There is no grief quite like watching a child walk away. These verses are for the long wait of a parent who keeps praying.
// the word for this moment
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”
Luke 15:20 (KJV)
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)“Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.”
Jeremiah 31:16-17 (KJV)The father in Luke 15 didn't just wait — he watched. He saw his son while he was still a great way off, which means he had been looking for him. That's what this verse gives to every parent praying for a prodigal: a picture of God's own posture — watching the horizon, ready to run. Your prayers are not falling into silence. Someone else is also watching and waiting for your child to come home.