Can you ever have too many ideas when it comes to praying for your children, no matter their age or how close or far away they are from God? Though the literal definition of a “prodigal” is one who is extremely wasteful, it’s common for parents to refer to a “prodigal” as a child who has migrated away from family and faith. Any parent knows the worry that comes from even a small drifting away and appreciates fresh ideas for how to pray and trust what God is doing in the lives of their offspring. The book, Prayers for Prodigals by James Banks does not disappoint in providing Biblical ideas for praying, no matter what your unique situation entails. Additionally, this resource is quite authentic since the author and North Carolina pastor considers himself as having been “blessed with two prodigals.”

Unique Features

Since there are many prayer books available and praying the living Word of God already gives you limitless ways to pray, you may be wondering if this additional book is worth your time and money. Here are a few special aspects of the book you may find attractive:

• Brief chapters, yet so many Scriptures and concepts that you could pray through it for many months.
• A descriptive and energizing writing style that connects with your heart while also providing practical ways to think, pray, and conduct yourself in any season of parenting
• A generous helping of grace for parents who experience regret and guilt
• A Scripture-based “count-to-10” exercise you can do when you’re angry with your child
• How to Biblically process being rejected, lied to, or manipulated
• A focus on Who God is, encouragement to be grateful you’re getting to spend extra time with Him in your prayers, and unpacking lesser-known details about Him and His Word
• Lessons about prayer that will change how you think and how you view your children
• A willingness to teach you how to pray on behalf of your children against worldly pleasures and temptations that plague them, even the ones that are popular and widely-accepted
• Words you can specifically pray when you and your child aren’t in communication with one another
• A prayer you can pray if you ever find yourself sitting in a courtroom on behalf of a child
• A powerful prayer to help free your child from the crippling effects of shame
• Reminders to release your desires for your children so that you can agree with the Father’s better desires for them
• Teachings about eternal hopefulness and experiencing sincere, fulfilling relationship with Christ that are better than false promises of prosperity
• Provision of a long-range view about your child that helps widen your here-and-how scope of the situation
• Discussion questions if you’d like to work through the book with others
• Pages and pages of pep talks for you to maintain endurance and strength in drawn-out seasons of waiting

Prayer & Blessing

“…but (Jesus’s) mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)