Many prodigals are demanding—some politely, and others not so politely—that their pray-ers not speak about God to them, sometimes with the threat of no longer having communication with them. At times, it actually results in isolation, and in some cases, forced estrangement.

Cancel culture is a weapon the enemy uses to silence witness in the lives of prodigals, but when we pray the promise that “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), God makes it a useless weapon. The Bible tells us how, and it gives us a promise on which to hold and to pray in.

The promise? When the enemy tries to silence the witness of the pray-er, something else is happening that the enemy can’t stop. Isaiah 54:13 says, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children.” We stand on and take comfort in His Word, that if they won’t hear us, they will hear Him. They have no choice. He promised He would teach them, and we know His teaching will be effective. He is a much better Teacher than us, any day, any time.

The reminder is in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” When our attempts to give our prodigals nuggets of the Word seem to fail and are met with disdain, we hold onto the promise that we planted seeds in them, the people we are praying into their lives are watering those seeds, and God will indeed give the increase!

The Lord talked through the prophet Isaiah about cancel culture:

“‘Woe to the rebellious children,’ says the LORD, ‘Who take counsel, but not of Me, And devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin” (Isaiah 30:1).

“That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD; Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us’” (vv. 9–11).

“And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left (vv. 20–21).

Cancel culture is wide-spread, but God is mightier and has all-sufficiency to teach our prodigals the way they should go. He is truth, and He is light, and darkness cannot overcome light (John 1:5). Cancel culture is not a barrier to Him. It cannot cancel Him or His plans or the effectiveness of our prayers.

Our goal in this journey is not that they hear us, but that they surrender to the Lord. In whatever way the Lord accomplishes this is okay with us.

So, we have three promises and prayer points:

• “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17).
• “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13).
• “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

These are things onto which we can hold when the enemy, through our prodigals, tries to cancel us or silence our witness, and we definitely spend time praying these three into the lives of our prodigals. Cancel culture doesn’t matter, because God will prevail, anyway. In answer to our prayers, He will teach them, and He will stop the effectiveness of the weapon of cancel culture. We can rest assured that the seed of the Word we and others taught them is being watered by the Word they are receiving now from God and others He sends into their lives, and He will cause that seed to take root and produce fruit in their lives.

God cancels the weapon of cancel culture!