Pigpen Psychology



Luk 15:17—And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

The prodigal son had wandered afar from home, he was in a strange land, he was in a strange place, he was doing a strange task. As he looked around he wondered how his life had came to this, he could smell the stench from the pigpen, he was famished, literally pressed to consider eating with the pigs.

As he looked around, all of his friends had left when his money was gone, those that had housed him had forsaken him, the night life had ended a long time ago. As he looked down he saw his bare feet, he saw that his clothes were full of holes, he saw the pigs, and the pigs reminded him of how low his life had sunk.

In the midst of this horrible, odorous, foul pigpen something wonderful happened, something that his father could not do for him, something that his mother's tears could not do for him. In the muck and the mire of that pigpen, the prodigal came to himself, he had a jarring experience, his mind was jolted, his memory was jolted, and his mandate to move was jolted.

Often times a father's prayer for his son to return home, gets answered in the pigpen, the pigpen can do what nothing else can do
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The pigpen counseled this boy, it stirred his mind, it stroked his memory, he realized where he was, and he remembered where he used to be. The pigpen was the best psychology session that this young man would ever have, the fathers prayers were about to be answered, the boy was about to be heading home.

Often times we want God to bring our loved ones home safely, we want the prodigal to return but we ask God to take it easy on them, my friend often they need the pigpen, often they need the psychology that only a pigpen can offer them.

1. The Pigpen Loudly Called the Prodigal
2. The Pigpen Literally Captured the Prodigal
3. The Pigpen Lovingly Counseled the Prodigal
4. The Pigpen Legitimately Changed the Prodigal

The pigpen is often neglected in our prayers, but the pigpen is often needful in our progress, that is the progress of a prodigal. As we journey through life, we may drift to the pigpen, we may see our friends drift to the pigpen, always keep in mind, the pigpen done more for this prodigal than even his fathers love could do for him.

Cantrell's Jewels for the Journey.