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EP 101: Trusting God with the Impossible as Mothers

by Marci Ferrell
Adult Children Christian Living Encouragement Grandchildren Loving Our Children Motherhood Podcast Praying for Our Children

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"We mothers must take care of the possible and trust God for the impossible. We are to love, affirm, encourage, teach, listen, and care for the physical needs of the family. @prodigal #prodigalchild @mferrell

There's been a book that has been a comfort to me in my walk with the Lord as I parent a prodigal by Ruth Bell Graham called Prodigals and Those Who Love Them: Words of Encouragement For Those Who Wait. Waiting on a prodigal is hard, and this isn't a how-to book but a book of prayers and promises and meditations in the Word for troubled hearts.

Listen in to the Bitesize Podcast Below or Subscribe on Your Favorite App:

You can read the post below (5 minutes) or listen to the podcast (10 minutes) where I share a bit more content.


Related Articles:
EP 23: Seasons of Waiting

Your Best Parenting is Done by Prayer

The Influence of Godly Mothers & Grandmothers

Video: Trusting God with the Impossible as Mothers

'We mothers must take care of the possible and trust God for the impossible.' Click to Tweet

One section of the book that was a comfort to me and my hope is it will be to you too – whether you have a prodigal or not was the section titled: The Possible and the Impossible.

Ruth Bell Graham writes:

“We mothers must take care of the possible and trust God for the impossible. We are to love, affirm, encourage, teach, listen, and care for the physical needs of the family.

We cannot convict of sin, create hunger, and thirst after God or convert. These are miracles, and miracles are not in our department.”

She then gives us two columns of our part and God's part:

My Part (the possible):

Love Expressed

To pray intelligently, logically, urgently, without ceasing in faith.

To enjoy being a mother.

Provide a warm, happy home.

Minister to their physical and emotional needs as I am able.

God's Part (the impossible):

Conviction of Sin

Creating a hunger and thirst for righteousness

Conversion

Bringing to the place of total commitment

Showing ourselves as we really are (without ever discouraging us!)

Continually filling us with His Holy Spirit for our sanctification and His service

(Above taken from Prodigals and Those Who Love Them: Words of Encouragement for Those Who Wait)

Loving Your Prodigal

This is a hard season and at times, can be challenging to give thanks to the Lord in and through it. I can attest this season has strengthened my faith and caused me to dwell deeply in His Word and in prayer for my prodigal and other lost family and friends too.

It has given me compassion towards others who are dealing with difficult situations and cause me to repent of areas of my life when I found myself judging others, not understanding what it was like to walk in their shoes.

Your child or spouse is without Christ, so we can't expect them to act or behave like a Christian. What they need most from you is the love and care of Christ shown to them. We can so easily do this to the lost around us that are not in our family, so how much more should we love those well that are lost within our own families. Speak the truth when you can, and when it fits the situation or conversation – don't force Christ upon them. Your life is a light for Christ (Matt 5:14). Your child has most likely grown up around the truth of the Gospel and knows it well. It does not have to be part of every conversation with them.

If you have a friend with a prodigal child, love them well, ask about their child, ask how they are doing, and continue to pray for them. If you have a relationship with their prodigal reach out to them because not many Christian people will be and trust me, they are continually praying for those who know and love Christ to influence their child's life.

If you have a prodigal child, you are not to blame – read the reminder above of doing the possible while trusting God with the impossible. God is the author of salvation. It would be just as wrong for me to take credit for a child in the faith as if I did something to cause that as to take the blame for a child outside the faith. When we do this, we are living by a mentality of works righteousness. You did nothing to contribute to your salvation, and you can do nothing to contribute to the salvation of another person.

I'd love to share with you some resources that have been a help to me in this season the Lord has me in. I pray you will rest in His perfect peace and find comfort in our God who is sovereign and working all things together for good and His glory. May you find your hope in Him alone.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

~ Matthew 19:26

Articles:

A Mother's Heart on Praying for Her Prodigal @Revive Our Hearts

Pray Them Home: Three Prayers for Prodigal Children @Desiring God

12 Ways to Love Your Wayward Child @Focus on the Family

Parenting Teenagers in Grace University @HeadHeartHand Blog

What Should We Do When They Stray? @Feeding On Christ

Books:

Come Back Barbara by Jack Miller

 

Prayers for Prodigals: 90 Days of Prayer for Your Child by James Banks

 

Prodigals and Those Who Love Them: Words of Encouragement for Those Who Wait by Ruth Bell Graham

 

Letting Go: Rugged Love for Wayward Souls by Dave Harvey & Paul Gilbert

 

Seasons of Waiting: Walking by Faith When Dreams are Delayed by Betsy Childs Howard

 

Audio:

Trusting God with Our Children with Nancy Guthrie – @Risen Motherhood

God in Your Most Desperate Situation @Revive Our Hearts

Hope + Help for Hurting Parents by Brad Bigney

Loving Wayward Souls Conference @IBCD

Out of a Far Country @Revive Our Hearts

Gospel-Centered Parenting @Family Life Today with Todd Friel

“In every situation in our lives, God is always doing a thousand different things that we cannot see and we do not know.”

~ John Piper

An encouraging prayer below is taken from Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son's Journey to God: A Broken Mother's Seach for Hope by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan

(A great read for all with prodigals. Angela's prayer life for her son was so encouraging.)

“I will stand in the gap for my child. I will stand until the victory is won until their heart changes. I will stand in the gap every day and there I will fervently pray. And Lord just one favor: don't let me waver. If things get rough, which they have, I will never give up on my child nor will you. I will not quit though it may take years. I give you my fears and my tears as I trust every moment to you.”

Lord – please give us the grace to place our children and ourselves in Your hand moment by moment. 

Related posts:

  1. Motherhood: Delighting in Our Children {Free eBook}
  2. EP 63: Fruitful Living in the Empty Nest Years
  3. The Influence of Godly Mothers & Grandmothers
  4. Our Priorities as Mothers


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EP 102: Blessed are the Peacemakers (Sermon on the Mount Series – Matthew 5:9) »

Comments

  1. Sarah Cummings says

    at

    Great article! We must really trust the Lord in everything we do. Pray and be thankful for everything that’s happening. 🙂

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Marci Ferrell
Think to yourself before you respond to pause and Think to yourself before you respond to pause and pray. Two simple actions that take a moment but can give you wise words that are covered in gentleness, grace, and love.⁣
⁣
Quote from EP 60: Gently Correcting Our Children you can listen in at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
We are called in Ephesians 4:29 to respond with wo We are called in Ephesians 4:29 to respond with words that give grace, encourage, and build up. This includes those hard moments when our kids are sinfully disobedient.⁣
⁣
Listen in to EP 60: Gently Correcting Our Children at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
By affliction, Christ . . .⁣ shows us our empti By affliction, Christ . . .⁣
 shows us our emptiness and weakness,⁣
 draws us to the throne of grace,⁣
 purifies our affections,⁣
 weans us from the world,⁣
 and makes us long for Heaven.⁣
~ J.C Ryle
This simple free eight-page guide is meant to help This simple free eight-page guide is meant to help you think through your summertime schedule for your family. As you walk through it you'll determine what your family loves to do, leave room for spontaneity, and put together a simple daily routine to help your days run a bit smoother. ⁣
⁣
There are some summertime meal planning tips and a printable with ideas to put on your family's bucket list for summer and maybe spark new ones of your own! ⁣
⁣
Come download your free 8-page summertime guide here and get access to our whole library of printables when you do.
Such a good conversation with Dale Partridge from Such a good conversation with Dale Partridge from @relearnhq about his new Gospel Project called MailtheGospel.org. You can get the gospel to anyone anywhere.
So appreciate @reagantrose (I do recommend you fol So appreciate @reagantrose (I do recommend you follow friends if you don’t yet!)- link to the podcast episode we talked about Homemaking to the Glory of God in my profile @thankfulhomemaker 

Repost from @reagantrose 
Godliness > Your Plans⁠
The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.⁣
~ Henry Ward Beecher⁣
⁣
Come listen to EP 32: Preparing Our Families for Sunday Morning Worship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
How many times does Sunday morning roll around and How many times does Sunday morning roll around and you find your heart in a state of chaos instead of calm to worship the Lord?  How many Sundays do you arrive at church and realize you haven’t taken the time all week to pray for your pastor or your church family? ⁣
⁣
I want to share with you some simple steps we can take to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord. ⁣
⁣
The hope today is to get you to understand the purpose and the mission of the local church and then to move on toward how we can proceed with some simple steps to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our families for Sunday morning worship to the Lord.⁣
⁣
Come listen to EP 32: Preparing Our Families for Sunday Morning Worship at the link in my profile @thankfulhomemaker (click on the link under the blue arrows and then this image)
"Home is the true wife's kingdom. ⁣ ⁣ Very lar "Home is the true wife's kingdom. ⁣
⁣
Very largely does the wife hold in her ⁣
hands, as a sacred trust, the happiness ⁣
and the highest good of the hearts that ⁣
nestle there. In the last analysis, home ⁣
happiness depends on the wife. ⁣
⁣
Her spirit gives the home its atmosphere. ⁣
⁣
Her hands fashion its beauty. ⁣
⁣
Her heart makes its love. ⁣
⁣
And the end is so worthy, so noble, so divine, ⁣
that no woman who has been called to be a wife, ⁣
and has listened to the call, should consider any⁣
price too great to pay, to be . . .⁣
 the light,⁣
 the joy,⁣
 the blessing,⁣
 the inspiration, ⁣
of a home. ⁣
⁣
The woman who makes a sweet, beautiful home, ⁣
filling it with love and prayer and purity, is doing ⁣
something better than anything else her hands ⁣
could find to do beneath the skies.⁣
⁣
A true mother is one of the holiest secrets of ⁣
home happiness. God sends many beautiful things ⁣
to this world, many noble gifts; but no blessing is ⁣
richer than that which He bestows in a mother who ⁣
has learned love's lessons well, and has realized ⁣
something of the meaning of her sacred calling."⁣
⁣
~ J. R. Miller, "Secrets of Happy Home Life"
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