photo by Ulrike Mai on Pixabay

Do you feel helpless, lost, or powerless to know what to do for your child who suffers with addiction, mental illness, self-harm or some other destructive behavior? Join the club. Every parent in our circumstances struggles. We sure did.

Overwhelmed, we didn’t know where to turn. We were desperate to do whatever we could to save our daughter: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. What do we do? There’s plenty of advice out there, but we were confused what was right for our situation. How would we decide?

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from a favorite devotional book: Moments for Families with Prodigals (moment 81) by Robert J. Morgan.

The author says we have three powerful weapons in the fight for our children’s souls. He code named them PTL: Prayer. Time. Love.

P = PRAYER

We can pray anytime, anywhere, without ceasing. As Archbishop Trench puts it, “We must not conceive of prayer as overcoming God’s reluctance, but as laying hold of His highest willingness.”

His will is that none should perish. Jesus taught us to pray and not give up; that we should believe and ask for the impossible. Anything was possible for him who believes.

Prayer is the most important and powerful thing we can do for our prodigal.

T = TIME

photo cred. David Bartus

It takes time for many prodigals to come to their senses. “Maturity, recovery, and rehabilitation are processes.” But time is on our side and their times are in God’s hands. After all, it’s taken a long time for Him to work on us, hasn’t it?

We can be confident of the promise in Phil. 1:6, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

We need to learn to tell time on God’s clock; to trust His timing, not ours. He knows when to work, when to wait, and when the time is right. He is never too early and never too late (although we might wonder about that).

We know this in our heads, but we’re not so good at waiting. I still struggle with it.

When you begin to doubt God’s timing it’s hard to trust “His calendar of events”. Father, help us trust that time is on our side, because you are.

L = LOVE

“We may not think of love as a weapon, but it sends a radioactive blanket over its target. There is no known antidote for God’s love. Paul said, Love never fails (I Cor. 13:8) and Psalms says over and over again that God’s love is unfailing.

We can be empowered by the Holy Spirit to love our child unconditionally no matter what they’ve done or how much they’ve hurt and disappointed us.

As we continue to show His love by how we respond and interact, our love can win them back. Tough love can change lives. It might not always be pretty – it might mean telling them they can’t live in our home if they persist living a lifestyle that consistently disrupts our home or is against our values.

Often the hardest and most painful thing is the most loving thing we can do.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance (I Cor. 13:7, NLT).

“So the next time you wake up in the middle of the night feeling helpless, just remind yourself that you have an arsenal of weapons:  prayer, time, and love.  Together they have broken down many a stronghold and reclaimed many a life.  They are God’s weapons that he has put at your disposal. You are not powerless after all!!  PTL!  Praise the Lord!”

Thank you for your words of wisdom Robert Morgan. We need them.

Recommended book: Moments for Families With Prodigals, Robert J. Morgan (if ordered through our website we receive a small percent as Amazon affiliates)