Prodigal Prayer Day: 1. I Am the Bread of Life

In all the uncertainties of life, especially when you love a prodigal, and especially in this pandemic time, we seek something or someone solid, dependable, a sure foundation. We have all that in Jesus, whose name is I AM. Over the next few weeks, leading to the June 2 Worldwide Prodigal Prayer Day, we will discover seven ways Jesus is all we need—the seven “I Ams” He called Himself. (Read John 6.)

What food are you yearning for more than ever as we “shelter at home”? Chocolate? Coffee? Or something more basic like eggs or bacon or a hamburger?. Or maybe bread.

In many parts of the world bread is a primary staple. Even if you have little else, you have to have bread.

In John 6 we read the story of Jesus multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish into an abundance that fed some 5,000 men and also the women and children who were with them. With 12 baskets of leftovers.

The next day the people thronged to him. He said to them, “…you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:26-27)

Then He added: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry….” (John 6:35)

Bread for Those Who Love a Prodigal

Hunger is a real thing for much of the world. Right now people are starving because the Covid-19 lockdown is preventing them from going for food. Many others were hungry long before a lockdown.

Jesus, though, is talking primarily about a spiritual hunger. He offers a relationship with God and eternal life. He knows about our desire for purpose in life, for love and acceptance, for being valued, for people to love and be loved by. He understands.

And He tells us, if we will receive and eat the bread of life, we will begin to find those things. (We will discover many more things we receive from Jesus as we study the “I Ams” of Jesus over the next few weeks.)

Bread for our Prodigals

Our loved wanderers are hungry too. Some of them are literally hungry for food—their choices have left them destitute. But most of them are spiritually hungry for what Jesus can give them, even though they don’t or won’t recognize it.

Perhaps they have had a real relationship with the Savior, but have turned from Him. Many may think they belong to Christ, but have never really repented and received the forgiveness He has purchased for them. And some have never even considered Jesus.

But most of them have some kind of pain or loss or trauma in their lives that causes them to seek to satisfy their deep hunger with the things of the world.

How do we help them begin to look for Bread in the right places?

First, we let them see us letting Jesus be the one who fills us and satisfies us. Conversations, yes, but not preaching and pressuring. Rather, we live it out.

We also learn to let Christ guide us so we reflect Him in our words, our tone of voice, our actions. Sometimes I have had to stop, think what Jesus would say or do, and let Him live through me. (You might want to read The Voice of Grace from my book.

And, of course, we pray. We can ask God to reveal to them the emptiness—and danger—of the “food” they are choosing; to woo them back to Himself and to us who love them; to protect them from the world, the flesh and the devil; and to open their eyes and hearts and minds to wholesome, satisfying Bread of Life that He offers.

A prayer for this week: Father, thank You for sending Your Son to be our Bread of Life, to give us a relationship with You, eternal life, and the meaning and purpose for which you created us. May I and my prodigal choose You more each day.

c2020 Judy Douglass

P.S. If you know of others who love a prodigal, be sure to invite them to give us the first names of those we can pray for on June 2. Or we would be glad for them to join in the Prayer for Prodigals Community. Write to PrayerforProdigals @ gmail.com. (Remove spaces.)

You might be blessed by this song.

Photo by Helena Yankovska on Unsplash