Banishing Fear

Fear Not 2—Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day

This is the second of three posts leading up to June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day. Our theme this year is Fear Not. These articles are designed to prepare us as we engage in battle for the hearts and minds of loved ones who are “prodigal” in one or more of many ways. And if you have fears of any kind, read on.

When you love a prodigal, the fear can be overwhelming, can’t it! Just think of all these possibilities:

Addiction.

Pregnancy.

Overdose.

Wrong friends.

Cutting.

Suicide.

The call from the jail, the hospital.

Accident—harming self or others.

Doing something crazy while high.

Identity confusion.

Visit from the police.

Harm to your other children.

Living without God.

Not knowing where they are or what they are doing.

Failing school.

No future.

Fear for your own life.

No contact for months—or years.

No access to your grandchildren.

Fear can be pervasive

That’s quite a list. I think we experienced at least 12 of them with our son. All are quite possible, whether your prodigal is your teen child or adult child, a spouse, a sibling, a parent, a friend… Fear can be pervasive when you love a prodigal.

I know it has been for me. Friday nights were always the worst in the worst days of our son’s prodigalness—he and his friends felt it was their right to have a wild Friday night.

And even today, when he is seeking to make good choices, to choose a better life, the fear lingers and lurks: Will the past return to haunt him? Will one more hard life event trip him up again?

So how do we not live in fear?

We live in the love and goodness of God—for us and for our prodigals.

There are other things we know are true: He is God—sovereign, almighty, omnipotent, the most-high God.

He is good—He does all things well, He is always looking for ways to do good to us, He invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”In Psalm 27:13, King David assures us:

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

God’s Word tells us: “Perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18) And only our Lord has perfect love. He is perfect love.

Yes, He is love. He doesn’t just love. He is love itself. And all the realities of His love—for you and me, and for our loved ones—are for us and available to us for our prodigals.

But bad things still happen. Wrong choices lead to painful consequences—some that last a lifetime People get hurt. Injury. Prison. An unexpected child. Death. A rejection of you!

So where is God’s love and goodness in all those things?

We have no way of knowing all the ways God—because of His great love--has intervened, protected, rescued us and those we are praying for. We don’t know what we don’t know.

But we do know that He allows us—and our prodigals—to make choices, to follow our own paths, to pursue our own desires. And sometimes those choices, paths and desires have extreme consequences.

When I can’t understand what is happening, when it seems there is no good in sight, when surely someone did snatch our loved from His hands, I can’t rely on what I see or what it seems God is doing or allowing.

I must go back to who He is: He is God. He is good. He is love. I must lean into to that goodness, that love, and believe that He can bring good from the worst situation and that He is able to rescue and redeem the most degenerate.

That goodness will cover me with grace and flood me with peace. And that love can banish my fears. And yours!

What fears do you need to banish? Which promises of goodness and love help you to banish fear?

Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day-June 2

Do you have a loved one you want prayer for on the June 2 Prodigal Prayer Day? Write to us at PrayerforProdigals@gmail.com or go to the Prayer for Prodigals Facebook page. Give us the first name of a prodigal you want prayer for.

To learn how you can be a part of Prodigal Prayer Day, check out this link: https://judydouglass.com/prayerday

Hope for Hurting Parents is hosting a Zoom Prayer Call on June 2nd 6:00-7:30pm EST. Register at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtfuuorTwqHtQtDxcFjcDpsVtO9pbLtS6k#/registration

More Resources:

Listen to the devotional: Banishing Fear - Fear 2, episode 147

A powerful sermon series on forgiveness by David Uth. Here’s a link to the 5 messages: https://www.firstorlando.com/service/cancelled/

Songs to help to calm your fears: https://bit.ly/FearNotPlaylist