This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they will return from the land of the enemy.  There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “And your children will return to their own territory- Jeremiah 31:16-17 NASB

Prodigal. 

In the Greek it means “wasteful”, “extravagant” or “reckless”. 

A prodigal is anyone who knows about God who has chosen to live their life apart from God. Spiritually speaking this type of living is extravagantly “reckless” and “wasteful”. Christians most commonly use the word prodigal to describe a child who grew up in a Christian home and has chosen to walk away from what they were taught (Luke 15:11-32). 

There are a lot of prodigals in this world (2nd Timothy 3:1-5). 

Some have chosen to ignore God and live their lives as if He doesn’t exist, others openly rebel against Him (Psalm 14:1). Sadly, a good number of prodigals have walked away from their families as well.  The reasons for the spiritual defection are varied. Some had negative experiences with church as children or young adults that soured them on Christianity. Some prodigals simply love sin more than they love God. Some had questions or concerns about Christianity that never got answered. Still others have been ensnared by a toxic therapy culture which encourages people to ditch anyone or anything (including God or the families that raised them) that does not make them feel great about every choice they make. 

To the people who love them a prodigal is a walking heartbreak. 

The most valuable thing anyone can do for a prodigal (child, sibling, friend or parent) is to pray for them. No one has ever been talked out of a life of sin, self-interest, or debauchery. Nonetheless many people have been prayed out of such things and into the kingdom of God (Romans 8:26, 1st Corinthians 6:9-11).  Sometimes family members find themselves at loss as to HOW to pray for their prodigal. The spiritual condition of a prodigal is precarious. They have willfully denied truth.  This choice will lead nowhere good without an intervention from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, hard prayers are very much in order. Following are five prayers every prodigal needs someone to pray for them daily. 

Pray they will weary of worldliness and sin-

When we choose not to follow God we always choose worldliness or sin of some sort. The thing about sin and worldliness is that they will never satisfy the soul, bring peace or deliver what they promised. Truth-be-told, worldliness and sin do the exact opposite, sin always leaves the sinner in turmoil and wanting more. Pray your prodigal will experience in their soul the emptiness of sin and weary of the life they have chosen. 

Pray their pride will be broken-

Anyone who looks around at the way this world was created and chooses to conclude there is no God is irrational and arrogant (Romans 1:18-20, Psalm 14:1).  Those who believe there is a God but also believe they do not need God or are above bowing their knee to God is bloated with pride (Proverbs 16:18). One or the other of these scenarios is a reality with all prodigals. Those who love a prodigal must pray that God will do what needs to be done to get their prodigal to a place where they set aside their pride and submit their life to the leadership of the God who made them (Luke 15:14-20).  

Pray they will be surrounded by people who know and love God-

Because of pride and/or shame few prodigals seek out their family members for advice or spiritual wisdom even when they want or need it. Therefore, it is critical every prodigal has at least one person in their life who loves Jesus. We must pray that God will surround our loved one with spirit-led Christians who will love them with the love of Jesus and speak truth to them. 

Pray deception will be lifted so they can see the truth- 

The goal of Satan is to blind people to the truth of God so that they will reject God (2nd Thessalonians 2:9-10, 1stPeter 5:8). Satan uses lies and deception to keep prodigals from seeing where their choices will eventually lead them. It is critical we pray that the any deception the enemy is using to divert or deceive our loved one will be lifted so that are capable of seeing spiritual and moral truth. 

Pray they will see the underbelly of whatever lifestyle they have chosen over God- 

Many prodigals leave what they have been taught about God to embrace a lifestyle that is contrary to biblical teaching. Those lifestyles are often centered around sexual immorality of one sort or another (promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality, transgenderism). All these lifestyles feel good (at least in the beginning) but they all have an ugly underbelly, a dark side that people need to see so they will want to break free of spiritual bondage that accompanies those choices.  Pray your loved one will have the eyes to see what’s wrong and icky with the life they have chosen.

And finally, 

Pray they will come to understand how deeply God loves them. I am convinced prodigals never really knew God or understood how much He loves them. If they did, they would never have walked away. Pray your prodigal will come to understand the depth of the love God has for them (Zephaniah 3:17, John 3:16, Romans 8:37-39, Ephesians 2:4-5) Knowledge and gut-level understanding of God’s love is total gamechanger in the life of a prodigal. 

Every. Single. Time.