By Kathi Pelton
I once heard a story regarding mercy that deeply impacted me. The story was about a young man who had committed the crime of desertion from Napoleon’s army for which he received a sentence of death. His distraught mother went before Napoleon and begged for mercy for her only son. He said to her,
“Your son does not deserve mercy.”
The mother replied,
“If he deserved mercy he would not be in need of it.”
When Napoleon heard this he was moved with compassion and showed her mercy by pardoning her son and returning him to his mother.
Mercy is what is shown to one who deserves judgement; it is completely unmerited by the recipient. Mercy flows out of a place of compassion and unconditional love toward the guilty and the condemned. Grace, on the other hand, is unmerited favor. It is what brings forgiveness and provides salvation to the one who cries out in repentance.
In the story that I shared above, the son didn’t cry out for mercy; his mother did. Since hearing this story I have heard the Lord ask me again and again to “Shout for mercy!” over the prodigals.
As the mom of a prodigal, this exhortation to “shout for mercy” for the prodigals and the story of the mom begging Napoleon for mercy, has deeply stirred my heart. I find myself driving in my car shouting “Mercy” over her and “Mercy” over all the prodigal sons and daughters. Like the father in the story of the prodigal son, I am always watching down the road for our daughter to return home. I will run to her when she does.
As I reminisce about this story of a mother crying out for mercy for her son, even though he was guilty of the crime, I am reminded of all the mothers that cry out for mercy for their children who have deserted God. Though these prodigals are not crying out to God, their moms are crying out to Him for mercy amid their sin of desertion. Our God is full of mercy and full of compassion— I hear the words, “Mercy is falling like a heavy rain.”
As mothers, we can go before the mercy seat of God and plead mercy for your prodigal child or loved one. In Exodus 25:22 God makes a promise regarding the mercy seat saying,
“There I will meet with you.”
In the Old Testament, the mercy seat was sprinkled with blood when the priest came before it. It had two gold cherubim on either side of it and it was the place where God’s presence rested. When Jesus rose from the dead, there were two angels dressed in white at the head and foot of where the blood stained body of Jesus had laid. It was a perfect picture of the mercy seat.
You are invited to go before the mercy seat of God, where He will meet with you, and ask for the blood of Jesus to come upon your prodigal and mercy to be declared over their lives.
Shout mercy! Mothers…shout mercy! Wives…shout mercy! Grandmothers, shout mercy! The Merciful One is saying, “Cry out for mercy to fall like rain!” There is an agreement between your shout and His compassion that will bring the breakthrough. Don’t stop!
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Oceans in the Desert 
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