Welcome to our service today. It is great to have you here and we would love to invite you to stay after the service and join us for morning tea.
This week I read an excellent post about how to pray for a prodigal. I wanted to share it as I found it very helpful – this is Part 1, and Part 2 will follow next week…..the author is Harry Vaughan.
“For… my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” — Luke 15:24
Few burdens are heavier than watching someone you love wander from God. Whether it is a son, daughter, spouse, grandchild, or close friend, the temptation is to worry, manipulate, or lose hope. Scripture calls us to do something better – we are to PRAY. Pray for conviction, not merely comfort. Ask God to make sin bitter and righteousness attractive. Pray that the Holy Spirit will expose the emptiness of life apart from Christ. A comfortable prodigal seldom comes home. Pray they will get sick and tired of the pigpen! Pray that God will remove wrong influences and send Godly ones. Ask the Lord to break unhealthy relationships and place faithful believers in your loved one’s path. God often uses ordinary people to awaken a wandering heart.
Pray for circumstances that bring them to the end of themselves. The prodigal son “came to himself” only after reaching the far country. Sometimes the greatest mercy God can show is allowing someone to experience the consequences of rebellion. Part 2 next week…..
With love & blessings, Sandra