“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3 John 1:14
No mom wants to admit that she has a prodigal child. It’s devastating to talk about. Heart-wrenching.
In a momma’s heart, a prodigal equals her failure as a mother – even if she knows that her adult children are responsible for their own decisions – she can’t help but feel like if she would have done something differently, they wouldn’t have turned from God.
Knowing the truth that we are all sinners by nature and by choice… and that we all have to come to the crossroads of faith where we choose to walk with God or choose to walk without Him… Yeah… knowing all that doesn’t sooth a prodigal’s momma’s heart.
It just doesn’t. It can’t.
I’ve talked to far too many moms lately whose hearts are breaking and whose lives seem to stand still as they pray and helplessly wait for their prodigals to come home.
I’m one of those moms.
So, I’ve been pretty angry lately.
I’m angry because I see so many moms who helplessly watch their teens and adults turn their hearts from God and run from the very One who loves them with an everlasting love and the only One who can save them.
I’m tired of seeing the culture ransack the faith of our children and wreak havoc on their once-tender hearts.
Aren’t you?
I’m tired of seeing those precious children of ours who once quoted Scripture now quote liberal and progressive icons who have twisted the truth or completely denied it.
Aren’t you?
I’m tired of watching our once-discerning children become adults who have little to no discernment.
Aren’t you?
I’m tired of watching children who once stood strong for God choose to live a life contrary to His Word and His will.
Aren’t you?
I’m tired of watching children of promise and potential become adults without either.
Aren’t you?
I’m angry because alcohol, drugs, and pornography are holding so many adults children hostage and stealing their hope and their future.
Aren’t you?
I’m an angry mom… aren’t you?
I remember when we were lived on the mission field and we were struggling with some issues in our family. I looked at my husband and said, “I will not win a nation and lose my own son!”
No matter how successful I am in life, if my children do not walk with God, I will feel as though I failed in the most important role I’ve ever been given…the role of a mother.
I realize that our job is to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; that we are to live out loud for Jesus in front of them and that we are to equip them in the Word. I also realize they are responsible to God for the choices they make once they become adults.
But just because the clock of life ticks past the magic age of 18, it doesn’t mean we stop praying for our children. We never stop being a mother, so we can never stop praying for our children.
Whether your little bundle of joy still resides in your womb or lives in his or her own home, you are a mom… and we all know – there ain’t no love like a momma’s love!
That means, no one will pray for your kids like you will! No one will love your kids like you will! No one will bombard heaven for your kids like you will!
When we think of prodigals, our minds often shift to pig pens… to lives lived in reckless abandoned to the whims of the wayward.
But not every prodigal is found in a bar, some prodigals are in the pew.
Today, I want to remind moms there is hope for every pew sitting prodigal as well as every pig pen dwelling prodigal.
God’s Word is full of promises that tell us He loves our children more than we ever could and He knows exactly what each one needs to go through to come to that place where they will humbly come home.
I want to encourage your heart with a word from the Word. Promises God makes us. Promises we can cling to. Promises we can trust because we can trust the character of the One who made them.
You see, sweet friend, one of the beautiful truth’s in Scripture is that God’s blessings to us often are found in the blessings He pours out on our children.
In Isaiah 44:3, He says, “For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring”
Isaiah 54:13 tells us, “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
Isaiah 59:21 says, “And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
In Ezekiel 36:25-28, God says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
As you pray for your prodigals today, pray these verses back to the Lord. Trust Him to be who He says He is and do what He says He will do.
It’s time to unite sweet moms!
ADD YOUR CHILD’S NAME IN THE COMMENT SECTION AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LISTED THEIRS.
Let’s unite and bombard the heart of God with our prayers for our prodigals today!
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