Week 7

The Prodigal Son

Opening Prayer (5 mins)

Pray for eyes to be opened to see the Father’s heart more clearly. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas where you have wandered, become distant, and areas where the Father’s love may have been misunderstood. 

Opening Questions (10mins)

• When you hear the phrase "coming home," what thoughts or emotions come to mind?

• Have you ever experienced being welcomed back after making a mistake or failing in some way?
  

Discussion Questions (30mins)

1. What stands out to you most in the parable?

2. What do you think the younger son expected when he decided to return home?

3. What does the father's response reveal about God's character?

4. Why do you think the older brother struggles to celebrate the younger brother's return?

5. In what ways does the father extend grace to both sons?

6. How does this story challenge common assumptions about acceptance, worthiness, and grace?

Personal Reflection (10 minutes)

• Which character do I most identify with right now: the younger son, the older son, or perhaps both?

• Are there areas where I have drifted from God through independence, distraction, or compromise?

• Are there areas where I have become transactional in my relationship with God?

• Do I truly believe that God delights in my return and desires relationship with me?

Practical Applications

Choose one or two practical ways to respond this week:

1. Take a Step Toward Home

• Identify one area where you sense God inviting you back into closer relationship with Him.

• Spend time speaking openly with God about:

  • failures

  • disappointments

  • fears

  • struggles

• Approach Him as a child returning to a loving Father.

2. Examine Your Motives

• Reflect on whether your relationship with God has become driven by:

  • obligation

  • performance

  • duty rather than love and intimacy.

3. Extend Grace

• Reach out to someone you have struggled to forgive, welcome, or understand.

• Ask God to help you express His heart toward them.
  

Closing Prayer Focus (10 minutes)

Pray together:

• Pray for a deeper revelation of the Father's love, compassion, and delight in His children. Ask God to expose areas of:

  • independence

  • pride

  • self-reliance

  • performance-based thinking

• Pray for repentance that leads to restored intimacy with God.

  • Ask the Holy Spirit to help us receive God's grace fully and walk confidently as beloved sons and daughters.

• Pray for healing where shame, guilt, disappointment, or failure have created distance from God.

  • Ask God to give us His heart toward others, especially those who are returning, struggling, or far from Him.

• Pray that our church would reflect the Father's heart:

  • welcoming the lost

  • celebrating restoration

  • extending grace

  • rejoicing whenever people come home to God.