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What would you say to this woman praying for her son?

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This story is fictional, but the issues in it that Christian parents deal with are real. I would like to know what you would say to "Natalie" in this situation. Thanks for your comments!

Natalie is a Christian woman who loves Jesus and is very close to God. She has a son named Frank, and all she wants is for Frank to grow up to follow God. At some point when Frank is young, Natalie has a vivid dream about Jesus saving Frank’s life at the last minute, just in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, Frank grows up not to follow God but to choose a bad lifestyle of drugs and gang violence. He has been involved in shooting altercations and Natalie fears for his safety. To make matters worse, Frank decides not to speak to his mother anymore and for many years she doesn’t even know where he is or if he’s alive and safe. Because Natalie continues to pray for Frank fervently, at one point she asks God for proof of his safety. It surfaces within a couple weeks, for the first time in years. Natalie is overjoyed. But Natalie begins doubting again a couple of days later, so she then asks God that as a sign that she should keep praying for Frank a particular person at her church will come up to her and tell her to. He does. Natalie is astounded, but the next day she starts worrying if Frank is really ever going to repent and be saved. So finally, she prays that God will give her a dream that night of Frank’s conversion, as a sign that it will truly happen. That night, Natalie has a dream that she sitting on the back of a bus with Frank and a friend of is, and by the end of the bus ride, the two are apparently so touched by her kindness to them that they both decide to turn themselves into the police. She is disturbed and confused, and doesn’t understand the meaning of the dream.

Over the years, Natalie’s prayers for Frank begin to dwindle, but all of a sudden, out of the blue, the urgency, passion, and fervent desire for his salvation resurface with a force she has never known before. Natalie makes a promise to pray for Frank every day until a conclusion. During this time, she has a dream that she represents the law enforcement and Frank is running from her. He gets tired and she catches up with him and is about to grab him, but then she realizes that if she did that he would be executed and she is afraid for him to die and face God’s judgment, so at the last minute she just stops and lets him escape.

During this period of joyful and expectant prayers for Frank full of hope in God and eager optimism for a change in Frank’s life, Natalie suddenly receives the shock of her life: Frank has been killed. To make matters worse, first reports are saying that Frank died fighting in a shooting match with an old foe of his from a rival gang. Natalie is devastated beyond her ability to want to live or die, and she cries for days and doesn’t eat.

Three days later, the story is amended and witnesses admit that Frank was murdered by his old enemy but that he didn’t fight back. In fact, Frank had had a gun but had chosen not to take up arms against his rival. Natalie is relieved that at least now there is a possibility that Frank could have repented. The other thing that encourages Natalie is the fact that Frank’s girlfriend’s brother states that Frank’s girlfriend told him that he was deeply remorseful about his old lifestyle in his final years, though Natalie can’t say for sure if this is true or not and wonders if Frank’s girlfriend’s brother is just trying to whitewash Frank.

Still, Natalie lives in deep sadness that she does not have proof of Frank’s repentance and salvation. She doesn’t know if her dreams were really from God and if so whether or not they are promises to her of his salvation. These fears consume her and she is in torment over the fate of Frank’s soul.

Now let’s say that Natalie comes up to you, sobbing inconsolably, asking for your advice. What would you say to her?
 
Only God knows the heart of a person and all we can do is hope that that person accepted Jesus before it was to late to do so. Be comforted that you were a praying mother who loved her son and am sure your son loved you also even though distance was made between you two.
 
Welcome to these Christian forums Sister Monica1129. This dear mother evidently believes in God, and His promises to her. She in effect has committed her son unto God for safekeeping, has sown a seed, another waters, and it is God that gives the increase to the witness she gave. (1 Cor 3:6) Can we trust He who gave His Son Jesus for us. I have a son that was killed for his affiliation with drugs, and yet soon before that he told my wife. mom, I may not go to church, but I think of God every day. God is not neglect in His ongoing work of those that belong to Him, and then I like to think on the following scripture.

Genesis 18:25 Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Now find the peace that passes understanding by having the faith that gives the assurance you hope for. Hebrews 11:1 says it this way: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That blessed mother may not have seen the fruit produced of her son, but our Father looks on the heart, and knows the way to bring those that are his safely home.
Blessings in Christ Jesus. :wave2
 
Thanks for your replies - especially for sharing your personal story, Eugene.

I agree that when we pray there is a lot going on under the surface that we cannot see. It is easy to become discouraged when we don't see visible fruit in people's lives, yet we have no idea how God is working in their hearts and often we are surprised.

I have had several instances in my life when I had some sort of intuition / thought / prophecy / dream (whatever way God spoke to me) about someone I had just met and didn't know anything about, urging me to pray for him or her, and then only later found out that God was already working in that person's life! I remember in one case when I was 14, I had this type of experience (a sudden and unexplained desire to pray for her) about a girl I saw in my sister's band concert, and I ended up meeting her five years later at community college and having a perfect opportunity to talk to her about Jesus.

I think Natalie should be comforted by the fact that the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to her about her son. Though it requires faith for her to believe that such experiences were truly of God, I think in the context of her having an intimate connection with him and a trust that he speaks to her, she has every reason to feel hope and comfort with respect to her son.
 
I'd hold Natalie and let her cry till she was cried out.
What could I possibly say that would make her "feel better" after her son was gunned down?

God knows all and knew Frank before the womb. All of Frank's life was predestined according to God's will and for his glory. All I could say to her when she would know scripture tells her that is; God have mercy. And cry with her.
 
I would say to her exactly what God said to me when I was praying for my own son who had gone from me to pursue a wild lifestyle.
"You put him in His fortress...now trust God to deal with Him."

My son is home again...and he is an awesome example of what a Christian should be.
Perhaps the things he experienced while he was away shook him awake in a way I could never do.
Trust in God...
 
I would say that God is love,God has mercy and God is the perfect judge.Be at peace that Frank is in God's hands and God's Will be done.
 
I might first ask her what has helped her the most, about this.

She would probably say something like, "I know I need to trust God."

And I would say, yes.

I might try to help her by saying not to be wishful about who goes "to heaven". But if she has proven experience of hearing what the Holy Spirit says to her, I would say go with whatsoever you know the Holy Spirit said to you. But if you are not sure . . . trust God to make us more mature so we are reliable in knowing if He is speaking to us, or not. We all need to grow more in being able to communicate with our Father.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." (Colossians 3:15)

Go with what you get in His peace. Do not trust any thinking or feelings or decisions or way of seeing things, if they are not in the ruling of God's peace in our hearts :)
 
I would show my support by just been there and spending as much time with her because your mind tends to play games with you when you alone. He is in a better place and safe with God. Nobody knows why things like this happen but through praying and faith it will get easier and you will somehow find peace within yourself. It just takes time... I would encourage her to read the book called The Shack by WM. Paul Young, it is about a family who loses their child and the journey the father takes.
 
This story is fictional, but the issues in it that Christian parents deal with are real. I would like to know what you would say to "Natalie" in this situation. Thanks for your comments!

Natalie is a Christian woman who loves Jesus and is very close to God. She has a son named Frank, and all she wants is for Frank to grow up to follow God. At some point when Frank is young, Natalie has a vivid dream about Jesus saving Frank’s life at the last minute, just in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, Frank grows up not to follow God but to choose a bad lifestyle of drugs and gang violence. He has been involved in shooting altercations and Natalie fears for his safety. To make matters worse, Frank decides not to speak to his mother anymore and for many years she doesn’t even know where he is or if he’s alive and safe. Because Natalie continues to pray for Frank fervently, at one point she asks God for proof of his safety. It surfaces within a couple weeks, for the first time in years. Natalie is overjoyed. But Natalie begins doubting again a couple of days later, so she then asks God that as a sign that she should keep praying for Frank a particular person at her church will come up to her and tell her to. He does. Natalie is astounded, but the next day she starts worrying if Frank is really ever going to repent and be saved. So finally, she prays that God will give her a dream that night of Frank’s conversion, as a sign that it will truly happen. That night, Natalie has a dream that she sitting on the back of a bus with Frank and a friend of is, and by the end of the bus ride, the two are apparently so touched by her kindness to them that they both decide to turn themselves into the police. She is disturbed and confused, and doesn’t understand the meaning of the dream.

Over the years, Natalie’s prayers for Frank begin to dwindle, but all of a sudden, out of the blue, the urgency, passion, and fervent desire for his salvation resurface with a force she has never known before. Natalie makes a promise to pray for Frank every day until a conclusion. During this time, she has a dream that she represents the law enforcement and Frank is running from her. He gets tired and she catches up with him and is about to grab him, but then she realizes that if she did that he would be executed and she is afraid for him to die and face God’s judgment, so at the last minute she just stops and lets him escape.

During this period of joyful and expectant prayers for Frank full of hope in God and eager optimism for a change in Frank’s life, Natalie suddenly receives the shock of her life: Frank has been killed. To make matters worse, first reports are saying that Frank died fighting in a shooting match with an old foe of his from a rival gang. Natalie is devastated beyond her ability to want to live or die, and she cries for days and doesn’t eat.

Three days later, the story is amended and witnesses admit that Frank was murdered by his old enemy but that he didn’t fight back. In fact, Frank had had a gun but had chosen not to take up arms against his rival. Natalie is relieved that at least now there is a possibility that Frank could have repented. The other thing that encourages Natalie is the fact that Frank’s girlfriend’s brother states that Frank’s girlfriend told him that he was deeply remorseful about his old lifestyle in his final years, though Natalie can’t say for sure if this is true or not and wonders if Frank’s girlfriend’s brother is just trying to whitewash Frank.

Still, Natalie lives in deep sadness that she does not have proof of Frank’s repentance and salvation. She doesn’t know if her dreams were really from God and if so whether or not they are promises to her of his salvation. These fears consume her and she is in torment over the fate of Frank’s soul.

Now let’s say that Natalie comes up to you, sobbing inconsolably, asking for your advice. What would you say to her?
I would tell her that deep down every person is good, and that I'm sure God forgives her son.
 
Monica1129 Hello,
I would ask her a question............Do you have FAITH that God gave you this dream or vision?
If so then stand on it and send the devil and his lies packing.....She does not have to put up with all that torment.
Like God told me in a simular situation with my dad......Do you trust me ? Of course I do.....Thats all that was said.He did not say anything else on it. He did not leave me a forwarding email if I had doubts....

It is really up to her to what she believes.........Trust God and Live With Faith in God and Except what he said and get back to living again...........doubt God or if it was God, worry and allow the mind to all what if's and live the rest of her life in torment and stress and a shorter life then she needs to.
That is the only way I see it and I draw this from His word and what he has worked in my life and taught me
Have a wonderful day
jim
 
Thanks for your replies - especially for sharing your personal story, Eugene.

I agree that when we pray there is a lot going on under the surface that we cannot see. It is easy to become discouraged when we don't see visible fruit in people's lives, yet we have no idea how God is working in their hearts and often we are surprised.

I have had several instances in my life when I had some sort of intuition / thought / prophecy / dream (whatever way God spoke to me) about someone I had just met and didn't know anything about, urging me to pray for him or her, and then only later found out that God was already working in that person's life! I remember in one case when I was 14, I had this type of experience (a sudden and unexplained desire to pray for her) about a girl I saw in my sister's band concert, and I ended up meeting her five years later at community college and having a perfect opportunity to talk to her about Jesus.

I think Natalie should be comforted by the fact that the Holy Spirit clearly spoke to her about her son. Though it requires faith for her to believe that such experiences were truly of God, I think in the context of her having an intimate connection with him and a trust that he speaks to her, she has every reason to feel hope and comfort with respect to her son.

I would not say a word to her, not unless hearing the Lord first.

We do have proof God is working in someones life when we pray. When I pray for God to get invovled with someone, it's a done deal. I don't need to see proof, that is unbelief. I have more than enough scripture that proves what I prayed is mighty and effective.

The women lived in unbelief and fear. No wonder her son ended up in such a mess.
We don't ask God proof to see if His Word is true or not. That is unbelief at it's fullest.

It's hard to explain to baby Christains things "AFTER" the tradegy.

The dead 6 year old.

A man in our big Town of Branson MO lured a 6 year old child with candy to a hotel room He was staying and strangled her to death, then threw he body under the bed.

mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN0LQ0RA20150222?irpc=932

I somehow get pulled into a conversation with other believers about the why, the how and Where is God?

They all wanted to hang this guy by the neck, He was a monster to do this to this child.

The Spirit of God came on me and I asked one simple question...... Who's fault is it the Child is dead?

What amazed me was that even giving 4 scriptures to believers they still had a hard time recieving the answer. Scripture should be the final answer with no questions asked.

Anyway.
 
I can understand the concern. God gave Jesus for all, but many will choose otherwise. Ultimately, we have to agree that God is righteous in His judgements even involving our own children. We have to trust and believe that He has our best in mind at all times. He will remove blindness from people when we pray for their salvation, but ultimately, the individual is responsible for their choice. The woman has to decide if she will still love and trust God even if her son decided against God and will go to hell as a result. She can't know and so she should live in hope that her son did accept Jesus. She has to trust God that in the end, if her son isn't in Heaven with her, God has promised He will wipe away all tears.
It's a trial of her faith. It's a place where someone can be caused to question Gods judgement and sovereignty.

Revelations 21:4
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Faith is once again required to trust God knows what He is doing and have hope that God was able to bring her son to repentence.

I too struggle in this. The thought of any of my children or grand children not arriving in Heaven is overwhelming. In fact, the thought of anyone not being there is hard to swallow for me. I would even want the worst child molestor to be freed from his sin and find Jesus. The idea of anyone facing eternity in torment is horrible.
But I don't want anyone in Heaven who God says is not worthy by Jesus righteousness. That would ruin Heaven and it's just not possible. God is a consuming fire and anyone not clothed in Jesus righteousness will be lost. Anything else would make God a liar and then the Devil might be there and none of what He has told us about faith in Jesus and eternity would be true.

I don't know about you. But I am glad God is true. He is also love. That needs to be remembered first.
 
Man tries to define God. That's impossible. We really don't know the mind of God, the thoughts of God. What i would tell the mother is that God has acted in the most fair and just way and we can't begin to know. Man likes rules, he likes cut and dry. However, God has so many shades that we can't, in our finite minds, begin to fathom how God thinks, and we have no right to presume to speak for God. I would hug that mother and tell her that she can trust that God knew the son's heart and acted accordingly.
 
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