My wife, Jill Herringshaw continues her series, “Prayer for Prodigals” with the following…

Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

The Father takes a bite of a crisp apple. He glances to the skies for a moment to enjoy a bird in flight; then His eyes settle back on the horizon. I join him in His watching. He’s watching for His child. It would be so much easier if He would busy Himself with other activities. Watching and waiting is painful. The time creeps along so slowly. He explains, “Few people really understand the depth of love I have for all my children, most especially my wayward ones. They require more love, and more love is exactly what I have to give. A son whose thoughts deliberately stray from his father, whose heart has left his father, is the father’s obsession. I am obsessed with these wayward ones. They constantly occupy my heart. I leave the 99 to search for the one.”

“I can do nothing without your prayers,” He tells me. “I have limited my power in this world to that.”

Imagine how crazy, even scary it is… But it is what It Is.

“I Am Who I Am.”

Let’s Pray.

Father,

May Your love and justice reign over these loved ones. I ask for a desire to well up within these prodigals – a desire to lead a blameless life. Release your Spirit and mighty warring angels to assist them, Father. May they choose a life of integrity over degradation in Jesus’ Name.

God, make sin appear to them as dastardly as it truly is. May they begin to lose their taste for it. In fact, may it literally taste like garbage in their mouths. I bind the power and alluring qualities of their pet sins in the name of Jesus. I apply the Blood to their lives and demand the devil’s grip be loosed. You have given us authority to bind and to loose. May we have the guts to use it. You have given us the weapons of prayer and worship and the Word. Teach us to wield them on behalf of your beloved, bedraggled ones.

Amen