A Prayer for Someone in Addiction (When You Have Prayed for Years)
Loving someone in addiction is one of the longest prayers a family says. This one is honest about how long it has already been.
The prayer
Lord Jesus,
[name] is not free tonight, and we have prayed for their freedom for a long time.
We are tired.
You know where they are, and what they took, and what they did to get it.
Meet them there - before they hurt themselves, before they hurt someone else, before this year
becomes a year we cannot bring them back from.
Give the ones who love them the wisdom to know when to help and when to step back.
Give the ones treating them the skill and the kindness they need.
Do not let us give up on you doing something we cannot see yet.
Amen.
The verse behind it
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
When to say it
- The night the call came.
- The morning you have not heard from them in a week.
- The Sunday you sat in a pew and could not stop crying.
A note
If someone you love is in danger tonight - from an overdose, from themselves, from someone in their life - please call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1‑800‑662‑4357 or 988. Prayer does not replace calling for help; it goes alongside it.
Send it as a film
Some families keep a short film of Jesus saying their loved one's name on the phone, and send it in the moments they cannot say the words themselves. A Prayer Film for Them.