The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: 2nd Timothy 3:1-9 // Psalm 119:137-144

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘ Father I have sinned against heaven and before you.’” Luke 15:18

A Plan for Action

The plan for action announced here is daring and bold, particularly since the young man’s self-evaluation is a rationally accurate one. He is really saying to himself here: “I am a grievous sinner before God and man, especially before my own father. Him I have despised and insulted; him I have shamed and dishonored. Of him I have demanded my share of the inheritance and squandered it. I am no more a son, nor am I worthy of his consideration even as a hired hand.”
So having said all this, what conclusion does he reach? The one we would least expect: “I will arise and go to my father.” There is no right or reason for this plan for action, except that the son feels that, despite all, the father who gave him his inheritance will even now not turn away from his sinful son. He was right!
How true of us, also, and how wonderfully true of our gracious Father. When we are in sin’s distress, there is only one resolve: let us arise and go to our Father, in Jesus’ name. “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ … He is the propitiation for our sins.” [John 2:1-2]

October 18, 1969