tool Not Doing This Alone asks what’s heaviest (exhaustion, money, guilt, decisions, loneliness, church, or the other parent) and gives you a truth, a prayer, one doable step and practical help. For your kids tonight, try the Bedtime Blessing.