Joy 4-Joy to the World, episode 106

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

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here at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast, and also help and hope for your own life journey.

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Today you really might want to have a pen and paper because the second half of our time

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today will be about the Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day, which is in a few days.

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So hopefully you have practiced walking in the Spirit and giving thanks the past week

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and are finding increasing joy in your life.

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So what do you do with this abundance of joy?

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And even if it's not abundant yet, if you keep practicing those two things, it will

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become abundant.

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Well, here's my suggestion.

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You give it away.

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What?

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Huh?

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But I just got it.

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The funny thing is, the more joy you give to others, the more your joy will multiply.

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So I titled this episode Joy to the World because I really only have two recommendations for

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giving joy away.

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First, you want to give your joy to your prodigal.

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And then to everyone.

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To everyone.

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Well, everyone you know.

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Encounter.

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Influence.

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Wherever you go.

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I promise you can do this.

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Have you noticed that our emotions are often contagious?

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If you are around someone sad or complaining or angry, it rubs off on you often.

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You feel down or annoyed or angry.

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It's like that with joy too.

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A truly happy, joyful person spreads it around without realizing it.

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So to give joy to your prodigal, just be joyful.

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Let them know that they are one source of your joy.

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That they give joy to you as a person.

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You've loved them since they were born.

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You've loved them since you've known them.

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And so there's joy in that love that you've experienced with them.

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So let them know.

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Tell them.

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Tell them that you value them.

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Let you even treasure them.

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Speak the joy.

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Show it.

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And sometimes you can even overdo it.

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Not too much, but sometimes.

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It may take a while, but as they realize this new you isn't going to yell at them all the

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time or accuse them all the time or condemn them, they just might begin to like you again.

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To believe you really do love them and are on their side.

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Maybe their behavior will begin to change and they even find joy.

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So I would start with your prodigal, but don't wait till you see the change begin to let

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your growing joy bubble over to the people in your life.

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Play the rest of your family and extended family that can be hard because you've been

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pretty crappy perhaps during this prodigal wilderness journey.

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Let them see the joy that God is working into your life.

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Your neighbors, even the one who lets their dog use your yard, you know, show them some

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joy.

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Have a happy face that's real because there's joy in your heart.

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You can share joy with people at work or at church, where you shop, maybe even that homeless

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person you pass often.

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I assure you every single one of them can use more joy in their lives.

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So ask God to let His unquenchable joy flow through you and touch a life in a beautiful

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way.

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That's what I mean by joy to the world, that you can be part of giving God's joy that

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flows through you to others.

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And if God challenges you to be even more intentional, to tell people where your joy

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comes from, Jesus, you might be like a happy virus infecting people with the love of God.

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So let me tell you about Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day.

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I'm going to answer what I hope are all of your questions briefly, and they will be written

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some links in the show notes.

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And also, I will have a lot of this available on my blog so that you can read it there or

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at the Prayer for Prodigals website.

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You'll hear about that.

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Okay, a story first.

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It was June 2nd several years ago.

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18 of us made a large circle in my Florida room.

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We each shared briefly why we had come, just a little picture of our journey with the prodigal.

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What did we have in common?

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Only one thing, perhaps, we each loved a prodigal.

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Some were just taking their first shaky steps in this wilderness.

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Others were feeling their way in the shadowy darkness.

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A few had stories of light and new life and great hope.

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We had all come to the only place we thought offered any answers on our knees.

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At first our prayers were tentative.

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Were these people safe, but then honesty, vulnerability, tears opened our hearts, and

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we connected together at the throne of grace, petitioning our God for each other, for the

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many on our list that requested prayer, for our own loved ones, and for ourselves.

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In the end, we recognized that our prayers were as much for ourselves as for our loved

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wanderers, and we acknowledged that loving a prodigal was indeed a wilderness journey,

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but that each beloved prodigal was a gift, a true treasure to make us more and more like

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Jesus, and gratitude filled us even as tears flowed.

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And now it is almost June 2nd again, time for the 26th, I believe, Worldwide Prodigal

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Prayer Day.

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Let's look at how it happens each year, how you can be a part of it, as much or as little

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as you desire, and then I will tell you about our wonderful year-round virtual, safe, and

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private prayer community.

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Once you have submitted a name or several to be prayed for on June 2nd, then what?

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You might be asking who prays for them, or how do I participate?

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Let me answer the questions we often get asked.

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First, who may pray for prodigals on June 2nd?

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Anyone, and everyone can pray from all over the world.

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Most often, the people who love and at risk or rebellious family member are eager to pray.

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Well, what is prayer for prodigals?

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Do I have to be a member?

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Prayer for prodigals, or P for P in short, is a community of people who have joined on

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our password-protected website for resources, encouragement, and a safe place to request

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prayer and to pray for others.

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It is free, and it's all online.

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We at Prayer for Prodigals sponsor the Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day, but you don't have to

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be a member to pray with us on June 2nd.

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Some information, resources, and personal requests are available to members only, again, to be

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protecting a people's privacy.

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And you are very welcome to join, and I will explain how in a moment.

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So how do we pray on June 2nd?

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Again, you may pray any way that works for you.

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You can pray as long or as little as you like.

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Most people try to join with some others, some friends, maybe some neighbors, people

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from your church.

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You can do it in a small group, or we learned how during the pandemic to do it on Zoom or

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Google Meet or other ways to connect online.

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Sometime, anytime during the day, we're looking at 24 hours, but of course that's around

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the world, so it's really a lot more than 24 hours, depending on where you are.

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Or you can pray by yourself, and that's what some people prefer.

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I usually pray on and off throughout the day, and this year I will be joining in on a Zoom

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call for some people who are spread out over the U.S., I think there could be some from

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other parts of the world.

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And then we usually end up with a group that comes to a home and meets.

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That used to be my home, but my home's not quite ready since my husband passed, so we're

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meeting at a church to pray together.

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If you don't have a group to pray with and prefer to have people to, you're welcome to

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join us in our Zoom call, and the link will be in the show notes.

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So you really meant to say, well, how do we pray?

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Not how do we pray on this day.

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Again, in any way that you are comfortable.

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We have a booklet, Prayers for Your Wilderness Journey, that offers a variety of ways to pray

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and a lot of helpful scriptures.

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And here are some other helps for prayer.

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One is called Prayers for People I Love, and I wrote that, and 15 Prayers for Children

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and Grandchildren.

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And all of those links will be in the show notes, and you can just click on those and

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you can download and print out any of those resources that you want to use.

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So what is the list you've mentioned?

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The list is the centerpiece of the Prodigal Prayer Day.

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At this time, we have more than 8,000 names for whom prayer has been requested.

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It's all only first names, but God knows each one.

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And some of us will pray through the entire list, lifting names up to God, asking for

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him to keep on loving and pursuing them, drawing them back to those who love them and to himself.

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We will pray for a section of the list, it's alphabetical, so they might pick the J's

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or the M's, what may be the first letter of their prodigal.

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Or they may just start at the beginning and go as far as they can or start at the back

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and go as far as they can.

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We ask everyone who's participating in the World Right Prodigal Prayer Day, try to spend

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some time praying for people on the list, but you can pray for your friends and you

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can pray for your own prodigal.

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If you are a member of Prayer for Prodigals, you can access the list there on the welcome

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page.

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If you're not a member, you are welcome to join us.

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You can access the list at the link in the show notes.

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I don't always get through the entire list on June 2nd, so I keep praying as days go

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by so that I cover the entire list.

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You can use it all year.

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Some of us zoom several times in the following days or months to keep praying so we cover

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the whole list.

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So how do we put names on the list?

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Well, the easiest way is to write to Prayer4Prodigals@gmail.com.

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That will also be in the show notes.

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And you can continue to add names for this year's prayer time on June 2nd even.

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Anything else?

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To bless and encourage you as you pray, you might enjoy this prodigal playlist on Spotify

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and also the songs that I'll include this time for your joy list.

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Then some of you might want to join the Prayer4Prodigal virtual community.

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We have intentionally required a password so that you will feel safe and comfortable

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to post specific requests for your loved one and related challenges.

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And others will feel safe posting their requests.

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The best part of it, being in the community, is you go back to your request that's posted

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and you find that three, four, six, or eight people have written out prayers for your loved

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one and for you.

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It is such an incredible blessing.

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Most of us with Prodigals know of others who love a prodigal.

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Please let them know about June 2nd, the Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day and the Prayer for Prodigals

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community.

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Again, encourage them to write us at prayer4prodigals@gmail.com.

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And May June 2nd be the beginning of transformation in your prodigal and in your heart filled

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with joy.

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God bless you.