The Reality and Mystery of Prayer (episode 32)

0:00 Do you love a prodigal? Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness? Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15 years in that wilderness. I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey. Today we begin a series on our very greatest resource for living with and loving a prodigal and that is prayer. We are going to do about five sessions on prayer and I hope in this you will find yourself getting equipped with attitudes about prayer and ways to pray. I am going to give you some pretty tangible ways to pray and I want to tell you also that if you can't remember the things that I share, this is chapter six of my book, When You Love a Prodigal. It's a chapter on prayer. So you can get that and read more and have the black and white in front of you as you pray if you'd like. So let's get going on prayer. I looked out from my hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand early one morning. I was surprised to see orange clad Buddhist priests walking the streets. They stopped at home after home as women hurried

1:32 out with a bowl of rice and vegetables for them and offering in request of prayers. That was a normal way. People knew they needed prayer and the monks would pray for them as they gave the monks food. In India, you will often see a wayside shrine on many streets. It's a small enclosure with an image or an icon of some deity to be worshiped and beseeched. People walking by can just stop, pray, ask, and honor the image. In parts of Africa and China, ancestor worship is common as people desire to honor their family members who have passed, but also to ask them for special favors and assistance in their day-to-day lives.

2:29 The point of my telling you those stories, they are just a few examples of the reality that prayer is common to humans around the globe. Most people find life uncertain, threatening, frightening, so they turn to someone or something that they hope has a power that can help or rescue or set free or give hope. Those of us who worship Jehovah God rest in the assurance of a personal relationship with him through his son Jesus. We naturally turn to him in times of trouble, which he has repeatedly invited us to do. We call this prayer.

3:20 For these next episodes of the podcast, we will seek to understand and practice prayer for ourselves because we need it and for those we love, no matter where they are in our product radical journey. A psalmist who sounds a lot like David to me says, because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. When you love a prodigal, you will do that just as the verse says. You're going to pray as long as you have breath or until you see the answers on behalf of that loved one. You try everything. You try discipline, contracts, changing schools, counselors, professional help, residential programs, rehab, and the list goes on. And some or all of your efforts might be helpful. But when you can't escape the wilderness, you are desperate. You fall on your knees. You know he is the one who can help. God's timing table is rarely the same as ours, as yours. And you discover that he is just as desirous of working in your life as in your loved one's life. I don't

4:54 know if I'm always appreciative of that. But you persevere. For me and my journey with my prodigal, prayer became like breath for me, an ongoing intimate conversation with this God I was learning to know so much more deeply because of this journey. As we make our way through this prayer study, may you join with the children of Israel as they prepare to return from captivity, relentlessly petitioning our God, even as he asks. Just listen to this word from God. I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest. And get this, give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. So we are not to rest from praying for our loved ones. God says, give him no rest. We're not to rest and we're not to give him any rest until our prayers are answered. Did you know that God had made such an invitation in scripture? He says, don't rest, keep praying, but don't let me rest. I'm listening and I will answer. We can say yes to that invitation. Yet, I

6:32 would say prayer is a mystery. I bet you would too. Now, I'm a fan of prayer. I believe in prayer. I say often that the work of God is done on our knees. Then we find out what happened. I even facilitate a virtual global prayer for prodigals community. Yet, to me, prayer remains such a mystery. How in the world could the Most High God, who created it all, invite me to talk with him, to make requests, to ask his favor and his action on my behalf?

7:18 How indeed. Yet, he does. Listen to these things he says to us. He says, come, ask, confess, inquire, thank, trust, cry, wait, pray. He also says all the time, without ceasing, without worry, without fear, without giving up, with thanksgiving and with faith. He adds, I will listen. I will hear. I will respond. I will answer. Wait, I have a better idea.

8:07 And he adds some more. He says, ask for more. I have more to give. Ask for the impossible. Ask for your heart's desire. I am already answering. He reminds us, ask in my will, check your motives, be bold, believe. It's a mystery for sure. I choose to walk with him and talk with him, to thank him and bless him. But I also cry out to him and beg to know why. I believe and I doubt. I ask with bold courage and trembling fear. God says, these are amazing words. You can move my hand. You can affect those you love in the world beyond. You can even see miracles. Then he adds, you have not because you ask not. Ask.

9:20 I love it when you come to me to talk with me, to share your heart and your hurts and your confusion and fears and hopes and needs and desires. He really wants to know what's going on inside you. When you open your heart to me, he says, when you tell me how you really feel, when you love to be with me, when you obey and trust, I'm listening. I'm there. I will answer. We talk, God and I. I listen and God listens and responds. He hears my prayers and he answers. How can this be? Yet it is. Prayer is a mystery, but we're invited to step into this conversation with God. So think about this. What is the most mysterious thing about prayer for you? What's the biggest question that you have to understand and believe that you can come in prayer to God on behalf of your loved prodigal or any other need in your life? Have you reached the point where that I did where prayer is like breath to you? You're just talking to God all the time because you're so desperate and you know he

10:51 is the one who can answer and meet your needs. God bless you. Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement of Jesus. Don't forget, take a look at the show notes. And for more helpful information, resources, and books, check out judydouglass.com. That's Douglass with two S's. You can find me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417. Until next week.