Can God not see my broken heart or hear my prayers for my prodigal?

October 11, 2013: Can God not see my broken heart or hear my prayers for my prodigal? Please “Share” this new Blog Post for Precious Prodigal: http://www.preciousprodigal.com/blog/blog=index.html

1 Samuel 7:9 “…Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that He will save us out of the hands of the Philistines.”

The Israelites had a history not unlike our prodigals. They were loved and cherished by God, and He continually poured out blessings upon them. Then they would go off into sin, turn their backs on God and everything that was right, bringing upon themselves the judgment of God and the natural consequences of their wrong choices. Repentance would follow judgment, and God would hear them and deliver them. However, their repentance was always short lived, and as soon as the heat of oppression was relieved, they would be off and running, doing the same things, repeating the same mistakes, and breaking the heart of God all over again. Sounds like the pattern of my prodigal and yours, doesn’t it?

In 1 Samuel, the Israelites had returned to God, at least for the moment, and God was getting ready to free them from the oppression of the Philistines. It wasn’t going to be an easy battle, but it was a battle and a victory that had been determined before God laid the foundations of the earth. They were frightened, unsure of themselves…perhaps even desperate, and they asked Samuel to “cry out unto the Lord” for them so that He would “save them out of the hands of the Philistines.”

My own heart was convicted as I read those words and remembered that my prodigal is as much a captive as were the Israelites and to a master even more cruel than the Philistines. I’ve many times heard the families of prodigals say their situation is so desperate all they could do was pray. I don’t doubt that their situation is desperate, but “all they can do?” It’s the greatest possible thing they can do, that you can do, that I can do. It’s also the most effective.

The battle we are fighting and that our prodigals are fighting is no less fierce than that of the Israelites, and the enemy is no less formidable. However, the outcome of that battle…the victory…was also determined before God laid the foundations of the earth. My job, my responsibility, my privilege in the meantime is to continue to pray and to trust God until I see that victory. My heart was touched when I read the heart-breaking plea of the Israelites, “Cease not to pray…” God help me to remember when I’m tempted to give up that my prodigal isn’t able to pray for himself right now. Help me to pray without ceasing.

Challenge for Today: Can you, just for today, refuse to stop praying? Can you believe that, regardless of how you feel, your prayers are effective...that God hears them and sees the silent pain in your heart?

Author's Note

October 11, 2013:
Can God not see my broken heart or hear my prayers for my prodigal?
Please “Share” this new Blog Post for Precious Prodigal:
http://www.preciousprodigal.com/blog/blog=index.html