Praying for Prodigals

Jesus really is the best story teller.

From Luke 15 in the NLT…

¹¹ To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

¹³ “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. ¹⁴ About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. ¹⁵ He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

²⁰ “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹ His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.^[a]’

²² “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³ And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Recently, I learned one of my new friends had gotten sucked back into wild living and had a relapse. Statistics reveal that anywhere from 40 to 60 percent of individuals who struggle with addiction will experience relapse. And sadly countless individuals lose their employment, families, freedom, and even lives as a consequence of relapses. Yet, research also reveals that there are 3 prevention strategies that significantly decrease chances of relapse. These strategies are: therapy and skill development, medication management, and monitoring/accountability. While these strategies are all wonderful and helpful, I have seen over and over how the power of the Holy Spirit radically accelerates healing and rehabilitation, especially in collaboration with these other strategies.

The power of the Holy Spirit is truly what leads a person to come to their senses. This is what the bible calls conviction. And it is the Word that is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.

This is why I’m so passionate about leading bible studies at the jail and in recovery community groups. The Word of God stored in our hearts teaches us, and corrects us, and trains us. And the Word is also the weapon God gives us to fight our enemy, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Even Jesus used scripture to fight the devil when he was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. We just studied this passage of scripture Monday at the jail bible study and my eyes were opened to see that Jesus’ only weapon was scripture.

From Matthew 4 in the NLT…

During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴ But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,

‘People do not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, ⁶ and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you.
And they will hold you up with their hands
    so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’^[c]”

⁷ Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

⁸ Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

¹⁰ “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God
    and serve only him.’”

¹¹ Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

Join me in praying for hearts to be open to receive the gospel. For these precious women to repent and be baptized every one of them in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, so they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (adapted from Acts 2:38 NLT).

Join me in praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to be a Helper so prodigals do “come home” and so they would not conform to the patterns of this world, but would instead be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). That they would store God’s Word in their minds and use it as a weapon against the deceiver whose only purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy in people’s lives.

I’m also praying for a small group of ministry partners willing to partner through monthly support, which would allow me to do this ministry vocationally. If you (or your church) is interested in supporting me as a missionary here in North Iowa, you’re invited to do so using the link below. When you give, it opens an option to do “one time” or “monthly” giving.

https://infaith.org/ministries/ashley-coleman

With Love,

Ashley