When Faith is Slipping
A collaboration between Lewis McLain & AI
A long answer to a short question from Tuesday Morning Men’s Bible Study
“Granddad… my faith is slipping.”
“Granddad, can I tell you something and you won’t think less of me?
I feel like my faith in God is slipping away. I’ve prayed—truly prayed—for our family to heal, for hearts to soften, for conversations about the Lord to open again. These aren’t selfish prayers. They’re for relationships to be mended, for love to return, for estrangements to disappear.
But nothing changes.
Some hearts grow colder.
And any mention of God shuts everything down.
Why doesn’t God answer these good prayers?
Why is He silent when the need is so great?
I don’t want to lose my faith, Granddad…
but I don’t know how much more silence or tension I can take.”
**THE GRANDFATHER’S ANSWER:
A Loving Reassurance About the Awakening—The Kairos Moment God Has Appointed**
Come here, child. Sit beside me.
I want to tell you something about God’s timing, something Scripture calls kairos—the appointed moment, the perfectly chosen hour when God reaches the heart in a way no human effort ever could.
Before any other story, let’s start with the one Jesus Himself told.
THE PRODIGAL SON: THE PATTERN OF ALL AWAKENINGS
(Luke 15:11–24)
A young man demands his inheritance, leaves home, and wastes everything in reckless living (vv. 12–13). When famine comes, he takes the lowest job imaginable—feeding pigs—and even longs to eat their food (vv. 14–16).
Then comes the sentence that describes every true spiritual awakening:
“But when he came to himself…” (Luke 15:17)
That is the kairos moment.
What exactly happened in that moment?
- Reality shattered illusion.
He saw his condition honestly for the first time. - Memory returned.
He remembered his father’s goodness. - Identity stirred.
He realized, “This is not who I am.” - Hope flickered.
“My father’s servants have bread enough…” - The will turned.
“I will arise and go to my father.” (v. 18)
Notice something important:
- No one persuaded him.
- No sermon reached him.
- No family member argued with him.
- No timeline pressured him.
His awakening came when the Father’s timing made his heart ready.
The father in the story doesn’t chase him into the far country.
He waits. He watches. He trusts the process of grace.
And “while he was still a long way off,” the father sees him and runs (v. 20).
Why this matters for your prayers:
You’re praying for the very thing Jesus describes here.
But the awakening of a heart—any heart—comes as God’s gift, in God’s hour, through God’s patient love.
The Prodigal Son shows us:
God can change a life in a single moment.
But He decides when that moment arrives.
This is the foundation.
Now let me walk you through the other stories that prove this pattern again and again.
1. Jacob at Peniel — The Wrestling That Revealed His True Self
(Genesis 32:22–32)
Jacob spent years relying on himself. But his heart did not change—
not through blessings,
not through hardship,
not through distance.
Only when God wrestled him in the night and touched his hip (v. 25) did Jacob awaken.
This was his kairos:
When his strength failed, his faith was born.
He limped away, but walked new—
with a new name, a new identity, and a new dependence on God.
2. Nebuchadnezzar — One Glance That Restored His Sanity
(Daniel 4:28–37)
After years of pride, exile, and madness, his turning point wasn’t long or gradual. It happened in one second:
“I lifted my eyes to heaven, and my sanity was restored.” (Dan. 4:34)
The moment he looked up was the moment God broke through.
Kairos is when God uses a single upward glance to undo years of blindness.
3. Jonah — The Awakening in the Deep
(Jonah 2)
Jonah ran from God’s call until he reached the bottom of the sea. Only there, trapped in the fish, did Scripture say:
“When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD.” (Jonah 2:7)
That remembering?
That was kairos.
When every escape ended, God opened his eyes.
4. David — Truth Striking in One Sentence
(2 Samuel 12; Psalm 51)
Nathan’s story awakened what months of hidden sin could not.
When Nathan said, “You are the man” (2 Sam. 12:7), David’s heart broke open.
He went from blindness to confession instantly:
“I have sinned against the LORD.” (v. 13)
Psalm 51 pours out the repentance birthed in that moment.
Kairos often comes through truth spoken at the one moment God knows the heart can receive it.
5. Peter — The Rooster’s Cry and Jesus’ Look
(Luke 22:54–62)
After Peter’s third denial, Scripture says:
“The Lord turned and looked at Peter.” (v. 61)
That look shattered Peter’s fear and self-deception.
He went out and wept bitterly—
not because he was condemned,
but because he was awakened.
Kairos can be a look, a memory, a sound—something only God can time.
6. Saul — A Heart Reversed on the Damascus Road
(Acts 9:1–19)
Saul was not softening.
He was escalating.
But Jesus met him at the crossroads and asked:
“Why are you persecuting Me?” (v. 4)
That question was a divine appointment—the moment Saul’s life reversed direction forever.
Kairos is when Jesus interrupts a story we thought was going one way and writes a new one.
7. What All These Stories Teach About Kairos Moments
Across all Scripture, kairos moments share the same attributes:
1. They are God-timed.
We cannot rush them. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
2. They are God-initiated.
Awakenings are born of revelation, not persuasion. (John 6:44)
3. They break through illusion and restore reality.
“Coming to himself” means the heart finally sees truth. (Luke 15:17)
4. They lead to movement toward God.
Every awakening ends with a step homeward.
Your prayers are not being ignored.
They are being gathered into the moment God is preparing.
8. Why This Matters for Your Family
You are praying for softened hearts, restored relationships, spiritual awakening.
Those are kairos prayers, not chronos prayers.
Chronos is slow.
Kairos is sudden.
Chronos waits.
Kairos transforms.
You can’t see it yet, but God is preparing:
- circumstances
- conversations
- memories
- encounters
- turning points
just like the father of the prodigal knew that hunger, hardship, and reflection would eventually lead his son home.
The father didn’t lose hope.
He didn’t chase the son into the far country.
He trusted that God’s timing would bring his child to the awakening moment.
You must do the same.
**9. Take Courage, Sweetheart:
The God Who Awakened Prodigals Will Awaken Hearts Again**
The Prodigal Son’s turning point didn’t look like a miracle.
It looked like ordinary hunger.
David’s looked like a story.
Peter’s looked like a rooster.
Saul’s looked like a question.
Nebuchadnezzar’s looked like a glance.
Jonah’s looked like despair.
Jacob’s looked like a limp.
Kairos moments rarely look divine at first.
But they are.
And when God moves, hearts—no matter how hard—can turn in a single breath.
Don’t lose faith, child.
The silence is not God’s absence.
It is God’s preparation.
And when your family’s kairos moment comes,
you will say what the father in Jesus’ story said:
“This my child was dead, and is alive again;
was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:24)
Until then, hold on.
Your prayers are planting seeds that God will awaken in His perfect time.
Let's Talk About It, Lewis! 