Prodigal: I’m deadgum tired after that.
Me: The Lord is my strength
This is from C. Wesley
Make us of one heart and mind;
Courteous, pitiful, and kind;
Lowly, meek, in thought and word,
Altogether like our Lord.
And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. Malachi 1:9 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: What shall we do today?
Prodigal: What would the Lord have us do today?
This is from E.B. Pusey
All of this world will soon have passed away. But God will remain, and thou, whatever thou hast become, good or bad. Thy deeds now are the seed-corn of eternity. Each single act, in each several day, good or bad, is a portion of that seed. Each day adds some line, making thee more or less like Him, more or less capable of His love.
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. Isaiah 49:5 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I have a suggestion.
Me: Let me hear it.
Prodigal: Give your troubles to God–He’s up all night anyway.
This is from the book The Great House of God by Max Lucado
Our Father
Thank you for adopting me into your family.
Who is
Thank you, my Lord,
for being a God of the present tense:
my Jehovah-jireh (the God who provides),
my Jehovah-raah (the caring Shepherd),
my Jehovah-shalom (the Lord is peace),
my Jehovah-rophe (the God who heals),
and my Jehovah-nissi (Lord, my banner).
In heaven,
Your workshop of creation reminds me: If you can make the skies, you can make sense our of my struggles.
Hallowed be thy name.
Be holy in my heart.
You are a “cut above” all else.
Enable me to set my sights on you.
Thy kingdom come,
Come kingdom!
Be present, Lord Jesus!
Have a free reign in every corner of my life.
Thy will be done,
Reveal your heart to me, dear Father.
Show me my role in your passion.
Grant me guidance in the following decisions…..
On earth as it is in heaven.
Thank you that you silence heaven to hear my prayer.
On my heart are the ones you love.
I pray for….
Give us this day our daily bread.
I accept your portion for my life today.
I surrender the following concerns
regarding my well-being….
Forgive me our debts,
I thank you for the roof of grace over my head,
bound together with the timbers and nails of Calvary.
There is nothing I can do to earn or add to your mercy.
I confess my sins to you…..
As we also have forgiven our debtors;
Treat me, Father, as I treat others.
Have mercy on the following friends
who have wounded me……
Lead us not into temptation,
Let my small hand be engulfed in yours.
Hold me, lest I fall.
I ask for special strength regarding….
Our Father….give us…..forgive us…..lead us
Let your kindness be on all your church.
I pray especially for ministers near and missionaries far away.
Thine–not mine–is the kingdom,
I lay my plans at your feet.
Thine–not mine–is the power,
I come to you for strength.
Thine–not mine–is the glory,
I give you all the credit.
Forever. Amen.
Thine–not mine–is the power. Amen.
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2:14 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Help!
Me: Don’t worry, it’s coming.
This is from Saint Augustine Confessions
Clearly the wicked do not know that you are everywhere. But you are not bound within the limits of any place. You alone are always present, even to those who set themselves apart from you. Let them then turn back and look for you. They will find that you have not deserted your creatures as they have deserted their Creator. Let them turn back, and they will find you in their hearts, in the hearts of all who confess to you and throw themselves upon your mercy, in the hearts of all who have left the hard path and come to weep upon your breast. Gently wipe away their tears. They weep the more, but now their tears of joy, because it is not some man of flesh and blood but you, O Lord, their Maker, who remakes them and consoles them.
The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; 2 John 1:1 KJV
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I got some climbing to do.
Me: Let me share this before you take another step.
This is from The Great House of God by Max Lucado
There are certain mountains only God can climb. The names of these mountains? You’ll see them as you look from the window of the chapel in the Great House of God. “Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.” A trio of peaks mantled by the clouds. Admire them, applaud them, but don’t climb them.
It’s not that you aren’t welcome to try, it’s just that you aren’t able. The pronoun is thine, not mine, thine is the kingdom, not mine is the kingdom. If the word Savior is in your job description, it’s because you put it there. Your role is to help the world, not save it. Mount Messiah is one mountain you weren’t made to climb.
Nor is Mount Self-Sufficient. You aren’t able to run the world, nor are you able to sustain it. Some of you think you can. You are self-made. You don’t bow your knees, you just roll up your sleeves and put in another twelve hour day…which may be enough when it comes to making a living or building a business. But when you face your own grave or your own guilt, your power will not do the trick.
You were not made to run a kingdom, nor are you expected to be all-powerful. And you certainly can’t handle all the glory. Mount Applause is the most seductive of the three peaks. The higher you climb the more people applaud, but the thinner the air becomes. More than one person has stood at the top and shouted, “Mine is the glory!” only to lose their balance and fall.
“Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” What protection this final phrase affords. As you confess that God is in charge, you admit that you aren’t. As you proclaim that God has power, you admit that you don’t . And as you give God all the applause, there is none left to dizzy your brain.
Let’s let the lady on the slope teach us a lesson: There are certain mountains we weren’t meant to climb. Stay below where you were made to be, so you won’t end up exposing yourself to trouble.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Remember when?
Me: Yes, I do.
This is from No Easy Road by Dick Eastman
Consider for a moment the challenge of becoming an intercessor. The needs for intercessory prayer are staggering. Frank C. Laubach says, “All the following people need to be floodlighted with prayers: the President of the United States and Congress (especially Senate ), the Prime Minister and Parliament of England, Russia’s Premier and leaders, China’s leaders, delegates at every peace conference, Japanese, Germans, church members and the clergy of Christians and Jews, the missionaries, motion picture leaders, radio broadcasters, all kinds of slaves and oppressed peoples. We must pray for illiterates, for all teachers, mothers and fathers, for understanding between capital and labor, for human brotherhood, for cooperatives, for the enlargement of people’s minds to world vision, for children adn youth for wholesome literature, for victims of liquor, drugs and vices of all kinds, for educators and better education. We must pray for hatred to vanish and love to rule the world; we must pray for more prayer, for it is the world’s mightiest healing force.” Laubach’s list seems long, but even this is incomplete. Intercessors never lack needs to occupy prayer lists. Always flowing from the intercessor’s heart is prayer for someone, prayer that says, “I love you.”
And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. Mark 8:11 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: We’re starting on the short row. Just hang in there.
Me: All things can be done with Christ.
This is from I. Penington
O that thou couldst dwell in the knowledge and sense of this! Even, that the Lord beholds thy sufferings with an eye of pity; and is able, not only to uphold thee under them, but also to do thee good by them. Therefore, grieve not at thy lot, be not discontented, look not out at the hardness of thy condition; but, when the storm and matters of vexation are sharp, look up to Him who can give meekness and patience, can lift up thy head over all, and cause thy life to grow, and be a gainer by all. If the Lord God help thee proportionably to thy condition of affliction and distress, thou wilt have no cause to complain, but to bless His name.
And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: Numbers 16:2 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Once in a blue moon.
Me: That is right.
This comes from Walking In The Spirit by A.B. Simpson
It is not necessary that we should always know. Indeed, perhaps we should never fully know what any of our prayers wholly mean. God’s answer is always larger than our petition, and even when our prayer is most definite and intelligent there is a wide margin which only the Holy Ghost can interpret, and God will fill it up in His infinite wisdom and love. That is what is meant by the significant language of the text, “He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, becasue He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Roma 8:27) The father is always searching our hearts and listening, not to our wild and often mistaken outcries, but to the mind of the Holy Spirit in us, whom He recognizes as our true guardian and monitor, and He grants us according to His petitions and not merely our words. But if we walk in the Spirit and are trained to know and obey His voice, we shall not send up the wild and vain outcrites of our mistaken impulses, but shall echo His will and His prayer, and thus shall every pay in according with the will of God.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. John 7:37 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I’m flat broke today.
Me: Well, we will just lay low then.
This is from the book Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray
Men sometimes speak as if humility and meekness would rob us of what is noble and bold and manlike. Oh that all would believe that this is the nobility of the kingdom of heaven, that this is the royal spirit that the King of heaven displayed, that this is Godlike, to humble oneself, to become the servant of all! This is the path to the gladness and the glory of Christ’s presence ever in us, His power ever resting on us.
And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. Genesis 50:9 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Don’t live in the past.
Prodigal: Know Christ has given us a future.
This is from R. Leighton
Whatsoever it is that presses thee, go tell thy Father; put over the matter into His hand, and so thou shalt be freed from that dividing, perplexing care that the world is full of. When thou art either to do or suffer anything, when thou art about any purpose or business, go tell God of it, and acquaint Him with it; yea, burden Him with it, and thou hast done for matter of caring; no more care, but quiet, sweet diligence in thy duty, and dependence on Him for the carriage of thy matters. Roll thy cares, and thyself with them, as one burden, all on thy God.
Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; Psalms 88:2 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
