 August 18, 1999
Pray for a prodigal child
___GLORIETA, N.M.--At the Glorieta Prayer Conference, Rick and Tracy Lineberger of First Baptist Church in Grapevine offered these suggestions for praying for a prodigal child:
___ Ask God for wisdom. "Our children really are not ours," Lineberger said. "They're on loan to us. It is a journey of faith."
___ Ask God for strength. Struggling with a prodigal child is a "spiritual battle that causes a constant drain of energy, emotion and enthusiasm," he said. "In a time of struggle, we need strength."
___ Ask God to fill your heart with love. Progidals need to see their parents demonstrate unconditional love, he advised. "Unconditional love in your heart can only be produced by the Holy Spirit. ... The power of love changes lives."
___ Keep channels of communication open with God. Even when a distraught parent doesn't know how to pray, the Holy Spirit intervenes and speaks the heartfelt concerns to God, Lineberger said. He quoted the renowned British preacher Charles Spurgeon, who said, "Groans that cannot be uttered are prayers that cannot be refused."
___ Keep channels of communication open with family and friends. "God gives us family to encourage and support us, and we need to be open," he said. "There are good and godly friends who will pray with you and share with you and can be the lifeline that keeps you going."
___ Keep lines of communication open with the prodigal. "Listen, listen, listen," Lineberger advised. "You don't have to agree, but listen."
___ Pray for protection of the prodigal. "Satan wants more than anything else to steal, to kill, to destroy. Pray that God would give his angels charge over these prodigals."
___ Pray for revelation for the prodigal. "Pray that God would reveal to them the error of their way," he said, but quickly added that parents should be open to God's revelation of the error of their own ways as well. "Sometimes God's got something to accomplish in the prodigal's heart, and sometimes God's got something to accomplish in the parent's heart."
___ Pray for restoration of the prodigal. "This book is a book of restoration," he said, holding up the Bible. "Reconciliation is a part of God's plan for our families."
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