Prodigal Prayer Day 8: An Anchor for Hope
Will your anchor hold in the storm?
This is the eighth post in a weekly series of mini-devotionals on HOPE, which is the theme of the 2016 June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day. This letter goes to the members of the Prayer for Prodigals community, but it is true for all of us
Dear Lover of Prodigals,
My son Josh and his wife, Lesley, love to fish. Before they moved to their little farm, they owned a small boat and spent many hours in the ocean off Cocoa Beach, and in the shipping channel running by a substantial rock jetty. The fish were usually biting by the jetty.
So they would pick a spot near the jetty, on the edge of the channel, and drop anchor—and fish for hours. Unless, of course, the anchor didn’t hold. Which happened occasionally because of the rocky bottom by the jetty.
Josh describes what they had to do: “I had to drop my pole (hopefully in the boat), run up to the front of the boat and start pulling the anchor in. Lesley would quickly start the engine and turn us away from the jetty—or we could have a big hole in the hull.”
His anchor didn’t hold, which could have been disastrous.
An anchor that holds
But we have an anchor that will hold:
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf….” (Hebrews 6:19-20)
Hope is an anchor for our souls—firm and secure.We have a tendency to place our hope in our prodigals—that they will come to their senses, repent, return, be restored. And they may, but not because they are a dependable anchor. Most of us have seen returned prodigals relapse or turn back to old friends and former patterns.
A dependable anchor must be able to hold to any kind of undersea terrain, strong enough to resist the wind and waves.
We have that kind of anchor. God Himself, revealed in Jesus: "The Lord is my portion," says my soul. "Therefore I hope in Him!" (Lam 3:24).
Hear God's Word for you in Isaiah 49:23. "Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed."
Receive the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 1:18-21. "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Storms ahead
As we enter into the war room on behalf of our prodigals, as we accept God’s invitation to come to His throne of grace, we can do so with confidence that our Hope will hold even in the storms. Jesus is the anchor who is solid and dependable.
On June 2 we will pour out our hearts' desires. We will cry out to our God. We will beseech Him to woo and win, to rescue and restore. We will ask Him, for our own loved ones and all those we have agreed to pray for, to lavish them with love, immerse them in mercy and embrace them with grace.
We know the God of Hope is our anchor, and our anchor will hold.We will join with Micah in proclaiming: "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.' (Micah 7:7)
We will lay hold of this prayer from Paul, our theme verse: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:12-13)
As much as we pursue, pray for, adore, give mercy, persevere, never give up—and so much more in pursuing redemption, restoration, reconciliation, relationship with our loved prodigals—infinitely more does God do all those for us, and for our loved ones.
Thus we can hope.
Holding to hope,
Judy
P.S. June 2 is just a few days away. Please make sure your friends and neighbors who have prodigals know that we will pray for them and their loved ones. Forward this letter to them. Invite them to join with you on Thursday to pray. Gather at your home or a friend’s home, in a church, at lunch at work—anywhere you can. Even pray with a friend over the phone or online.
Our group usually meets for two hours. The first hour is spent telling why we are there or updating the latest on our prodigals. And praying for each other. Then we spend an hour praying over the list (almost 3000 names) so that every one is named before the Lord.
I usually fast that day, and take time throughout the day to pray, naming every name on the list.
You can do as little or as much as you want.
Be blessed, my praying friends.What about you? Will your anchor hold?
c2016 Judy Douglass
If you would be interested in requesting prayer for a prodigal loved one, or being a part of our wonderful praying community, respond in comments or write to me at PrayerforProdigals at gmaildotcom.