Praying for Your Prodigals

As Christians who love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, follow Jesus, have a close relationship with Him, trust Him and surrender our lives to Him, praise Him that He is the provider of every good thing, know that we are saved from sin by His shed blood…, it is difficult for us to understand how anyone can live without Jesus in their life. It is especially painful when people have been raised in the faith and then abandoned/turned their back on everything they learned and experienced. We see them walking in their self- sufficiency, looking to the world for all of their answers and carrying heavy burdens. We worry about their salvation. They may even be opposed to our faith and mock us. What are we to do? What are we to say?

PRAY! And Love Them where they are. Just as Jesus does.

Their eyes are blinded and their ears plugged so that they cannot hear the truth from us. The message gets twisted between our speaking and their hearing. Feelings may be hurt. Tempers may flare. They want to do things their way. So, we pray for them …

Giving thanks to the Lord for creating them, declaring that He has plans for them, plans to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them hope and a future!

Speaking life and hope into their lives.

Praising God that He is putting people in their path, who will guide them into truth; that He is protecting them from harm and removing any negative or destructive influences.

Asking God to call them by Name and woo them back to Him, letting them know that He delights in them and He will never leave them or forsake them.

May they call out to God in their distress, understanding that God is for them and is the way, the truth and the life—that the world does not have the answers and cannot be trusted/depended upon to save us. 

May they come to God for rest when they are weary, putting their burdens at the feet of Jesus, and finding that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

We Pray for years or decades. We release them into God’s loving care. We pour out our hearts to God. We never give up!

Continue to live your Christian life and “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."

The Prayer Team is pressing in to contend in prayer for your prodigals! Submit first Names in the Prodigals box outside the worship space or use the Prayer Request online or in ConnectApp. “Prayers for Prodigals” prayer cards are also available for you to take.

Prayer: Father God, we lift your name on high and sing your praises. You are a good, good Father and we lift up our prodigals to You—those who have left You to go their own way. We pray for their return to You so that they may live an abundant life, filled with the Holy Spirit and producing good fruit. We confess that sometimes we just want to “fix” people, telling them what they need to know and do, but that is not your way. Call them and anoint them for what You have planned for them, for their good, Your purpose and Your glory. May we be a beacon of Your light. May our joy in you be our strength.

In Jesus’ Name, AMEN

By Anita Bradberry, Chair

AGMC Prayer Team