Praying for Your Prodigal

“Some of you may be in that place of grief. You’ve done everything you can do, and it isn’t working. But the situation is not over! Why? Because we believe in the power of God.”

Some of you have been praying a long, long time for your child. You feel like you’ve done everything you can, but there are things you have no power over. And when you try to exercise control over those things, you get stressed and anxious. But there is still something left you can do.

In 2 Kings 4, we meet a Shunammite woman. She encountered the prophet Elisha, who promised her a baby despite her advanced age (v. 16). His promise came true, but when the boy was still young, he became severely ill. The child ran to his father complaining about a terrible pain in his head. And despite his mother’s best efforts to hold and comfort him, he died.

Some of you may be in that place of grief. You’ve done everything you can do, and it isn’t working. But the situation is not over! Why? Because we believe in the power of God. Notice what the Shunammite woman did next. She called her husband (v. 22) and asked him to get things ready so she could go find the man of God, Elisha. He probably thought, this is not logical. Our son is already dead. There is no hope.

But there is nothing more powerful than the faith of a parent who chooses to persevere. The Bible says that “when she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet” (v. 27). She refused to leave until Elisha would hear her situation and come with her. When Elisha reached the woman’s house, he saw that the child was dead. Verse 33 says that the prophet prayed to the Lord, twice stretching his own body over the child’s lifeless form. And to everyone’s surprise, God worked a miracle...the boy “opened his eyes” (v. 35). This story should reassure us that even when others give up, when others say it is too late, we can go to God expecting miracles.

My mother is in her late 80s and lives in Spain. She will often call me up and say, “I prayed for you this morning.” I am the beneficiary of this fierce, godly woman who storms the throne of God on a regular basis to intercede for her children and grandchildren. So if you are praying for a prodigal son or daughter, do not give up! God is moving pieces behind the scenes when you pray. We worship a Miracle Maker!