I wanted to share a devotion that my friend, Tami wrote. She is a writer for ZooKeepers Ministries and she too has prayed for her prodigal son for many years. The key here is prayer... Prayer reaches beyond what we can think or feel and.. when we don't even know what "to" pray we trust that the Holy Spirit is going before the Lord on our behalf. It's then we sit and meditate on God's Word. I've gotten my Bible out and prayed scripture when I didn't know what to pray... My point is... pray! Tami has much to praise the Lord for today because of her faithfulness to prayer... Read her words:
Friday: When it Takes Awhile
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.
Psalm 25:5 (NASB95)I want to close this week of Doses by sharing a bit of encouragement with you regarding a specific prayer being answered in a way far different from anything I would have imagined or initially preferred.
I've shared bits and pieces here and there about our older son and his choice of living a prodigal lifestyle. I can promise you that God has used that situation to teach me a TON about persistent prayer! In 2002, God gave me a promise from Philemon and that promise has been my anchor is a very turbulent storm.
Here's the promise, straight from Philemon 15-16: For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
On another occasion, the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray for him to be drawn back with cords of love. I had no idea at the time that what I had been instructed to pray was found almost word for word in Hosea 11:4. Truthfully, I had been praying, "Lord, if you need to send a Mac truck to draw Him back to you, that's ok!" God's ways are so much better, aren't they!?
Not long after Christmas, the announcement was made that we were going to be grandparents. Joshua and his girlfriend were pregnant! This was not my plan for the my firstborn son but the Lord began to remind me of the promises and Scriptures He had given me to pray. In January, I revamped my prayer journal ... one specific thing for each person ... no more of this praying for all kinds of things ... I would focus on just one thing for each person this year and base it on a specific Scripture.
I am delighted to tell you that there has been exponential growth in my son; our relationship is stronger than it has been in almost ten years and if I could search the world over, I could not find a more perfect young woman for him! God has used some pretty cool cords of love to draw a young couple to Himself.
I suppose I could reject God's answer to my prayers because it didn't come packaged as I had imagined or I can embrace every ounce of it and enjoy the blessings of a restored and expanded family. God gives us choices.
When answers don't seem to come or if they come in unexpected wrappings, I encourage you to press in to the One who loves you and longs to have a relationship with you. He will give you light for the journey and answers along the way. He desires for us to run this race of life with endurance so that we will become perfectly mature, complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4). Constant communication with our heavenly Father makes this possible. I encourage you to determine today to make prayer a top priority for all of your days.
From my heart to yours,
Tami
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.
Psalm 25:5 (NASB95)I want to close this week of Doses by sharing a bit of encouragement with you regarding a specific prayer being answered in a way far different from anything I would have imagined or initially preferred.
I've shared bits and pieces here and there about our older son and his choice of living a prodigal lifestyle. I can promise you that God has used that situation to teach me a TON about persistent prayer! In 2002, God gave me a promise from Philemon and that promise has been my anchor is a very turbulent storm.
Here's the promise, straight from Philemon 15-16: For perhaps he was for this reason separated from you for a while, that you would have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
On another occasion, the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray for him to be drawn back with cords of love. I had no idea at the time that what I had been instructed to pray was found almost word for word in Hosea 11:4. Truthfully, I had been praying, "Lord, if you need to send a Mac truck to draw Him back to you, that's ok!" God's ways are so much better, aren't they!?
Not long after Christmas, the announcement was made that we were going to be grandparents. Joshua and his girlfriend were pregnant! This was not my plan for the my firstborn son but the Lord began to remind me of the promises and Scriptures He had given me to pray. In January, I revamped my prayer journal ... one specific thing for each person ... no more of this praying for all kinds of things ... I would focus on just one thing for each person this year and base it on a specific Scripture.
I am delighted to tell you that there has been exponential growth in my son; our relationship is stronger than it has been in almost ten years and if I could search the world over, I could not find a more perfect young woman for him! God has used some pretty cool cords of love to draw a young couple to Himself.
I suppose I could reject God's answer to my prayers because it didn't come packaged as I had imagined or I can embrace every ounce of it and enjoy the blessings of a restored and expanded family. God gives us choices.
When answers don't seem to come or if they come in unexpected wrappings, I encourage you to press in to the One who loves you and longs to have a relationship with you. He will give you light for the journey and answers along the way. He desires for us to run this race of life with endurance so that we will become perfectly mature, complete, lacking in nothing (James 1:4). Constant communication with our heavenly Father makes this possible. I encourage you to determine today to make prayer a top priority for all of your days.
From my heart to yours,
Tami
