Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day 1, episode 64

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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 When You Love a Prodigal and also help and hope for your own life journey.

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Today we are talking about the best help we can be for each other, praying together for

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our prodigals.

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Would you like hundreds, maybe thousands, to pray for your loved one?

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Be sure to jot down some steps you can take as you listen today.

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Probation – one of the best things that happened to our son was to be put on probation

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for two years for a minor incident.

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The consequences were much greater than the events.

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But it was an answer to prayer that we could never have anticipated.

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We had prayed that he would receive some real life accountability for some of his poor choices

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in his late teens.

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Two years of probation put the fear of jail in him.

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Every time he was tempted to make another bad choice, he stopped to think about the

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possibility of getting caught.

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Sometimes he still did it, but often he didn't.

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He really didn't want to go to jail.

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He'd spent a little time there.

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That was one of many answers to prayer, prayed on a June 2nd Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day.

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For the past 25 years, every June 2nd, hundreds, maybe thousands, because we don't really

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know, of people around the world have joined together in a day of prayer for those who

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are walking away from God or their families and often making destructive choices.

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On June 2nd, 25 years ago, our prodigal Josh met Jesus.

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He was living at House of Hope, a nearby residential home for troubled teens.

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His house dad, Mike, really loved him and prayed for him and sought to guide him into

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better life choices.

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On June 2nd, in 1997, he introduced our son to Jesus.

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That evening, Mike baptized him in a nearby lake.

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Josh's life was changed then, and when he came home to stay from the residential program,

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for quite a while, he did really well.

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But wrong friends and the trauma of his early life put him on a roller coaster.

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He would do well and make good choices for days or weeks and sometimes months, but then

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he would go down for many months.

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It was a very unpredictable and sad, hard cycle.

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They went on for about 15 years.

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At the beginning of what became the Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day, we invited friends to

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pray for our son on June 2nd, Josh's spiritual birthday.

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We called it a Worldwide Day of Prayer for Josh, but God said, maybe you could expand

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it a little and pray for others as well.

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The Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day was born and has continued all these years.

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The objective of this day is to come together before God to petition him for the redemption,

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restoration, and deliverance of those we love.

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Most often, these prodigals are our children, but they might also be grandchildren, a spouse,

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parents, relatives, friends, coworkers, or anyone we care about.

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We started by just asking people to give us the first names of people they would like

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to have prayed for.

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We started a list, and then we invited more.

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Every year, we add to the list a first names only for whom prayer has been requested.

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We can use first names because God knows every single one of them.

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He knows who it is.

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We post this on our prayer for prodigal sight, which is a safe place.

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Anyone can submit as many names for prayer as they desire, and you can feel free to do

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that or tell others about this special day.

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It has grown to include hundreds, maybe thousands of prayers around the world.

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So if you love a prodigal, we would love to pray for your loved one.

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And we invite you to join us in praying for others.

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So does this really make a difference?

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A list of what is now 6,000 people names.

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Does it make a difference of a lot of people naming these names to the Lord, even though

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they don't know them?

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Oh, yes.

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Usually it takes a while, maybe a long time, but sometimes it happens quickly.

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Here's in the story of Josh's probation that I opened with.

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Another year, shortly after June 2, the gang our son had joined had a confrontation with

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another gang.

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It didn't lead to violence, but for some reason the other gang thought Josh was the instigator.

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He came home terrified, saying he needed to get out of town.

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Our ministry had a summer conference beginning in Colorado in a couple of weeks, and they

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needed some teenagers to serve in various needs at the conference.

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Josh was not in a place to have been open and willing to do that before, but fear and

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prayer changed that.

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And within a few days, he was on his way to Colorado to work and be with strong believers

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for more than a month.

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Here are a few other stories of prayers quickly answered.

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One son we had prayed for asked to come home, finally accepted help for a substance abuse

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disorder.

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He had been homeless with no contact with his family for a long time.

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They were ecstatic at this answer to prayer.

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Another son finally agreed to go to rehab.

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A daughter who turned into an angry atheist in her first year of college, not wanting

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anything to do with her parents, experienced a radical change of heart through the influence

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of a few Christian friends.

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She is now on fire for the Lord, gave her testimony at church, and is really seeking

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to follow God.

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Another daughter reunited with her parents after years of being estranged due to an abusive

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relationship with a man who kept her from her family.

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When she got pregnant, she reached out to her parents and they welcomed her home and

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their relationship was restored.

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There was a mom who reconnected with all three of her estranged children, children who had

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been adopted and just had a lot of struggles and they rejected the family, but they in

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answer to prayer came home and each one of them was reconnected with the family.

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God hears our prayers and He answers them, but He answers them in His own way and in

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His own time.

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But we can wait and we'll talk about that next week.

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A word of caution as you think of this day of prayer, the evil one, the enemy of our

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souls loves to lead our rebellious ones astray.

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When we interfere, especially through prayer, He reaches out and tightens his hold.

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He's like, no, I'm not going to give them up.

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But we have the power of praying to El Shaddai, the Almighty God.

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But I have found that the devil's efforts are real and it is good to prepare my heart

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and my mind to enter into this battle.

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One of the most effective ways I have found to confront Satan is to give thanks in everything

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as we are urged to do in 1 Thessalonians 5.18.

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You say, really?

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Give thanks?

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I said, yes, if we resist him, we're told in Scripture, he will flee and giving thanks

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to our God sends him running.

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And so our theme for the 2022 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day is Give Thanks.

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And I have been posting a weekly devotional on my blog to encourage you in giving thanks.

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I hope you will read it.

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Ask God to make it real to you and begin to practice it as a way of life.

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There will be a link in the show notes.

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If you have sent us a name or names before because you've been involved with our Day

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of Prayer before, they're still on the list.

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You don't need to add them again.

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But if you're new to the Prodigal Prayer Day, we invite you to send the first names of anyone

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that you would like us to pray for.

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You can do that by writing to us at prayerforprodigals at gmail.com.

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And again, there's a link in the show notes.

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And you are also invited to join the Prayer for Prodigals virtual prayer community.

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This is a safe and encouraging place to post specific requests, not just add a name or

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give a name to be prayed for, but say, what are the needs?

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What can we actually pray?

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We don't make that in a place where anybody could see it at all.

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But we do it in the safe Prayer for Prodigals community.

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So if you were to choose to join, you could post some specific requests and you'll hear

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more next week.

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Others will come along and pray for your request and even write out their prayers.

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And it's just such a blessing to those who are really hurting and struggling with a hard,

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hard situation to see others who understand because they've been walking through it also,

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who pray for them.

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So what about you?

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Would you like to join us?

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The links you need are all in the show notes, whether it's just to give us a name or two

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or three, or to pray for the names on the list, or to even take another step and join

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our community.

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We would welcome you.

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And I would encourage you, if you have friends, and often if you have prodigals, you know

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others who do.

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Let them know about this day of prayer and that we would pray for their loved one.

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And just tell them about it and they can listen, or you can give them the links that are in

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the show notes.

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And we will be so grateful to get to pray for your loved person.

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And as always, I would be grateful if you would take a minute to subscribe or rate.

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Five stars is nice.

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Or especially to write a review and tell others how this podcast has been helpful to you,

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because that will encourage them to listen as well.

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So I'm eager to get to pray for your loved ones.

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And bless you.