There's a mother in the 4th century who refused to stop praying. Her name was Monica, and her son was tearing her heart apart.
The Son Who Walked Away
Augustine was brilliant, restless, and completely uninterested in his mother's faith. He chased philosophy, relationships, and every intellectual fad of the Roman Empire. He fathered a child outside marriage. He joined a cult. Monica wept for years, watching her son sprint in the opposite direction of everything she'd taught him.
She didn't give up. Not once in seventeen years.
The Bishop's Promise
At her lowest point, Monica begged a bishop to talk some sense into Augustine. The bishop refused — said the young man wasn't ready to listen. But seeing her tears, he told her something that became one of the most famous lines in Christian history: "Go your way. As you live, it is impossible that the child of those tears should perish."
She kept praying. She followed Augustine across the Mediterranean — from North Africa to Rome to Milan — never letting go of the thread between her prayers and his life.
The Garden in Milan
In 387 AD, in a garden in Milan, Augustine heard a child's voice saying "Take up and read." He opened Scripture to Romans 13:13-14. Everything changed. The intellectual rebel who'd spent two decades running became one of the most influential theologians in human history. His *Confessions* has been in print for 1,600 years.
When Augustine finally told his mother, she wasn't surprised. She'd already seen it in prayer.
What This Means for You
Seventeen years is a long time to pray for someone who shows zero signs of changing. Monica's story doesn't promise your timeline will match hers. But it does say this: the prayers of a parent are not wasted words. They land somewhere. They accumulate. And sometimes, the person you're praying for becomes someone neither of you could have imagined.