SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BE PRAYING

“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found, and they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:24)

Whilst his sons matured in his household the prodigal’s father taught them the word and intention of God toward life, deed and business, how to lead men; handle setbacks, personal goals and relationships. His very lifestyle of faith in God demonstrated his dependency on God and His vast favour through prayer into life and business, his deep gratitude to God was transparent for all to see. The prodigal’s father loved God and His presence in his life and with all of his heart prayed and pleaded with God that his sons would develop and enjoy a similar relationship. Thus he presumed his sons would robotically become adherents of his faith but, as time clearly demonstrated, he was sadly mistaken, as he had not allowed for the freewill of his sons to choose or decline a relationship with God.


It wasn’t until he watched the silhouette of his youngest son disappear over the horizon and heard the nasty quip from his elder son about his worthless; non-descript brother that the father realized his sons had no relationship with God at all. Perplexed, he questioned himself mercilessly … how could it be? “God I honestly believed they’d catch your spirit from me but it seems their hearts are full of rebellion and resentment towards you and me both. God I have trained my sons’ intellect in your wisdom and taught them to be tough-minded leaders and harness the drives of their flesh and blood bodies but it’s only you who can bring life to their spirit and faith if they are willing. Please forgive me for my impertinent presumption.


His thoughts wandered back to when his own heart was awakened to the spirit of God, his time of training and reaction to it let alone his father’s authoritative expectations. He had to admit, his youthful response to God and the demands of his household to conform to numerous rules had to be driven into his heart by physical punishment. He simply hadn’t dared to audibly voice his protest against it all until it overflowed in the simple action of leaving home and family with its bunch of rules called … “God said!”


What a kill-joy I thought at the time … any and everything worthwhile doing you weren’t allowed to and the family’s fear of repercussions on the business for the slightest divergence, literally sucked all the air out of the room. You know, the typical emotional guilt trip they lay on you? … “It’s your lousy attitude that’s ruining the business this month.” I just couldn’t handle it any more … no that’s not right, I didn’t want to handle it any more, so I left. My family loved me nevertheless and continued to pray for me; in hindsight I’m so thankful for their vigil of prayer as it built the atmosphere around me for receptivity for God’s spirit to move in my life


Personally I’d only ever known the austere nature of God, the letter of the law … “Thou shalt not …, “ never the goodness King David talked about. Until that day when the spirit of God and the word of God agreed in my heart and I saw it, I mean, I saw literally God’s intention in his word, it was for my own good … God actually loved me! God wasn’t trying to put me down at all or deprive me of anything good. He was actually trying to rescue me from my own heart’s intent for self destruction. I was able to see my sin against God and truly sought forgiveness for my rebellion and set myself to put my whole heart into the spirit of His word, it is life to all those who find it. Peace and joy flooded my being and I’ve thankfully enjoyed His presence in my life ever since.


Encouraged by his short reflection on his own spiritual awakening, he set himself to continue to pray with renewed vigour and faith for both of his prodigal sons’ awakening to the spirit of God’s love and forgiveness. A tear came to his eye as once again he thought of his own father’s vigil of prayer for him. “No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11b)


Let’s pray. Father grant me the renewing of my spirit daily, open my spiritual eyes that I may comprehend the magnitude of your love for me and for the assurance of my future in your powerful hands. Let me be charged with faith in the effectiveness of believing prayer as you deliver me from the bondage of dead letter believing. Please take all my worries and cares as I give them to you now and I ask you to undertake them for a satisfactory conclusion in Jesus’ name. Amen


God bless you and keep you in his unfailing love,


Pastor Paul

LOVE CAN BE SO BLIND

(Lk 15:20)

Many a parent, upon seeing their prodigal’s return, have been so elated with joy that they forego commonsense but who could really blame them … their loved one has returned. Forgotten are the vast differences in mindset and character, the very things that caused the rift between them in the first place. Love is blind! There’s no denying that the prodigal reached the end of himself and in that state determined to amend his ways and return home. But has he dealt with his driving wanderlust … has he really changed?

Perhaps the father is premature in reinstating his son to a position of influence and authority without a demonstration of mature commitment to the family and business over at lease a two-year period? How would it be when after three to six months, the prodigal is confronted with his old demons and succumbs to their influence and begins to scheme again to manipulate his father? What if the pull of riotess living is too strong in him to resist, as we know … where the treasure is there the heart is also?

It’s after the midnight hour that aloneness strikes … tearing away at what little resolve to suck-it-up and make good the changes you might have had. After all, why can’t you sleep … isn’t it due to the restlessness in your heart, … the unresolved issues in your head, going round and around? Unless the prodigal is riveted by the memory of his previous humiliation and deprivation at the hands of bad decisions and company, he’ll be swept up in it all again and plummet to even greater depths of isolation … only failure to self brings!

How many other issues are involved in the restlessness of the prodigal? Self- expression and realization are vital in one’s maintaining the sanity process when dealing with the mundane … “You have to work to live routine”. Thus was birthed the statement … “If you hate your work, you’ll hate your life!” The prodigal is not alone here, so many people wander aimlessly dead through work-to-exist routines. There’s no correlation between what they do and self esteem, no vision of participation in purpose greater than themselves. Take housework for instance, in itself will never allow you to see what you’ve accomplished, unless you’re aware of the intrinsic, irrefutable value it is to one’s health and the atmosphere in a home, how be it ever so small. If it’s clean and neat with an inspiring picture on the wall it becomes home sweet home!

The greatest decision the prodigal, like all of us generally, will have to make is to take the responsibility for the gift we have and apply the discipline required to have it produce. We can all skip around the issues of life almost indefinitely looking for the elusive something that will give the pure satisfaction … the real imagined reason for living. In qualifying a desire you wish to achieve, the test will always be … are you going all out to obtain it, can you maintain personal discipline to stay focused till completion? To finish what you start requires more than desire it demands steadfast endurance. So don’t start what you know deep down in your heart you won’t finish and in so doing save yourself the dismal drowning experience of devalued self- esteem.

The prodigal has a gift … LEADERSHIP … believe it or not, leadership is a gift. What a shame too few who have it are so broken or totally distracted in the pursuit of selfish pleasures to administrate it accurately and find the answers to their inner cravings they wrestle with almost every waking hour. WHY CAN’T I FIT? … YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LEAD AND SET NEW TRENDS, STANDARDS AND PATHWAYS FOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW!

Leadership is inspirational, creative, motivational, assertive, intuitive and founded in realism but whilst ever the prodigal avoids the acceptance, thus the responsibility for leadership, he will continue aimlessly wandering in his mind and life. A sheep in the midst of wolves or worse a wolf in the midst of sheep. Listen an eagle can’t be a chicken. A swan isn’t a duck. Both the chicken and the duck make for good eating but the eagle is magnificent for inspiration, the swan’s stunning beauty makes you stop in awe. You know it’s funny, neither the eagle, the chicken, swan or duck needs to have certification, degree or an attainment diploma to qualify who they are or what their gifts are to this world. They just are who they are with the gift they exude and what a blessing they are to their world regardless of what anybody else thinks. The gift always makes room for the individual. Believe it and act on the knowledge that you’re one of a kind, invaluable to your family and society in general. Be the best you, you can possibly be and the world will definitely be a better place because you’re in it!

Let’s pray.

Father, deliver me from the inability to perceive and value my specific gifts and talents that have come from you. Grant me the courage to give you charge over my gifts, to liberate and launch your purpose for my life. I further need your wisdom and understanding to accurately live my life to the full and thus be a blessing to others. And lastly father, I’ve personally been shattered in so many areas that I struggle to believe that I have a gift or that I am a gift from you to my world’s sphere, please deliver and heal me now in Jesus’ name. Thank you Father. Amen

Succession – Father to Son

“…and he divided the estate between them.” (Luke 15:12)

Circumstantial life can be a spiteful task master but even that pales in comparison to a father’s expectation for his children gone awry. Parents in business often mistakenly assume their children will follow in their footsteps. You can be sure that dividing his beloved estate between his two sons for dispersion wasn’t what he had envisioned or imagined as the culmination of his life’s work and labour at this stage of his life.

The father was unaware just how great a gap existed between himself and his sons and in fact between his sons themselves, he had assumed his sons understood his sacrifice. Why he worked so tirelessly to provide in the earlier years the means for both of them to go on to greatness surpassing everything he had ever achieved.

Neither of these sons though had asked to be born, neither wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps, each resented the obligatory expectation for succession in the family business. In fact the only thing they hated more than each other was the comparisons made about their attitude to privilege and opportunity... “the success never comes cheaply…it demands commitment and sacrifice story.”

When faced with the reality, his sons didn’t share his vision for the future, his own motivation and drive for it came to a standstill. There was no comparison in his heart, his love for his sons far outstripped any desire for materialism but his inability to express himself to them was exacting a fearsome price now. So proud of them both, he couldn’t see or didn’t want to see their shortcomings…thinking they’d grow out of it, just like he did when facing internal struggles with hormones and self identity at their respective ages.

The difficulty still remains for siblings to realise their parent is a person also and isn’t only on the scene to serve the best interests of the child but have their own personalities and needs too. When I was a child, I thought as a child, when an adolescent as an adolescent but as a mature person one can appreciate each season of growth and development in those younger and their impatience.

I was young once too you know, just as you’ll be old one day yourself and when you are, you’ll better understand the deep experience life brings to one’s personality and expectations from it. Above all though the longer you live on this planet the inescapable truth that everybody needs somebody to love and to be loved and appreciated for who they are is essential.

Every afternoon the Prodigal Father sat on his veranda in the shade watching for a glimmer of his son’s certain return…for like him also there was a time when he had been the prodigal. This gave him the greatest assurance of all…that love never fails and will lead to reconciliation and full restoration every time if given a chance.
Your Heavenly Father is waiting…

Let’s Pray:

I pray God will somehow soften your heart to enable your embracing of reconciliation – you’ve been judged unfairly it’s true but it’s time to make things right. God will always love and make time for you – make a start now and take the first step – you will be welcomed before you take the second. In Jesus’ Name! Amen.

Just Can’t Live Here Any Longer!

“the younger son gathered all he had and journeyed into a distant country.” (Luke 15:13)

Most people have never been taught how to love in a meaningful relationship, let alone parenting. Children initially find their examples of love and parenting in their respective homes. Perhaps I should say in their respective environments, for children today there can be such diversification in experiencing love and parenting. You have single parents, multiple parents, divorced parents and estranged parents and each case has the undeniable traceable blueprint of their specific scenario embedded into their children. Some good – some bad. Numerous children upon adolescence declare… “I don’t ever want to have children and if I am unfortunate enough to have any…I certainly won’t bring them up like my parents did me!”
Where have we heard that before?

Over the years history has revealed that the climate in the home has major influence on children. Whether the home environment though is rich or poor, happy and loving, drunken and physically abusing, religious or atheist, virtuous or molesting, educated or illiterate, encouraging or demeaning, each child can still choose. Choose to rise above it or sink into depravity. Good homes produce as many murderers and criminals as poor homes or bad underprivileged homes. And surprisingly enough, some of the world’s most influential leaders have come from the poorest of the poor homes.

An individual’s starting point in life is not a determining factor in who they’ll become or what they’ll achieve. Poverty has been the driving motivator behind some of today’s wealthiest people, greatest sports stars and theatrical celebrities.

In the case of the prodigal, his father was an entrepreneur and expected his son to follow in the same goal setting lifestyle as himself…The father implemented his training for his son in a very unforgiving field – namely cereal cropping and animal husbandry. Everything regimented on account of the various seasons for planting the crops and the cycles of the livestock and the young man’s heart just wasn’t in it at all.

The father would dream about developing his property into greater measures of productivity even while he slept and the first thing in the morning he experienced such joy and excitement in living his dream. The prodigal however had nightmares at night about his father’s expectations and in the morning was drowning in despair and on top of all this he had to deal with the rivalry of his elder brother.

“Father, I just can’t live here any longer, I can’t breathe… let alone express myself. I’m going to find my own expression and dream.”

The father totally taken aback…
“I can’t understand why you can’t understand what a great opportunity I’m giving you and that everything that’s produced here is for the family’s posterity long after I’m gone.”

Pain now rips the father’s heart as he watches helplessly his youngest son disappearing out of sight in pursuit of his own place in life whilst his mind is left to wrestle with the question…

“…How have I failed my son?”


Let’s Pray:
Your child no more, an abhorrence has filled the void…unable to express the pain the thought provokes – I pray God will enable you to let all your emotional pain go to Him and receive this very moment the release of this massive burden and receive God’s healing restoration and love in Jesus’ Name! Amen.