Will You Love Them? The Prodigals Are Coming Home

Thanksgiving and Christmas are often painted as picture-perfect moments—families gathered around the table, laughter filling the air, cookies baking in the oven, games played late into the night, and trees adorned with twinkling lights. But if we’re honest, life isn’t always wrapped up in a neat bow. Even in Christian families, the holidays can highlight pain just as easily as they showcase joy.

There are sons and daughters, husbands and wives, grandchildren and loved ones who have lost their way in a dark and broken world. Confused and wounded, many are searching for refuge in all the wrong places—places that lead only to deeper pain and despair. Some turn to drugs, alcohol, or destructive relationships in a desperate attempt to fill the emptiness inside. Others chase identities that were never meant to define them, living in lifestyles that mask deeper wounds.

But sin is a thief. It takes us further than we ever intended to go, keeps us longer than we planned to stay, and costs far more than we can ever pay. Yet there is good news: Jesus Christ has already paid that price. And now, it’s time for the prodigals to come home.

Say this with me:

“I decree and declare this day—the prodigals are returning! They are coming back to an altar of prayer, surrendering their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ. They are coming home! Come now!”

Prepare to Welcome Them

Are you ready for them to walk back into your life? If not, now is the time to get ready. They will need love, mercy, and grace—the same kind of mercy Jesus has shown us time and again.

For over a year, I’ve personally prayed daily for the prodigals to return to Jesus. One of my own loved ones is still out there, and I believe God will bring him home. When I pray for the children of others, I’m planting seeds that will one day bring a harvest of restoration in my own family.

In my time with the Lord, He gave me this message to share with you:

“I will pour out My anointing upon those who seek Me in the secret place, upon those who desire Me more than worldly idols. I will hear your prayers and seek out your loved ones—the ones whose names you call before Me. I will bring the prodigals home. They no longer wish to dwell in desolation; they will discover that I AM the only One who can fill the emptiness in their hearts.

Prepare for their return, for I am seeking them diligently. Call out their names to Me; bid them to come home, and I will answer. I will save and restore them.”

Keep praying. Keep standing in the gap. Every dark experience they’ve walked through will become a platform for powerful testimonies that point others to Jesus. Don’t stop now—souls are being won because of your faithfulness.

The Church Must Awaken

We are living in a time of great spiritual shaking. People are walking into churches broken, desperate, and searching. Yet too often, they’re met with coffee and pastries instead of the power of the Holy Ghost.

Too many seeker-sensitive churches have traded holiness for comfort and truth for tolerance. They have become social clubs instead of houses of prayer. Lukewarm altars that coddle sin rather than confront it are leading souls away from truth under the guise of “grace.” God is calling His Church to wake up. We are not fighting for convenience—we are fighting “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12 KJV) This battle cannot be won with donuts and smiles. It can only be won through the power of God.

This generation is caught in a storm of confusion and entitlement. Many have given themselves over to lust, perversion, and self-worship, chasing desires that lead to destruction. But even in the darkness, God has declared:

“I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.”

He is not finished. He is awakening hearts, removing spiritual blindness, and tearing away the veil of deception. He sees beyond the sin and straight to the soul. He places immeasurable value on every life—because He died for every one of them.

The Prodigals Are Coming Home

Jesus will not leave them stuck in the miry clay. He is pulling them out, setting their feet on the Rock, and restoring their identity in Him.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” — Acts 2:17 (KJV)

This excites me—because it means our sons and daughters are coming home. The prodigals are returning to Jesus. Their mistakes, trials, and dark seasons will not be wasted; they will become testimonies that glorify God.

But Church, we must be ready. Prodigals may not look the way we expect. They may have tattoos, piercings, wild hair. They may smell of smoke, alcohol, or shame. But they are searching for hope—and Jesus is the only One who can fill their hearts. Will we love them well? Will we look beyond the exterior to the soul Christ died to redeem?

Love Without Limits

God is calling His Bride to a deeper love—a love that welcomes the broken, embraces the hurting, and mirrors His compassion. Their pasts will become stories of redemption, and their pain, a testimony of grace.

The harvest is ready. The time is now. Get back to prayer. Get your heart ready. Our prodigals are coming home, and we must receive them as the Father did in the parable:

“And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” — Luke 15:20 (KJV)

They’re coming. Will you love them?

Susan Bolinger

Author: Susan Bolinger is the Author of the book, “Bloom – A Process to Achieve Complete Forgiveness”. She has a YouTube Channel where you can follow her video series “Forgiveness in Five.” To order a copy of Susan’s book and to obtain more information on her ministry, check out the links below.  Website “Bloom – A Process to Achieve Complete Forgiveness” – The Book