Praying the Prodigal Home

Ruth Bell Graham was married to a famous evangelist. You would think her life held excitement and God experiences, and I’m sure it did. Yet it also held heartbreak. Not all of Ruth’s children walked with God. It took many years to pray her prodigal son, Franklin, into the boots of his father. She wrote this prayer over 20 years ago.

Lord, With My Jacob, I Would Pray

“Lord,

with my Jacob,” I would pray,

“wrestle till the break of Day”;

tell he, knowing who Thou art,

tho’ asked, will not let Thee depart;

saying, “I’ll not let Thee free

saving Thou wilt first bless me.”

O God of Jacob, who knew how

to change supplanters then, so now

deal, I pray, with this my son,

though he may limp when Thou art

done.

Based on Genesis 32:24–31

As a mother of six, I’ve had my Jacobs too. My heart has cried tears of desperation, and a worn notebook of Scripture prayers sits by my bed. God is faithful. Joy does come again to those who storm heaven’s gates on behalf of their children. Do you have a prodigal in your family? In what way are you praying him or her home?

In Him together, Susan Gaddis