Ministering to the Prodigal Child - The Christian Online Magazine

Ministering to the Prodigal Child

As youth step out on their own into adulthood, parents wonder with bated breath what the next news will be, what the next phone call will bring—great joy and surprise or heartache and disappointment. In Luke 15 is the story known as “The Prodigal Son.” Most of you would be surprised to find out that that word “prodigal” is not in your Bible. The word “prodigal” is an old-fashioned word that simply means “extravagant” or “recklessly extravagant” and it was used to describe a rich man’s irresponsible son. This story is a parable. Parables are human stories with moral and spiritual meanings. “There was a man who had two sons and the younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had and he set off for a distant country and there he squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed his pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything and when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare and here I am, starving to death? I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called you son. Make me like one of your hired men.’ 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 and he ran to his son and threw his arms around him and he kissed him and the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 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. Bring the fattened calf and kill it because we are going to have a feast today and celebrate. For the son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and now is found.’”

Let me highlight three truths from the parable of the prodigal son. First, we learn from Luke 15:11-13 that we must release the prodigal to go his own way. That is hard to do. It is frustrating and painful. We resist it because we want to prevent our children from experiencing pain. We want to protect them from danger and harm. But God designed us to be free-will beings. And as we mature we are to grow toward that end. Turn over to Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis 2:24 it says a man shall leave his father and his mother. There is a cutting off point. Usually that is marriage, but there are also other times beside marriage. They are designed to leave.

Turn back a few verses to Genesis 2:8. Verse 8 talks about what God had done. It says: “The Lord God planted a garden in the east of Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed.” He put the man in the garden as an independent being. God designed man for independence. He designed us to be in free-will relationships. Do you understand why? He loves us and wants to give us the opportunity to love Him back. Love cannot be compelled. It must be freely given. He created us in His image with independence to freely choose to return love to Him. To lovingly release the prodigal means doing it without bitterness. The father in this parable released his son so that he knew he could come back. He knew the door would be open for reconciliation.

I have always pictured this passage as painting a very abrupt departure, as if the son said, “Give me my inheritance and I am out of here.” But the passage says that the father divided-up the estate. That takes a while to do, to figure out who is going to have what. I am sure this father is hoping the son is going to live up to the opportunity that he has been given. But not long after, it says, he sold off his estate. He liquidated it and took off in another direction.

That leads to the second point. We must allow the prodigal to suffer the consequences of his rebellion. In verse 14 it says that there was a great famine and then he was in need, he was in very great need, and no one gave him anything. It hurts to see or imagine your child in pain. But recognize, it is the consequences of actions that wake us up. Look at Galatians 6:7. “Don’t be deceived, God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction and the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.” Do not be deceived; you cannot cheat God. You cannot fool Him. You cannot slip one by on Him. You will reap what you sow! There will be natural consequences and spiritual consequences for our actions.

Thirdly, we must never stop praying. We must never give up hope of a return. Look at Luke 15:20. “But while he was still a long way off, the father saw him.” The father was always watching down that road. He is in the field working everyday and every once in a while he looks down the south road to see if his son is coming home. “Is there anybody on that road I might know?” His heart is lifted. His eyes are turned that way each day. The father is always watching and it says, “He saw him a long way off.” There are two stories before this one in Luke 15 and they both have to do with finding something that is lost. One is about a lost sheep and how the shepherd leaves 99 safe sheep to find the lost one. The other is about a widow who loses a coin and searches the whole house to find it. Both stories end in joy because the lost item was found after diligent searching. In the parable of the prodigal son the father experiences even greater joy because he found his son. Old men do not run often. It is not dignified. His heart compelled those old crotchety knees to move as quickly as possible. We must never stop praying. We must never give up hope.

Psalm 127 likens children as arrows in a quiver and releasing them is like taking a bow, pulling back, and letting the arrow do. The good news is that God has influence on that arrow after it leaves our bow. God can change its direction. Never give up hope. Keep praying. One of the things Oswald Chambers impressed on my heart years ago was that not only can prayer change a situation, circumstance, or human heart, but it also changes the one who is praying. Never stop praying because it will keep your heart soft and sensitive to God’s leading in your life. It is easy to become bitter and angry and frustrated, but God says pray because as you pray He will soften your heart. Never stop praying. This prodigal’s father was waiting anxiously and hopefully because he was praying for his son.

Releasing does not mean that you endorse their actions. Releasing does not mean that their ways will become your ways. Their choices will always be their choices. They do not define your worth or value as a parent. They do not necessarily define your values. They define their values. They have to choose to build on the foundation you have laid for them, presuming it was a good one. Your role is to lovingly encourage and trust them to make the right decisions. Not simply trusting them, but trusting God to be actively involved in the situation.

God could compel obedience like He does a tree or a flower or the planets in their orbits, but that would not be fitting for a creature created in His image. He could have made morality irrelevant to us, made us amoral creatures like a shark, mosquito, or penguin, but that would not be fitting for a creature created in His image. God never coerces or forces obedience. He nudges, woos, convicts, and draws us through His Spirit. If you are a prodigal son or daughter, I want you to understand that God wants you back. If you are a parent of a prodigal son or daughter, I want you to never give up on him or her. Whether he or she returns or not is between him or her and God, but you can keep the Spirit of God actively pursuing him or her by praying and never giving up. Never give up!