Focus on the Family

What To Do When Your Adult Child Walks Away From God (ft. Mary DeMuth)

One of the most common struggles Christian parents face today is navigating relationships with adult children who are distant, making painful choices, or walking away from their faith. In this powerful conversation, author Mary DeMuth discusses how parents can respond with love, wisdom, and faith—even when their hearts are breaking. Mary shares deeply personal stories, biblical insight, and practical guidance from her book Love, Pray, Listen, helping parents release control, grieve unmet expectations, and trust God’s work in their children’s lives. This episode addresses deconstruction, boundaries, finances, estrangement, sexuality, prayer fatigue, and the importance of unconditional love rooted in Christ. What you'll learn in this video: 🔹Why parenting formulas don’t guarantee faithful adult children 🔹How to love your adult child without compromising your convictions 🔹The difference between healthy support and enabling 🔹How to trust God’s sovereignty when your adult child walks away 🔹How to pray with endurance when God’s answers seem delayed Get your copy of Mary DeMuth's book, "Love, Pray, Joy: Parenting Your Wayward Adult Kids with Joy" here: https://bit.ly/3ZbcBnV --- Chapters: 0:00 – Christian Parents Struggling With Adult Children 5:00 – A Story of Trauma, Faith, and God’s Pursuit 10:00 – Letting Go of Control When Parenting Adult Children 15:30 – Boundaries, Money, and Not Enabling Adult Children 21:00 – How to Repair a Broken Relationship With Your Adult Child 26:30 – Supporting Adult Children Without Re-Parenting Them 32:00 – How to Keep Praying for a Wayward Adult Child 37:30 – Loving Adult Children While Holding Biblical Convictions --- Check out Focus on the Family on social media! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/focusonthefamily Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focusonthefamily X: https://twitter.com/FocusFamily --- #FocusontheFamily #ChristianParenting #AdultChildren #WaywardChildren #ProdigalChildren #FaithAndFamily #ChristianEncouragement #ParentingWithGrace #PrayingParents #TrustGod ---