11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to[a] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’[b] 22 But the father said to his servants,[c] ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:11-24

Questions for Reflection:

In what ways have you been the younger son?

What does the Father desire more than anything in regards to the younger son?

How is the younger son "missing" the Father?

Prayer of the Week:

My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You now to be restored in You, to be renewed in You to receive Your love and Your life and all the grace and mercy I so desperately need this day. I honor and trust You as my Lord and as my Savior and I surrender every aspect of my life totally and completely to You. I ask You, Holy Spirit, to fill me afresh with Your light and with Your life that I might pray well now as You lead me.

Heavenly Father, I thank You and praise You, worship You and adore You for Your incomprehensible LOVE towards me, Your amazing GRACE towards me, Your bountiful MERCY towards me. Help me now dwell in Your love – the love of my Father in Heaven.

I am a dearly loved child of God!

I have a Father in Heaven who loves me very, very much.

I receive Your Love in this moment with these words to help me.

Your Love is better than life.

Your Grace is sufficient for me.

Your unmerited favor towards me is so undeserved but oh so needed. Thank You!

I confess Father that I am so very prone to self-rule (doing my own thing – being in charge doing my life) and prone to self-righteousness (thinking and acting like my performance in life deserves or has earned a good life). What I now realize is that these are my attempts to replace You, to leave You, to control You. It breaks my heart to think I have treated You this way. I repent of all my attempts at self-rule. I also repent of my motivation for the wrong things I do. I also repent of my attempts at self-righteousness and self-centered motivations I sometimes have for the good things I do. (Spend a couple moments just processing with the Father the What? and the Why? of your self-rule and self-righteousness.)

Jesus, the only place I can truly work through the realities of my life and heart is a place of “grace”. Your heart is that place. I receive Your complete and total forgiveness for all my “self” issues. I rest once again in Your heart - the place of unimaginable love and grace and I surrender to Your transformational leading in my life. I love You and thank You so very much for coming after me, giving your life for me and loving me so very well this day.

Amen