Two Sources of Real Help (episode 6)

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Do you love a prodigal?

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Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

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Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast.

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I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15 years in that wilderness.

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I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

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Welcome back or welcome for the first time.

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I'm so glad you have joined us.

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I believe we have a couple of truly helpful resources for you today.

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I hope you enjoyed last week's interview with Dan Wolgemuth, the president of Youth for

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Christ.

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He talked about his ministry's work with at-risk kids and about the time he spent incarcerated

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at a juvenile detention center.

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If you haven't listened to it, I encourage you to check it out, episode five.

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Now for today's episode.

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Our son, the proverbial tough guy, came home with fear in his eyes.

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His friends, that is his gang, had gotten in a dispute with another gang.

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Somehow he became the focus of the anger of the other gang.

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Threats ensued.

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His bravado disappeared.

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The fear was real.

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He wanted to get to a safe place and he hurried home.

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This happened shortly after June 2nd, the first worldwide day of prayer for Josh.

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The beginning of our 15-year prodigal wilderness, which I described in episodes two and three,

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had become increasingly challenging.

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Nothing we had tried seemed to help our son make better choices.

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And we had become increasingly desperate.

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I knew we needed help, supernatural help.

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So I declared June 2nd, Josh's spiritual birthday, when he had met Jesus, as a worldwide

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day of prayer for Josh.

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Because of our ministry, I had friends around the world.

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Many were prayer warriors and many had prodigals.

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So I emailed them and invited them to join me in praying for our son.

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I gave them some requests and they prayed.

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And Josh came home a few days later, afraid for his life.

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Our ministry had a big conference in Colorado beginning in about a week.

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Josh said, may I go and serve on the work crew there?

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So we made some calls and soon Josh was on a plane to Colorado.

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To me, this was clearly an answer to our prayers.

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Not only was he safely away from the gang, the angry at him gang, as well as his own

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gang, but he spent the next month surrounded by young people and adults who love God and

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reached out to him with love.

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Josh made friends, other teens and adults who cared for and connected with him.

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Still some of them are connected to him.

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But as you know, this was early in our 15 year prodigal wilderness.

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Josh returned home and before long, he returned to his friends.

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The gang conflict was gone, but other challenges resumed.

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So every June 2nd, I asked again for friends to join me in praying for him.

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Every year there were good changes, but often they were temporary or new opportunities for

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trouble arrived.

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Alcohol, drugs, girls, the internet.

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I actually learned the internet, tracking our son on it.

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As June 2nd approached again, God suggested that there were many other prodigals needing

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prayer.

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So we began the worldwide prodigal prayer day every June 2nd.

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Each year, hundreds of desperate people give us the names, we use first names only, of

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some loved one to be prayed for.

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Each year we have a theme and each year I have written an eight week devotional study

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to prepare our hearts to pray for these loved ones.

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Our themes have included love, grace, rest, time.

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You know, the most common question almost that anyone who loves a prodigal asks is,

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how long Lord, how long?

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Prayer, oh, so many others.

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Lots of things we're looking at in the word of God to help us as we're on our prodigal

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journey and to help us pray for these whose names have been given to us.

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And so now every June 2nd around the world in small groups or large churches, in homes,

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for a few minutes or a few hours, people join together to bring the names of now thousands

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of loved ones before the Lord.

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I usually have a group come to my house on the evening of June 2nd.

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It's been as small as a dozen and up to maybe 30.

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The first hour we each share our prodigal story briefly and pray for each other and

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our loved ones.

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The second hour we spend going through this list of several thousand names, making sure

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we lift every name to the Lord.

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We would be glad to add the names of your loved prodigals as well.

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And I invite you to pray with us.

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If you want to give a name to us to pray for, write to me at prayerforprodigals@gmail.com.

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There can be humor in the midst of the struggles.

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All of a sudden, our still prodigal son was having a worldwide ministry, touching the

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lives of other wanderers as we prayed.

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Every June 2nd, now that he has abandoned his prodigal ways, I remind Josh that this

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is his day and he is having an amazing ministry.

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But there's more.

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One day a year was not enough.

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The Prodigal Prayer Day also evolved into a virtual prayer community called Prayer for

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Prodigals.

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This private online community is available day and night all the time.

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We pray for each other and each other's loved ones.

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Anyone can give us a name and, if desired, specific requests.

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These are posted on our website.

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Again, we only use first names.

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Other members pray for the requests and often actually write out their prayers on the site,

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which is a beautiful blessing to the ones requesting prayers.

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Let me give you an example.

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Here was a recent request.

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Hello, PFP community, Prayer for Prodigals community.

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I am so thankful to have found you.

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My 28-year-old son has been on a difficult journey with substance abuse and bipolar disorder

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for the past 12 years.

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He's been in rehab, jail, prison.

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He is currently back in jail and needs the Lord to fight for him.

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Someone in our group responded with this prayer, Father, please bring healing to this man.

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This has been a long journey.

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I pray for the right treatment plan for him.

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May he find hope and believe that he can get help and be stable.

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Please bring people to minister to him while he is in jail.

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Please bring the truth of scripture to mind during this time for him and his parents.

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Please show them grace and mercy and your strength through this time and always.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Here's another request.

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Our oldest has battled with drug addiction since he was 14.

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At 34, he's being released from prison after 12 years and is joyful about a new life.

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Pray he continues to seek God in this new chapter, gets a job, stays sober.

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I am rejoicing in his return.

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God is so faithful.

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And another member of our community prayed, Lord, we pray for this man.

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You have seen his battle with drug addiction and his time spent in prison.

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Thank you that he is looking at this as a new start.

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We do pray that he will be able to get a job.

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Prepare people at his new work and we pray that believers will be there.

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We pray that he will have your strength to stay sober and that he will continue his walk

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with you.

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One more from a mother.

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My adult daughter is using alcohol and cocaine, has mental issues.

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She's been evicted.

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She's living in a hotel.

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She walked away from her precious children.

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We all want to help her, but she's changed her phone number.

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Don't talk to anyone.

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Please pray for her.

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And so a member of the prayer for prodigal's community posted this prayer.

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Lord, we pray for this woman.

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You see her.

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You love her.

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You ache because of the choices she is making.

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We ask that you break through her mental issues and break into her heart that has become so

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hard.

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Help her to see how others want to reach out to her, to love her, to help her.

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I pray that she will begin talking and others will know how to respond.

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Lord, you can work miracles and we pray for miracles in her life.

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We love getting updates, continuing to encourage prayers and seeing amazing answers from God.

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The prayer for prodigal site also has some resources, some spiritual help, some practical

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helps.

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And I write a monthly letter to the community and those are available on the site as well.

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We invite you to join us in the yearly worldwide prodigal prayer day every June 2nd and or

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in our always available virtual prayer community.

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Or either you can write to me at prayerforprodigals.gmail.com.

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Or if you have a group of friends you can share and pray with, that is great.

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But community and prayer are essentials as you navigate your wilderness to have people

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who are on the journey with you and have the connection to God himself who is the one who

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can bring about change.

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God loves for us to come to him in prayer.

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In John 16 we read that God himself, Jesus is saying, until now you have not asked for

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anything in my name.

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Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete.

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He is saying come, ask me even for your loved prodigal.

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And then in Matthew we read where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I

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am with them.

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So when we come together with others to pray for our own loved ones but also for theirs,

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God is there.

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Jesus says I am right with you and I will hear and I will answer.

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Those are the powerful resources I promised.

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Community and prayer and even greater power is released as we walk with others on this

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journey and pray together.

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Please join us with beseeching our God for the hearts and minds of your prodigals but

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also of others as well.

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Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal podcast.

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If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple podcasts

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or wherever you listen.

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Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement of Jesus.

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Don't forget, take a look at the show notes and for more helpful information, resources,

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and books, check out judydouglass.com.

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That's Douglass with two S's.

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You can find me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417.

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Until next week.