How do you bring someone back to God?

Raised in the church, faithful Christian – then a crisis hits. Faith has been shattered and God is no longer in his life. This is my son. I am heartbroken. As a mother, I want to “fix it”. What do I do?

The story of the prodigal son can be found in Luke 15:11-32. To summarize, a father has two sons and divides their inheritance with them. One son stays and works diligently on his father’s land. The other son takes his inheritance and leaves home. This son squanders all his money, is starving and desperate. He returns home broke and to tell his father: I am not worthy and will work as your hired servant. His father welcomes the son with open arms and call for a feast to be prepared. Now the son who has been home helping his father all these years, is very angry. He does not understand why his father is making a big deal of the wayward son coming home. The father tells him: your brother was dead and now he is alive again; he was lost and now he is found. The father waited for his prodigal son to decide he needed help and to return home with a change of heart.

This parable illustrates God’s limitless forgiveness and mercy. At some point, we all have moments of spiritual wandering, losing our way. When we turn back toward God, Heaven rejoices and celebrates.

So how does this answer my question? What do I do since my son has turned away from his Heavenly Father? Like the father, I need to wait for my son to decide he needs help and has a change of heart. In the meantime . . .

I will:

• Trust God to work in my son’s life
• Pray for him to hear God
• Pray for Satan to release his hold on my son
• Continue to love my son unconditionally
• Listen without judgement if my son chooses to talk about his disbelief

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6