I went with a friend this past Friday for the opening debut of the movie War Room.  What a wonderful movie about the power of prayer!!

One of the measures of our faith is prayer!

If I find it hard to pray, that means I don’t expect God to answer.

We need to pray with the belief and expectation that something is going to happen, something good!

We need to ask God for whatever it is we are lacking.

We need to forgive.

We need to let go.

We need to love.

If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it!

There was a time in my life, at the ripe old age of 18, that I became a prodigal daughter.  This may not have been one of the proudest moments of my life, but it was life-changing all the same.

Nearing my high school graduation, with my whole life ahead of me, I chose to run away from home to marry a boy I thought I loved. He was a boy my parents would not approve of me marrying, and one I had “dated” secretly behind their backs. Of course I thought I knew more about life than my parents! My dad had once said to me that if I ever left home that I better take all my things with me because I wouldn’t be coming back, so I had cleaned out my room, taken what would fit in my car and disposed of the rest, and off I went!

Let’s look into the Word of God and relate my experience to the story of the prodigal son and his earthly father (who really was an example of our Heavenly Father.) Think about it, here was this son demanding his inheritance so he could go off and live life however he wanted to, and his father granted his wish.

Luke 15 tells the story this way: 13“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

The thing that impresses me most is that when this prodigal son “came to his senses,” he decided to return to his father. Did he know his father would take him back? Did he know his father still loved him?  I think he was pretty desperate at that point and knew his father was the only one who could help him, and I think he realized that whatever consequences awaited him would be better than the state he found himself in.

The bible says in Luke 15:20, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. This father loved his son and welcomed him back, even held a feast in his honor to celebrate. …for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.~Luke 15:24

So how does this relate to my story of running away? Well, even though I may have taken my dad’s comments to “take everything with me” in the literal sense, they apparently did not reveal his true heart and love for me. My dad and my brother came after me to bring me back home!! If I ever questioned my dad’s love for me, it was solidified that day.  Yes, my dad really did love me and he welcomed me back!  There was no feast or fattened calf, not even a party, but there was love, love and more love, that’s for sure!

Now think about our Heavenly Father and the example Jesus gave in the story of this younger son who demanded his inheritance and went and squandered it all, then came running back to his father for provision and sustenance since he had nothing left in himself!  I am certain that had my dad not intercepted me that day when I ran away from home, I most definitely would have suffered some serious and regrettable consequences and likely would have returned home to my dad asking for mercy just like the prodigal son of the bible!

Aren’t we just like that sometimes? We have to come to the end of ourselves, hungry, lonely, feeling defeated, destitute, broken, and then our Heavenly Father picks us up and loves on us, provides for us, and gives us victory over our defeat. Glorious, glorious love our Father hath lavished on us!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for your unconditional love for us.  Thank you that no matter what crazy thing we might do, You still love us and welcome us back with open arms when we return to you.  Thank you Father for not allowing us to stray beyond your reach.   There is nowhere we can go, nothing we can do, that is too far from your love, mercy and grace, to keep us from returning to your loving arms!

Not again! I just logged out of my email and realized I didn’t do what I logged in to do! Once there, that In-box distracted me yet again. All those new emails staring at me, blaring their subject lines, screaming “Open me first.” Next thing I know, 15-20 minutes have passed and I’ve long since forgotten why I logged into my email in the first place.

Got me thinking about spending time with God. Even with the best of intentions, daily distractions pull and tug at us, luring us away from the One who can help make everything work out right in our day. Proverbs 16:3 says to commit to the Lord whatever we do and our plans will succeed. And in Exodus 14:14 we read these words, The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Be still….now that’s a difficult thing to do!

When I think about this, I realize that I can get so busy being busy, so lost in everything around where I’m going that I never get there, so absorbed in the immediate things in front of me that I lose sight of the important things I intended to do. So often when I want to spend time with God and in the Word, my mind wanders off to all the other things that need to be done. Sometimes that to-do list looms over me so much that I just lose track of what is most important.

Lord, help me to always put You first in my day. Draw me to Yourself and help me to focus on the important and not let the immediate overtake me!

Have you ever felt alone in a situation, wondering if God cares about your struggles? Have you ever felt like just when everything was going good in life, everything went wrong? That was the case with Job, a man considered blameless, upright, and one who feared God.

Job had great possessions, servants, sons and daughters. He was considered the greatest of all men of the East, so much so that God said to the devil, “For there is no one like him on the earth.”

Listen to this account from Job 1:6-12, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. ⁷The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” ⁸The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” ⁹Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰“Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹“But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” ¹²Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”

Many of us know the story of the loss and afflictions Job endured at the hand of Satan, but he continued to praise God anyway. At the end of the story in Job 42, we read these words, “Then Job answered the LORD and said, ²“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”

If we could only be more like Job, knowing and believing that God can do all things and that His plans for us are good. We read in Jeremiah 29:11 the following promise from God, ¹¹‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹²‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’” Notice we have a responsibility in this, to search for Him with all our heart, and when we do this He promises to be found by us and to bless us.

I’d like you to consider the ways that God goes before us, with us and after us. Proverbs 16:9 says that in our hearts we plan our course but the Lord determines our steps. God’s got our back. He goes before us to pave the way, to open doors, to put things before us that will bless our lives, and then He goes with us as we step out in faith and walk through those doors. Even when doors close and things don’t pan out to all that we had hoped for, God is still with us and will still make something good of the situation. Remember His promise in Romans 8:28 which says, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Here again He lays out our responsibility along with His promise to us. We are responsible to love Him, and He promises to make all things in our lives work together for our good. He calls us according to these promises.

I’d like you to think about another thing I believe God does for us and that is that He goes after us. I don’t mean that he follows us and then makes good things of our mess, although He certainly can and does do this. What I want you to think about are times in your life when you strayed from God, times when you perhaps walked in direct disobedience to His word. Did you turn back to Him? Do you believe he was “going after you” to draw you back? I know from personal experience a time when I was walking just that way and I know that my Lord loved me too much to leave me there in that sin. He lured me with His love for me, He called me back into His presence and into a right relationship with Him again. Even in this, though, I had responsibility. I had to recognize and repent of my disobedience and rebellion and ask Him to forgive me, and that was all it took to get right with Him again.

Thank you Father that you do go before us, you go with us, and you go after us. Thank you for loving us even when we are most unlovable. Walk with us this day and help us to never stray from you again. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen