Lily Taylor | 6.14.22

The following post is inspired by the events detailed in our true story, Unconfined: Lessons from Prison and the Journey of Being Set Free, by Lily Taylor. We hope it will help you find joy and purpose while you are waiting on restoration.

James 5:16 says “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” If your answer has not yet come, meditate on these powerful truths: 

1. God wants to answer your prayer!   

 2 Peter 3:9 states that God is patient with our mistakes because He does not want anyone to perish and be separated from Him.  Therefore, you can be confident that He wants to answer your prayers for your child to return to faith – the prayer He placed in your heart!  Psalm 37:4 tells us to “Delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  If you are praying for your child to submit his/her life to the Lord, that is a prayer that God wants to answer! Knowing that God wants to restore your relationship with your child should motivate you to pray in faith and pray “without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17) 

2. God hears your prayers and He is moving even when you cannot see. 

 In Matthew 18:10-14, Jesus told his followers that God assigns his angels to watch after our children, and that He, the Good Shepherd, will leave 99 sheep to search for only one that is lost.  No matter how far away your child is from you or from God, He will never stop seeking them.  In another passage, Jesus says that he “stands at the door knocking.” (Revelation 3:20) Notice that Jesus is making His presence known.  He is knocking, not simply waiting. Therefore, you can be confident that God is listening to your prayers, and He is putting things into place that you can’t yet see. 

3. Jesus seeks to save even those who aren’t looking for Him. 

 Mark 5 tells the story of a man who was about as lost and hopeless as anyone could be – living in a graveyard, cutting himself continually crying out in his pain.  The man was not asking for forgiveness or turning his heart toward God, yet Jesus went looking for him anyway.  This story gives me much comfort.  You can rest in peace at night – no matter where your child is – knowing that Jesus sees where your child is and He cares. 

Refresh your prayer time with the model demonstrated by Nehemiah 1:5-11.   In Chapter 1, Nehemiah prayed a beautiful intercessory prayer. The wall around his ancestral home was decimated, and the people who had resettled there were in danger.  Nehemiah included these elements below in his prayer, which God promptly answered:

1. Put God in His rightful place of sovereignty and honor.
2. Confessed his sin and the sin of his people. 
3. Remembered what God had promised to do for His followers. 
4. Asked for God’s provision to do what he could not do on his own. 



Prodigal Son Prayer:

The Prayer of the Intercessor

“Lord, I acknowledge You as my Lord and savior.  You flung the stars into space, and You know my needs before I ask.  I confess any sin that separates me from You. I confess my thoughts of giving up on my prodigal child. I confess my weak, desperate prayers, and pray now with boldness – believing that my prayer lines up with Your heart.  If I have harbored doubt, I reject it.  I believe You are working in the Heavenly realms to line up the right people or circumstances that will draw my child’s heart back to You!  I know that You are the God who hears our prayers, and Your timing is perfect.  Please knock loudly at the door of my child’s heart today, relentlessly pursue him/her…. That they may be used for Your glory, Lord!”