Prayer Pursues the Prodigal

"The prayers of the righteous are powerful tools"

A street worker friend of mine called me late one afternoon to see if I could go across town and pick up a young lady who was in desperate need of a drive to detox. I made my way across the city, in the middle of rush hour, to meet her and her boyfriend- I put her suitcase into the back of my van and watched as she said good bye to her boyfriend.

As we made our way through the traffic and to pick up my street worker friend- she, little by little unfolded her story. Her and her boyfriend had come into the city from Christian homes, and had soon gotten involved with some very insidious elements. Elements that deliver death instead of the promised high.

She came into the city to be with him. He came into the city to find freedom. Both found addictions and their very life being taken from them.

I don't know how long they have been in the middle of this 'pig pen' but both have had the prayers of parents calling out to God to pursue them by His Spirit and awaken their hearts. A month ago God led me to them. The very same day I emailed Christ followers in four different continents and simply shared the need for prayer. Over the last few weeks I have received phone calls, emails and questions every week asking what was happening with this young couple. My answer has been, "Keep praying, the cycle of darkness continues".

I sat yesterday at a cafe with a man who I serve alongside of in some streetlevel focuses. He joined into several of these only a few months ago. We were meeting to share java and like spiritual passion, to see the church make a greater impact by living out the gospel among 'the least of these.'

In the midst of conversation I asked him about his family. He told me of his wife, and two boys- one 29 the other 21. With a voice strained with the pain of heartbreak he said his son was an addict in the city. Then he told me the unknown details of the story of two young people who 'escaped' to the city. Yeah the same story that I have just written above.

I waited for him to continue to pour out the pursuit of God's love on these two prodigals. Last week the parents met with the two young people- discovering that they were holed up in a crack house. They were besides themselves with what to do? They prayed, and you were praying with them. Last weekend the ex-hell's angel who owned the crack house over dosed and died; the police came in, closed the house down, putting those hanging out there onto the streets. After a day of being without drugs the couple was hurting physically, mentally and spiritually- they called home. The parents came to the city to find them on the streets and in the rain. My friend told his son that they could come home only if they got help- God's pursuit of us is relentless! He disciplines us because He loves us...yes He loves us. That day on the streets of H-fax two prodigals began the journey of being found!

Both are in separate detoxes out side the city. Both are enrolled in separate follow up programs in Christian recovery organizations. As I shared with this dad my side of the story and that God had used you to pursue this couple in prayer- he and I just sat in amazment. God loves and seeks the prodigal. We were so moved to witness the Hound of Heaven chasing hard after His lost sheep.

THANK YOU!! On behalf of these families, these kids....THANK YOU for praying! Your prayers were a part of the protection and pursuit of God on our streets. These two young people still have a long way to go...don't stop praying now.

"I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him,...
My thirsting mouth.
Nigh and nigh draws the chase,
With unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy ;
And past those noisèd Feet
A Voice comes yet more fleet --
"Lo ! naught contents thee, who content'st not Me." ....

"And human love needs human meriting :
How hast thou merited --
Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot ?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art !
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me ?
All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home :
Rise, clasp My hand, and come !" "- from The Hound of Heaven

PRAYER:: Why Start? Why Continue? What's the Point?

We have decided for PAXnorth blog we would begin to write weekly.

The topic of the Blog will revolve around what is being taught at PAXworship that week, or the developing focus of the church that week. We hope that this way we will enhance the interaction of our community both at home and away.

The month of August PAXnorth is being called to PRAY and FAST at least one day a week all month long! The fast can be in a variety of ways...food, T.V., Internet, media, music while driving, music while running, etc, etc. Then replace that time, or when thinking of the discipline, to pray.

PRAYER:: WHY START? WHY CONTINUE? WHAT'S THE POINT?

"If you say God is Sovereign (knows all things, controls all things, etc) then why do I need to pray? Doesn't He know everything already?"

Matthew 6:8 "Your Father knows what you need before you ask."
Often the only time we cry out to God in true need is when we are IN true need. "Help me God this circumstance is beyond me, this illness is overcoming me, this relationship is so beyond my help...Help me God"
We don't pray to God because He doesn't know what we need, or want. We seek God in prayer because it gives definite expression to our trust and surrender to the truth- we cannot control our lives, we NEED God. We pray because we, the creation, need God the Creator. Prayer expresses and continuing to pray increases our trust in Him.
We don't pray so that we will finally be known by God. God knows you. He created you and delights in your trust and seeking of Him. He is fully a good Father. The best you have ever known or can imagine. Compared to Him even the greatest of Father's is wicked.

"Which of you fathers, if your child asks for a fish, you will give him a snake instead?... If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your kids, how much
more will your Father in heaven give...?" Luke 11:11-13

When you bow in honest prayer to God, seeking Him in full trust, He delights that you, as a whole person, are trusting yourself to Him, as a whole Person. He delights in your trust of Him- His love, His power, His mercy, His grace, His creativity; After all it is through the interchange of trust that relationship is begun. We pray so that we might enter into the knowing of God in our life. We continue in prayer because we continue to find delight in knowing Him more fully.

We don't pray because it is a 'good luck charm', a 'magic incantation', a 'mantra' or as a means to finally make God hear.
“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name I will do it” -John 14:13-14

Did you know there is NO prayer recorded in the Bible that ends with the words, "in Jesus name, Amen?" These words cannot be used to invoke God to greater response, or to make sure exactly what you prayed gets done. Praying in Jesus' name means you pray this prayer because this is what is consistent with the mission and will of Christ, in my life, work place, relationships, debt struggles, need for new things, etc, etc.

We don't stop praying because, 'I tried that and it didn't work', or 'I'm getting no answer on this so God must not care'.

Think for a minute of someone in your life who really seems to have a strong personal walk with God. They seem to radiate with trust and honest 'down to earth' believing faith. It is most likely that they are a person who prayers quite a bit. Is it possible to be a person who truly has a faith relationship with God- seeks after God in such a way that is constantly pressing in on Him, the loving Father- and then be spiritually shallow? A mature relationship with God means you are a person who is continuing, prevailing, constant in praying the prayers that you believe Jesus would pray, even if you don't get an answer with in the first 30 seconds, 30 days, 30 years. Prevailing in prayer means you are taking the present tense progressive actions of ASKING....SEEKING....KNOCKING...

LUKE 11:1-13 Unfolds for us a mature God centered, daily reality, continual, pressing in upon a gracious loving Father instruction on prayer!
You cannot lose out in your spiritual life by being devoted to prayer! It will not leave you with a shallow empty relationship with God. It will leave you asking for the Father to pour out His Holy Spirit into the situations, the circumstances and relationships of your life.

PRESS IN ON GOD IN PRAYER AND FIND DELIGHT IN KNOWING HIM.