God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. The lips that uttered them may be closed in death, the heart that that felt them may have ceased to beat, but the prayers live before God, and God’s heart is set on them. Prayers outlive the lives of those who uttered them; outlive a generation, outlive an age, outlive a world. –E.M. Bounds
If you have a share in a story like mine, you understand the pain of loving a prodigal. Your prodigal might be a spouse, a parent–or, like so many, a treasured and precious child. I know my experience is far from singular.
The Christian speaker’s adult child has turned from God to alcohol….the Sunday School teacher’s son glares at the clock as the passing of each day reminds him the iron bars are a visual representation of choices that have bound him to more than this place…the adopted child raised “in the fear and admonition of The Lord” lives for the next high…and, for at least the last four years my own son has walked a painful path–his soul searching for fulfillment in a lifestyle devoid of the God he trusted as an innocent boy.
And that painful path? He may not realize it….or may even resent it–but, my heart has been with him the entire time. Like Mary, I feel “as if a sword had pierced my own soul”. But, I refuse to give up the fight for this is “not a battle against flesh and blood…but against the powers of this dark world”.
Above all, I know that neither your prodigal nor mine wanders alone. In the dead of the night…when the lion of this world prowls about seeking to satisfy his gluttonous hunger, the Lion of Judah stands strong and vigilant–the eternal victor who “will contend with those contend with you, and your children I will save”.
Be encouraged, Friend, and continue to pray on behalf of those who refuse to pray for themselves. If you do not have a prodigal in your life, then pray–without judging–for someone who does.
Scripture for Reflection
Ephesians 1:18-19
John 16:33