Ohana Prayer 287 – Luke 15
4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the
ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided
his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country
and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he
began to be in need.
16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him
anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death!
20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him
and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed
him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring
on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to
celebrate.
Praise the generous and loving Triune God, our Father God in heaven. “No one can comprehend
the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!” Neither can
we comprehend your wonderful deeds. Even if we search for all the scholars in the world, we
are unable to fully express your abundant grace.
May your good and perfect will be done not only on earth, but also in our lives so that your
glory will be manifested just as in heaven. When facing the pandemic and adversity in the past
year, we had a deeper understanding of your endless compassion and experienced the joy that
we thought was lost. We look up to you with all our hearts and wait for the break of dawn.
Thank you Lord Jesus, you came to this world as a man, manifesting the wonderful love of God.
You seek the sinners, accepted them, got close to them and showed grace to them. You saved
us from the bondage of sin, and cleansed us of our sins. We are not worthy, but you placed us
in your sheepfold, fed us and provided us with daily needs.
Lord Jesus! We can do nothing without you! Please forgive us. All of us, like sheep, have strayed
away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. We are lost and have grieved you. Yet, you
do not think less of us. You still patiently picked us up from the waste pile, give us a new life.
Though we have fallen, we will rise again, press on and look forward to what lies ahead.
Good Holy Spirit, please erase all sorrow and resentment from our hearts. Please illuminate us,
renew us and transform us into a new person by changing the way we think. May we focus on
the good and perfect will of our heavenly Father instead of keep dwelling in our pathetic
weaknesses and deceitful desires.
Almighty Holy Spirit! We earnestly pray for our family members who are unbelievers, by name.
Please light the lamp of our lives so we can be a beautiful living testimony and help them realize
that everything is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Jesus Christ.
May all of us, together with the angels of our Father, rejoice when sinners repent.
We pray in the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!