Treasures from the Wilderness: Gratitude
Once a month I write a letter to the wonderful Prayer for Prodigals community I am part of. Often those letters, though specific to those who love a prodigal, apply to any or all of us in the challenging circumstances of life.
We have now entered into spirit and heart preparation for the June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day. Each week we will be going to God’s Word with open spirits and hearts to hear from Him, to be ready to enter into the battle for the souls of the wanderers we love. Our theme this year is Treasures in the Wilderness.
Dear Lover of Prodigals,
Yes, it’s a wilderness out there.
As we love a prodigal, we may walk through a dry and thirsty desert, a dark, dense forest, a steamy jungle, the endless outback or a vast wasteland. Whatever the path our loved one has taken, we may feel frightened, lost, overwhelmed, abandoned, devastated….
Yet as we have made our way through our wilderness over the past two months, when we have kept our eyes open and our hearts attune to the Spirit of God, we have discovered valuable treasures. God has been so kind to give these gifts to us:
Dependence on Him
Praying without ceasing
Unconditional love
Knowing that God is always working
Blessing, not cursing
Never giving up
Delight
Talk about treasures. These are amazing gifts from God given to us via our unknowing prodigal.
Our obvious response is to say “Thank You, Lord.” So we see He has given us one more treasure: Gratitude. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
In my more than 15 years walking through deep wilderness with our loved one, one of the most important gifts I received was to learn to give thanks in everything. Every.single.thing. Every disappointment, fear, hurt, loss, despair.
That gift has stayed with me and continues to sustain me in good times and challenging times. An ongoing gift. May it be so for you as well.
Gratefully,
Judy
P. S. June 2 in a couple of days. We at Prayer for Prodigals are busy receiving your names and requests and adding them to the Prayer Center and adding names to our BIG list to pray for.
We will be praying for every name throughout the day. Many around the world are praying. We hope you will join us—any time, for as long as you can or want, by yourself or with others.
We have an enemy who relentlessly pursues our loved ones and us. We are told to resist the devil and he will flee. We do that best on our knees, whether literally or figuratively.
Our prayers and our thanks to God will send the evil one running. God is also relentlessly pursuing our prodigals, and He will keep pouring out love, mercy and grace to woo those wandering ones back to you and me, and to Himself.
You will hear from me once more a few days after June 2. And then we will return to a monthly letter.
May God surprise you with His blessings as you pray.
If you are a member of the Prayer for Prodigals community, you can access the List here—you will be asked to sign in. If you want to join the community, write to us at prayerforprodigals@gmail.com.