Dear Pastor,

Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus. I am seeking prayer for my son who appears to be kleptomaniac. He steals money from me all the time and denies that he took the money. I am at the end of my tether with him. I have tried every possible means within my power to get him to desist from stealing from me. I prayed for him and oftentimes invoke the Scripture about stealing and robbery to get him to resist the temptation to steal but to no avail.

Quite recently, I had $5,000.00 put away to assist him with his travelling expenses to attend orientation session at univer-sity and low and behold, when the time came for him to start orientation, there was no money. I confronted him about it and he denied that he took the money as he always does.

My nephew lives with us. My son is my only child and he wants to create the impression that my nephew is the culprit, but, pastor, really and truly I can vouch safe for my nephew. He doesn't frequent my room. My son is the only one who has access to my room.

My son is supposed to be attending university this school year. I have paid the tuition fee already and, at this point, I feel like withdrawing it by asking for a refund. This is just a tip in the iceberg of what I go through with my son. My constant faith in my GOD gives me strength and inspiration to cope with his behaviour, intemperance, his crudeness and constant disrespect. I console myself with the fact that GOD doesn't write off anyone and this verse of Scripture has helped me, "The love of God constraineth us (me) in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly."

Please pray for him specifically and for us generally.

God bless

C.S.

Dear C.S.,

Your son needs psychological help. You should make an appointment for him to see a psychologist because if he does not seek professional help, and continues to steal, he is likely to end up in prison. And not only would he go to prison but he would cause others to lose their reputation, because he would lie on them and people will believe what he says. So, tell him that he has to meet with a psychologist. He might resist your suggestion, but insist that he goes.

Do not do anything that would prevent him from going to university. Prayer can indeed change things so continue to pray. The only thing that prayer cannot do is to change God's purpose and plan.

Pastor