Firstly I’m sorry I didn’t post last week. I was planning to on Monday after my girlfriend had gone back home. But I just didn’t know what to write! Then I knew what I was going to write on Friday, but I received some news which totally changed what I was planning and so took a few days to re-think this blog post.
In the Book of Luke we can read Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.
Luke 15:11-32 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
I can’t get onto my blog here on the ship, but I'm sure in one post I wrote about my life and said that when I was a teenager I left the Army, joined the Navy and moved totally away from God. My life was quite like that of the lost son. I certainly spent my life in wild living, and all it did was get me into trouble and cause me problems.
Lots has been written on this parable and much has been said about either son and which one was right and which one was wrong. What we do not hear a huge amount about is the Father. There is nothing of the pain and suffering he felt about his son turning his back on him and leaving. Although we do see how overjoyed he was to see him return.
One thing I’m sure the Father would have spent a lot of time doing is praying for his absent son. The parable does not state this, but I'm sure he would of; and eventually God answered his prayers and his son returned. How about that for showing the power of prayer!
Years ago I went through a really rough patch in my life. I had just returned from a bad tour of Iraq where I had lost some close friends, my marriage broke down, I was struggling to see my son, and everything just seemed to be against me. To be honest I was in a very bad state, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Even though I had not been back to my Corps for years; there was one Corps member who continued to pray for me. She knew I was going through a hard time, and even though she herself had a very ill grown up son, she took the time to write to me.
I feel totally ashamed now to say the first time my mum gave me a card she had written to me I opened it, read it, ripped it up and threw it in the bin. “What did you do that for?” my mum asked. “Well what do I want that Bible bashing cr*p for?” was my reply. I did have a heart of stone at the time.
But she continued to write and pray for me, and we developed a strong friendship. She was not the only factor in me becoming a Christian again; but she was a major source of encouragement, support and spiritual guidance for me. Especially when my Gran who had always helped me in that way died.
This lady became extremely ill herself and fought a long battle for many years with Leukemia which sadly this week she lost. This news upset me quite a bit, although I knew it was coming it was still hard. I usually don’t get upset when people die, but her death did hit me quite hard. Although I am pleased she is no longer in pain and suffering and she will now be in heaven; I know I will miss her love and support.
It also hurts to have lost someone who was such a positive influence on my life. But it also made me think; who is there now that I constantly pray for? Who is there now that I continue to stay in contact with after they have left the Army?
The story of the prodigal son as far as I am concerned shows the power of prayer to bring people back into Gods arms. I also feel the story of my life does exactly the same. The effect we can have on other people’s life through prayer and a friendly note every now and again can be massive and life changing. Its one of the reasons I'm sat here a Christian now!
I would ask everyone who reads this today to just spend a few minutes thinking who they could be encouraging and who could they be praying for. Recently there have been over 100 people a week reading this blog. If everyone who read it did this and chose one person to seriously pray for every day and encourage by notes, e mails or even snail mail, just imagine how many more prodigals we could all bring back to Christ.
The Sailing Salvationist.
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