Displaying items by tag: prodigals

Tens of thousands of people have prodigal family members. The dictionary defines a prodigal as extravagant, a big spender. The word describes the son in the well-known parable: does it also describe the Father, who threw a great extravagant feast in honour of to his errant son? You might empathise with him; he loves his son but has not seen him in many months and is worried about his adventure in the big, wide, often dangerous world. Fathers, mothers and siblings of prodigals know the deep ache as they pray for them to come back to Jesus. Prodigals are on God’s heart. Ask Him to prompt families to know when to open a reconciling conversation, and when to remain silent. May there be strengthened relationships so that people draw closer together.

At our recent Watch + Pray gathering, we had a strong sense to pray for our prodigals.

Tens of thousands of people have prodigal family members. Christmas can be a hard time. The Dictionary describes a prodigal as someone is profligate, a big spender, and extravagant. It describes the son in the well-known parable – does it also describe the Father – who threw a great extravagant feast and gave presents to his errant son? Was he the prodigal Father? You can probably empathise with this man, who loves his son but has not seen him in many months and is worried about his adventure in the big wide, but often dangerous world.

As a Father, Mother, sibling, child of a prodigal you know the deep ache as you pray for them to come back to Jesus. Expect more from God, prodigals are on His heart. Ask that God will give you the words you need to help open the conversation. Ask for your relationship to strengthen so that you will draw closer together. Hear God’s promptings on when to open things up and when to be silent. Pray for the future.

We are spending a lot of time in Isaiah 61, where the spirit of the Sovereign Lord anoints us to preach the good news. Pray for that anointing with your prodigal. But go beyond this as they hear and respond to the good news the people in Isaiah 61 turned into oaks of righteousness. Such a picture of stability and strength. More than that they move on to Rebuild, Restore and Renew the broken places. It’s our conference focus in 2019. This is our hope and expectation that many of those called to rebuild, restore and renew will be restored and released prodigals on fire for the gospel.
So let’s keep praying. Let’s keep listening to God and let’s expect the goodness of God to breakthrough.

Father God, we pray You will call our prodigals home and give them a clear revelation about Jesus this Christmas. Put a longing in their hearts to come back to You and prepare them to serve You and grow in understanding who You are. Mend and restore broken relationships.

Steve Botham, Director of World Prayer Centre