Teenage mothers

Dear Lord,

I thank you that Mary, mother of Jesus, was willing to carry the child for whose arrival the world had waited so long. Thank you Lord or Jesus, who was that child.

The developed world is now seeing teenage pregnancy as a problem, citing the likelihood that teenage mothers will not complete their education, that they will bring their child up alone, and in poverty, and that both the child and the mother will be at risk of social exclusion.

The developed world points to the high infant mortality in countries where teenage marriage is commonplace, forgetting that it is more likely to be poverty than the age of the mother which is the risk factor.

Father, my prayer is for every child who is born to be a planned and wanted baby. I pray that no child in the whole world should be brought up in such poverty that his or her physical, educational or emotional health and development is at risk. I know that the change has to start with those who have the economic power to make a change. Please help Christians in the developed world to maintain a concern for and a focus on children of all nations, and to see them as a priority.

I also pray that you will fill young people with a knowledge and respect for their own potential, and enable them to develop to fulfill their own potential and their own dreams.