When Your Grandchildren Have Drifted From Faith
You prayed over them as babies. You took them to Vacation Bible School. And now your grandchildren are teens or adults who want nothing to do with church, or who have walked away from faith entirely. It hurts.
God isn’t finished
The father in the parable of the prodigal son didn’t chase his son into the far country. He waited, watched and ran when he saw him coming (Luke 15:20). Many people who walk away come back, sometimes years later, often remembering someone who loved them steadily the whole time.
What helps
- Keep loving them without conditions. Your love may be the clearest picture of God’s they still see.
- Stay curious about their lives: their work, friends, music, questions.
- Keep the door open. “You’re always welcome here” matters more than you know.
- Answer honestly if they ask about your faith. Share your story, not a lecture.
- Pray faithfully. Prayer reaches places you can’t.
What usually backfires
- Making every visit about their faith
- Guilt, fear or shame as motivation
- Debating them into belief
Hold onto the promise, gently
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Many Christians read this as a wise principle rather than an iron guarantee. Either way, the seeds you planted are real, and God can water them.
A prayer
“Lord, You love my grandchildren more than I do. Draw them back to You in Your time. Keep my love steady and my door open. Amen.”
See Pass It On and Waiting on the Porch, made for anyone praying for a prodigal.
