Waiting is even more difficult when our request is something which is near and dear to our heart ~ like asking the Lord to save our child or loved one, and then waiting for Him to do so.

As you pray for your prodigal, keep in mind 2 Peter 3:9, "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Always remember, when you pray for your loved one to come to Christ, you are praying the will of God. As you intercede through prayer, the Lord is surely working on your behalf, doing everything possible - even the impossible - to bring your loved one to Himself.

While God works in the lives and hearts of our prodigals, our wait may be short or it may be long. Either way, we can be blessed while we wait, or we can choose not to be blessed. It all depends on our view of waiting.

Let's talk about what waiting is not.

Waiting is not a waste of time, unless we make it a waste of time. If we dwell in the past while we wait, wondering what we could have done or said differently concerning our prodigal, then we are wasting our time. We are wasting our time because we can't change the past, so we shouldn't dwell there.

If God has shown you something that you did, which you now realize you could have done differently or better, then repent, learn the lesson, thank God for it and move on. The devil is the only one who wants you to obsess over the past. It's his way of sabotaging the peace you have today and causing you to lose the blessings you have in the present.

Let's take a look at what the Word has to say about dwelling in the past.

Philippians 3:13 says "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."

The apostle Paul had a seriously sinful past which included murdering Christians. Yet after Paul was saved, he never dwelled on his earlier sins. Instead, he believed in the truth of Romans 8:1 "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Don't be bogged down with guilt, shame and condemnation - Rejoice! Because the Lord has forgiven you and He wants to restore and renew you!

Whatever may have happened in the past - sins, mistakes, or wrong choices - it will never hinder, slow down, or stop God from doing the work He is doing in your prodigal - or even you. You belong to the Lord and when you asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, your slate was wiped clean! So if God doesn't condemn you, then neither should you condemn yourself.

We can also make waiting a waste of time if we worry about our loved one's future with negative "what if" thinking.

I could certainly tell you stories of sleepless nights and wasted days I spent thinking about all the "what if's" that never happened while I waited for a loved one to come to Christ. Things like "What if they don't stop the drinking or drugs? What if they get angry with me and never talk to me again? What if they move in with that man or woman?" If a "what if" does happen, the Lord is not surprised and He is still in total control of the situation.

Don't worry - God will work in the circumstance at the right time to bring His will and your prayers to pass! ~ Irene Bennett