If your son or daughter has headed down the prodigal path, you've probably experienced many episodes of anger, fear, and despair. But there is reason for hope, even during the worst of times.

In The Hope of a Homecoming, authors O'Rourke and Sauer share their personal experiences about dealing with their own prodigals. They also offer empowering and professional advice on going deep beneath the surface to enlist and direct God's sovereign power toward the children of our hearts. You'll find key Scriptures, written prayers, coping strategies, and practical advice on such topics as:

• Conquering fear
• Recognizing anger and using it constructively
• Praying for protection
• Waiting when He's silent
• Gaining a new perspective

Tune out Satan's lies of hopelessness. Learn to look at life and your prodigal's situation through God's eyes and respond to it with calm confidence. The Hope of a Homecoming gives insightful help and encourages parents to pray their prodigals home. It's a time filled with heartache, but there are ways to make it easier.

Praying Prodigals Home: Taking Back What the Enemy has Stolen
By Quin Sherrer

Do you suffer the pain of a loved one gone astray? Quinn Sheerer amd Ruthanne Garlock have both kept a light in the window for the return of prodigal children. But they did not wait passively, helplessly wringing their hands, paralyzed by fear and despair. Instead, they battled for their children in prayer and trusting that, ultimately, almighty God would intervene, returning the prodigals to their parents' arms. The enemy uses many worldly temptations to lure our young people away from their Christian values and upbringing. This book reminds us that for those of faith, victory is always within our grasp and that our loved ones are eternally dear to His heart.

Praying Your Prodigal Home: Unleashing God's Power to Set Your Loved Ones Free
By Richard Burr

This gripping book of hope and encouragement provides sound biblical principles on how to pray effectively for your lost friend or loved one. Praying Your Prodigal Home includes focused prayers that can be used as models in praying for unbelievers.

Prodigal Brother
By Sue Thompson

Having a prodigal affects families profoundly - especially a sibling who has remained obedient. Sue Thompson shares her story of struggle, shame, and hope in The Prodigal Brother. Recognizing the unresolved anger that the sibling may experience, this book offers ways to heal the pain of feeling second place in a parent's attention. Thompson writes with sensitivity about forgiving a wayward brother or sister without excusing the behavior. Anyone who has been "the good kid" in the family will find answers, understanding, and the knowledge needed to unload the emotional baggage of growing up with a prodigal in the home.

Prodigal in the Parsonage
By Judi Braddy

If you are in ministry and your child has strayed from your faith, you may feel that you are alone. You are not. Judi Braddy, a licensed minister and pastor's wife, knows firsthand the pain of watching a beloved child walk away from God. Though the final outcome of her personal story is still unknown, she uses her story and the painful and poignant reflections of others to illustrate how they have navigated life with a prodigal. Braddy addresses issues such as: can you minister effectively when your own family is in disarray?; how do you deal with the grief?; remember that your child is not the enemy; whose fault is this anyway? With encouragement, hope, and a hint of humor, the author shares practical perspectives on how the challenges of having a prodigal child affects ministry as well as they ways your life, family, and ministry can be enriched if you stay the course and apply the lessons.

Prodigal People: Coming Home to Right Relationships
By Woodrow Kroll

A rebellious son, a wasted inheritance, a waiting father..... This book applies the most well known of Jesus' stories. Prodigals don't always run away from home. Prodigal people may live in your home, attend your church. They are people who for one reason or another waste the talents, opportunities, and resources that God has given them. Prodigal People provides an encouraging road map back to right relationships with God and Others.

Prodigals and Those Who Love Them
By Ruth Graham

Ruth Bell Graham knows about prodigals- two of her five children were spiritual wanderers, From the pain she experienced as she prayed, watched, and waited for them to return to the fold, comes this book. Throughout the writing Mrs. Graham kpet in mind both the hurt and disappointment the one who wanders feels and the confusion and fear of the one who waits. To capture both sides, she recounts stories about five prodigals, interlacing them with the stories of those who loved them. Mrs. Graham also includes her own poems and diary entries written during the prodigal years of her two sons, as well as humns and Bible verses that brought her solace.

The Return Of The Prodigal Son
By Henri J.M. Nouwen

When Henri Nouwen stumbled across a poster of Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son he began a spiritual journey that would help him understand the biblical parable as well as the story of his own life. Take this opportunity to join Henri as he leads the wayward prodigal and judgmental sibling who reside within each of us towards the open-handed, overwhelming compassion and eternal love of the Father. The Return of the Prodigal Son will transform your reading of the parable and the way you understand your life story.

Surviving the Prodigal Years: How to Love Your Wayward Child Without Ruining Your Own Life
By Marcia Mitchell

Here is practical help for those struggling with a parent's worst nightmare. With compassion and sensitivity, Marcia Mitchell will show you how to love your prodigal child without ruining your own life! This is a real world approach to surviving the most difficult years of parenthood.

Will Your Prodigal Come Home?: An Honest Discussion of Struggle & Hope
By Jeff Lucas

If you're heartbroken over a prodigal in your life---whether he's far away or sitting in stony silence in the pew beside you---Lucas's message offers you hope, insights into family emotions, and reminders about the power of prayer. His solid approach helps you guide the wayward home and keep your faith as you wait. 208 pages, softcover from Zondervan.