A prodigal is a person who at one time received Christ as Lord and Savior, but has since strayed from God and is no longer living in obedience to Him. The term comes from a parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand why our wayward loved ones are running from God, and we try desperately to save them. I have found that the more we preach at them the faster they seem to run. We eventually discover that we can’t save them. It is a work of the Holy Spirit, and our part is to pray for them, love them, and live a Christ-like life before them.

Like the Apostle Paul, we too must wait for an open door to minister. When Paul and Silas were visited by God in prison, their shackles were loosed. When the jailer saw what happened, he asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

This was an open door to talk to jailer about Christ.

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NASB)

This verse doesn’t mean that just because the jailer believed in God, his family was saved also. But once a person comes to Christ and prays for his or her household, God will make Himself real to them, and it will be very difficult for them to turn their back on the Lord.

It is God’s will to save and deliver your loved ones. And because it is His will, you can believe that when you pray, God will answer your prayers in His way and in His timing.

Listen to this promise from 1 John 5:14-15.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears uswhatever we askwe know that we have what we asked of him.” NIV)

Even though we have this promise, it’s tempting to look at the circumstances in your prodigal’s life instead. When we do that, it becomes easy to doubt and feel helpless.

Listed below are some things that you can do to turn your wayward loved one back to the Lord:

• Believe the word of God more than what you see with your physical eyes

• Pray God’s word. Find personalized scripture promises at www.gardenoftheheart.com/prayers/prodigals.htm.

• Ask God to remove the veil that is blinding them to the truth.

• Wait for an open door to minister to them.

• Demonstrate God’s love.

• Pray daily for them.

• Do not judge them.

• Hate the sin, not the sinner.

• Trust God (Trust in the Hebrew means “a confident expectation of what God is going to do, not a constant anxiety”).

• Be an example of living for Christ in all that you do.

• Wait patiently for the harvest of their souls.

• Keep a journal and record what God is doing in their lives.

• Learn all that you can about how to pray effectively for their hearts.

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” (James 5:16 NASU)

Pray and never give up. Even though it looks like nothing is happening, always remember that because you are praying, God is at work deep within their hearts.

Find more information on how to pray for your prodigal at
www.gardenoftheheart.com/teachings/prodigals/prodigal_teachings_index.htm.

Copyright © 2006 Garden of the Heart Ministries

Debra Bosacki is co-founder of Garden of the Heart Ministries.
She is an intercessor, author and speaker at seminars, retreats and conferences. She teaches an online course called Intimacy with God through Journaling.

She is also an administrative assistant for The Foundation for a Great Marriage.

Debra has been married for thirty two years to her husband, Gene, and is a homemaker and mother of five children. She resides in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

To visit her web site go to http://Gardenoftheheart.com