Priscilla Shirer plays a single mother praying for her prodigal son, Isaiah, in the latest Kendrick Brothers feature film, The Forge. Isaiah, who a year after finishing high school, has no plans for his future and is heading in the wrong direction until a successful businessman employs him and begins to mentor him on how to be a Godly man of integrity by submitting his life to Jesus.
Priscilla joined Fel and Robbo on Rise and Shine to talk about her role in the movie and share her words of wisdom about praying for prodigals.
The Forge is about a group of men that are mentoring younger men on how to become mighty men of God. The Kendrick brothers took specific care to handpick the cast of men who would play the roles of mentors. They wanted men who were actually discipling young men in real life. Priscilla’s husband, Jerry, was one of the men chosen to play one of these roles. Her youngest son, Jude, is also in the film.
While fathers play an important role in the lives of their sons, sometimes the influence of other men, such as grandfathers, uncles, or coaches can be more impactful. It’s the concept that, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’
‘Something has to die. Isn’t that what discipleship is all about? It really is surrender. It’s saying to the Lord, “Lord, what is keeping me from putting you in first place?” Because I have a competing allegiance, whether it’s a hobby or an entertainment choice or an ambition, it doesn’t have to be sinful to be vying for position in the first place,’ said Priscilla.
‘That’s what I think is going to be so jarring to believers when they see this movie—is that many of us have placed faith in Jesus, we’ve received that free gift, but crossing the line to discipleship is hard because one is a free gift, and one requires a high cost that it means everything else has to line up underneath our prioritisation and our allegiance to Christ. So when we really start looking at that personally, we start realising there are a lot of things I actually love too much and they’re not bad, they’re just taking too much of a devoted priority in my life.’
Persistent Prayer Will Line Up with God’s Perfect Timing and Purpose
While the movie spans over a few years, where a prodigal son comes full circle, there are some people who have been praying for their prodigal child for decades and have not yet seen an outcome. Priscilla gives these words of wisdom that not only relate to prodigal children, but to our prayers about our marriage, health, finances, or anything else we may have been praying for a long time without seeing results.
‘We have to remember that our God is faithful to His word. Ephesians 3:20-21 is my go to passage that says, He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond anything you can ask or think. And the reason that has such a gravity to me is that … our thought processes, the highest level of what we think the best resolution could be for our child or our marriage or our financial difficulty … hasn’t even reached the fringes of categories that He’s thinking of when He brings answers and solutions into our lives,’ said Priscilla.
‘So, He’s thinking multi-generational. He’s thinking about great grandkids that we may never lay eyes on. So all of the things that are happening in our lifetime are tethered to a web of events that our human minds cannot even fathom. So we have to trust that even when we’re not seeing the outcome we would prefer, He invites us to still make our requests known. And yes, He hears us when we pray. But if He chooses to answer differently and not in our timing, then we have to trust that His ways really are higher than ours and His thoughts are way above ours, and that we can trust that just like He is almighty and powerful, He is also good and kind and loves us.’
Surrender all to Jesus
Priscilla has written a book titled, I Surrender All that was inspired by the themes of the feature film, The Forge. It’s an invitation for all young people to surrender everything to Jesus and to follow Him not just as your Saviour but as a priority in your life so that you can be more than a believer—you commit to becoming His disciple.
‘I look at my boys, since they were very little, and say, “You are a man … of integrity and character and honesty. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. You will put on the full armour of God so that you can stand firm against the schemes of the devil. You are the head. You are not the tail. You are above, you are not beneath. You are a leader. You are not a follower. The praises of God shall continually be in your mouth, and you will be a mighty oak of righteousness in the house of the living God. And you will do it in Jesus’ name, or I will spank you,”’ said Priscilla.
I Surrender All is available from Koorong. If you haven’t already signed up for your 15% Koorong discount, click this link before purchasing.
The Forge is showing in cinemas from 29 August in Australia. Check your local cinema for screening times or go to Faith media.com to find a cinema near you. Why not get a group together to support this uplifting film and give a strong message to cinemas that there are Christian audiences willing to support Christian films.
To listen to Priscilla’s full interview, click the link below:
To watch the trailer, click the link below:
