A CUP OF COLD WATER

 The Prodigal Child

Sometimes, despite all we do as parents to set our children on the right path, they may, for various reasons, fall into bad company, make wrong choices, develop ungodly lifestyles without regard for family values, and end up in trouble. They become lost, appear to be searching for something but all the time drifting away from God, creating trouble in the family leading to estrangement and a lot of emotional hurt and worry. In 1 Corinthians 15:33, we read: “do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 

There is a story in the Holy Bible about a father who had two sons. The younger son asked for his inheritance and travelled to a far country. He spent his inheritance recklessly and was wastefully extravagant, with no regard for his family values, until he became bankrupt and lived in despicable conditions, eating pig’s food. After suffering for a while, he decided to go back to his father, who welcomed him back into the family. 

Our children become prodigals when they abandoned their faith in Jesus Christ and are indifferent towards godly spiritual things.

When we are faced with such situations as parents, we often focus on where we went wrong with their upbringing and what we could have done differently. As a result, we put undue pressure on ourselves and the rest of the family. Sometimes, blame is disproportionately laid on one or the other parent for how a child has turned out, and the rest of the siblings are kept on a short leash to prevent the same mistakes from happening. However, we are powerless to save our children, and because only God can save them we should seek Him for a solution to the problem. 

We should pray aggressively against the devil’s schemes to hold our children out of the will of God and bound in an evil cycle of self-destruction. In prayer, we must pull down every habitual pattern of bad behaviour and establish what God says about our children. This is spiritual warfare because the devil will not easily give up his prey and neither will we leave our children in his captivity. We must continue to pray until our children are free from the devil’s control. 

When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, they eventually lost it, and so it is with our children; the devil may capture them but he cannot keep them because they are God’s heritage and they have a purpose to fulfil. 

We are assured of victory when we pray because God promised to bring our children back from the land of the enemy, and greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (Jeremiah 31:16–17; 1 John 4:4). Perhaps you're dealing with a prodigal child or know someone who is dealing with one, I encourage us to continue praying for their return to the kingdom of God. Since we are not alone in this battle, we count on the Holy Spirit's help to win the battle, and see our children set free to serve the Lord God with undivided hearts and faithfulness.

Be encouraged!