“I am infusing Myself into his ruminations.”

God said this rich and faith-building phrase to me about a prodigal for whom I am praying.

I knew this had to be God for three reasons: those are words I don’t normally use, Scripture supports it, and it is perfectly pertinent to the situation.

First, I actually had to look up rumination and looked up infuse for a clearer understanding. I found that dictionary.com defines infuse as “to introduce, as if by pouring; cause to penetrate; instill … inspire,” and rumination means “the act of pondering or musing on something.”

I believe this word pertains to all prodigals. In this, God promised to:

• Penetrate their thoughts.
• Instill Himself into their minds.
• Inspire them.
• Pour Himself into their processing—the processing of situations and circumstances in their very difficult lives away from God.

Penetrate. Instill. Inspire. Pour. These are very strong action words, and God’s actions are always effective.

Secondly, Scripture repeatedly tells us God does this:

• “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13 NKJV).
• “‘It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me’” (John 6:45).
• “Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way” (Psalm 25:8).

Thirdly, how is this promise pertinent to the particular situation of one my beloved prodigals? This prodigal is isolated from family and other human godly influence, and in the isolation, he says he wants to be alone to think, process.

Our prodigals may be isolated from the ones who love them enough to pray for them, but they can never isolate from God. It simply isn’t possible, because God is everywhere at once. (For a biblical description of this constant Presence, His constant awareness, from conception to death, inside us and outside us, read Psalm 139:1–16.) He is infusing Himself into their ruminations.

One of my favorite verses about God’s teaching sinners comes from Matthew 11:1: “Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.” I believe we can take this as a personal promise, that if we move forward in fulfilling our own personal callings and purposes, doing the things God sends us out to do, not allowing this burden to hinder our kingdom work, God Himself will teach and preach to our prodigals and our lost loved ones. I cannot think of anyone better to teach and preach to the prodigals I love.

Knowing God’s promises fills us with faith and hope for our prodigals. We can know that when they are isolated by the enemy, dwelling on anxious or depressing thoughts, hearing lies from Satan, ruminating on their hopelessness, God is infusing Himself into their ruminations! It makes their isolation less painful for us and gives us a looking forward to the ultimate victory—their salvation!

God is righting every lie from the enemy, speaking truth to them, revealing Himself to them, reminding them of miracles, showing them His great and perfect love for them, and giving them hope.

God is infusing Himself into their ruminations.

Our Father, we stand on the promises in Your Word, that You teach sinners in the way. Our prodigals are sinners. Teach them about Yourself. Reveal Yourself to them. Infuse Yourself into their ruminations. Make them very aware of Your Presence. Give them an encounter with You such that they can never again deny You are God. Save them, Savior.

In Jesus’ name we pray.