About

From Carolyn M.

In 2016 Laura P. came home after a very long season of being a prodigal and living as a man. Her parents and many others praying diligently and fervently for her. God heard those cries and rescued her out of the darkness and into His kingdom of light. God has done a miraculous work of transformation in her life even to the point of bringing her a wonderful husband, Perry S.

After Laura returned home, her mom, Francine P., started praying for prodigals before presenting her weekly Bible study. I had been attending her study and offered to share a scripture prayer one day at Bible study. Sometime after that Francine decided we needed to have a dedicated time set aside to pray for our prodigals. I led those sessions with scripture prayers and now we have a couple of other ladies who help lead. We simply meet to pray trusting that God hears our cries. We rest in Him for the results. I like to say we are waiting with great expectation to see how God will answer our prayers!

We know that heartfelt cries are lifted up to heaven by parents, family members, and friends all over this globe on behalf of loved ones who have walked away from God or who may have never truly received salvation. We lift up our eyes and hearts to heaven because we know that God has observed our grief and suffering over our prodigals. He has heard our groaning and has taken notice of us. Just as He heard the groaning of the Israelites and came down to rescue them, we trust that He will come down to rescue our prodigals from the power of the enemy. That is our hope, a hope that anchors our souls securely in Christ because of His love for us and our prodigals and His power to save and deliver them.

The prayers that I will post here are based on scripture, usually what I am studying or reading at any given time. I simply take the Word and turn it into a prayer such as this one:

We know that God’s Word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It can pierce the hearts of our prodigals as far as the division of soul and spirit and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of their hearts. Our prodigals are not hidden from His sight, but all things in their lives are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.  We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, so we hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses or the weaknesses or our prodigals, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore, we draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. From Hebrews 4:12-16

My plan right now is to post one prayer a week. I have notebooks full of prayers going back years and a lot on my computer, some that were used in the Prodigal Prayer Guide that the American Family Association published a couple of years ago. I hope that these prayers will help you as you cry out to God for your prodigal and perhaps even help you write your own. God loves to hear His Word prayed back to Him. And I hope that these prayers anchor your soul in Him. I know there are times when my soul is in despair, and “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13) I sometimes feel like my flesh and my heart may fail, but “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. The nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all His works.” (Ps. 73:26 & 28)

This is my prayer for you and for your prodigals:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

Therefore, my beloved friends, be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord, yes, wait for the Lord!  (Psalm 27:14)

A note from Francine P.:

I am so thankful that God brought Carolyn to my Bible Study group and connected us through prayer. I so appreciate and love her ability to compose Scripture prayers related to our prodigals. Her prayers are a blessing and a comfort to the heart of a hurting Mom.

A note from Laura S.:

Never give up on your children and loved ones. We were all God’s prodigals at some point. He loves them more than you ever could even fathom. I would not be here if it weren’t for the prayers of my family and the many others in their church who prayed for me. God heard their cries.

May this website not only refresh your heart in guiding you through praying for your prodigals but also in drawing you closer to the Lord in fellowship with Him in His Word. May He reveal His heart for you and may you see them through His eyes.