I knew from a very young age that I wanted to become a writer. My mother nurtured my love of story both by sharing great books and by her own storytelling (her Ronald Gibberhoffer tales were made up off the cuff while waiting for my dad to finish shopping in Radio Shack). I know she attended a writer's conference at Wheaton and decided she wanted one of her children to attend that college. Although I won a short story competition in elementary school and worked steadily on little tales, I lacked self-confidence. Thus, I chose a safe dual major at Wheaton College of English and Secondary Education. Instead of writing great literature, I hoped to teach others to love books as my mother had taught me.
Despite years of writing practice, it wasn't until the Lord gave me prayer poems about our journey with a prodigal child that I chose to publish a book. It felt too important to sit in a file. I'm no polished poet. And, indeed, my journey at the time of writing was only just begun. I don't have a large platform, nor do I covet speaking engagements. My son is still young and I try not to draw attention to his story. Thus, I struggle to market my book.
Upon publication, I sought ministries focused on my intended audience. However, that is difficult, too. Most leaders have their own books to market and push. Indeed, one agent I pursued prior to publishing rejected my proposal suggesting to me that the market was glutted with prodigal parenting books. Yet, a few months later, her own prodigal parenting book came out. This stung!
I was pleasantly surprised when I found Tami Winkelman's ministry called Prayer for Prodigals. Over time, she has been such an encouragement to me and has become a true friend. Thus, I wish to highlight Tami and her books at this time. Her ministry is unique. Many ministries like this try to give an outlet for the anguish this path invokes. While there is a place for that, Tami's ministry is distinctive in its very positive and uplifting tone. Prayer for Prodigals sends out weekly updates of prodigals who are making strides. Tami calls these answers to prayer "raindrops," or "deluges." When the path threatens to drag you down, it is encouraging to receive Tami's newsletters with lists of God's movement in the lives of other prodigals. She nurtures hope in hearts with desperate needs.
Tami Winkelman is not only the founder of Prayer for Prodigals, but also the author of three books. Her first book, in 2019, was
Fighting for Your Prodigal Through Prayer: Promises, Praises, and Prayers. I love the faint but powerful image of hands joined together on the cover of this book! In 2022, she published her second book,
Encouragement in the Waiting (For Your Prodigal to Return to God). Her third book, published in 2024, was
Trust God As: His Names and Attributes for Your Journey With a Prodigal. Her books offer light from God's Word to illuminate dark paths. If you are parenting a wayward child and need encouragement in the journey, I hope this interview will alert you to new avenues of encouragment and inspiration. Tami's books and newsletters have lifted me up and I hope they'll lift the spirits of others, as well.
Q1: Some writers, like me, sense from childhood a deep yearning to write. I think others are given a story and a message from the Lord that drives them to write. What was your journey to the written page? Was it innate or were you led to it? Or perhaps a bit of both.
Tami: Despite having written a poem deemed a "masterpiece" by a schoolteacher, and a paper a university professor kept as an example to subsequent students, I never considered writing a book, much less three. My books grew from the Prayer for Prodigals ministry, from the words given to me by the Lord to minister to others who love a prodigal.
Q2: Yes, I've felt your words were from the Lord to soothe my soul. You clearly write from the heart to parents of prodigals. As I have processed my family's journey down a child's road of rebellion, I've struggled to stave off the darkness. There are three things that I, personally, do to combat this. I wondered if you'd discuss your experience with these weapons. First of all, I absolutely must write in my daily journaling pages. This is a way for me to flush some of the frustrations out, to kind of clean pipes that easily get backed up with the debris of addiction and rebellion. It helps me clarify my thinking and sort my emotions. Do you have any daily (or other) practices of writing you pursue? If so, is there a set time of day you do this or is it more a spontaneous reaction to the difficulties as they arise?
Tami: It is obvious to me that your book, Watching the Wayward: Psalms for Parents of Prodigals, is written from a mother's heart that has experienced this pain, a pain like no other. I don't journal daily, and I wouldn't say that my writing helps sort through specific situations in my own life (I usually go to prayer, praise, worship, thanksgiving, or quoting promises aloud to help sort through my thoughts) but I keep several different journals. I've just never thought of them as therapeutic.
Writing inspirations the Lord gives during prayer and/or Bible reading, organizing the thoughts, searching through Scripture for commonality, and then sharing through the ministry helps me remember and apply the things I've learned. I find writing those blog posts, social media posts, and email prayer starters builds my faith and increases my awareness of God's hand in my life and the lives of those I love enough to cover in prayer. Those reminders are handy when times are hard.
As for the set time, I try to keep my calendar clear for mornings so I can write after my time in the presence of the Lord, while both my mind and body are fresh. I do write often later in the day, after the 2:30 slump that happens most days, but find it much easier to write and edit in the mornings.
I would like to add that the things the Lord gives me, sometimes through things that come across my desk several times from different sources, usually strike a chord with those who follow the ministry, as if the Lord knew and was preparing what we would need! (Of course, He knew! He is amazing like that!)
Q3: Yes, He knows exactly what we need! The second thing I do is seek wisdom from the Lord through His Word. One thing I appreciate in your writing and your books is your heavy emphasis on the Bible. Have you always been a serious student of the Bible or did circumstances in life create a greater hunger for and reliance on God's Word?
Tami: Thank you, Wendy, for the kind words about my writing. Without Scripture, I wouldn't have a solid foundation for any ideas, much less for writing. I am convinced the Bible is the truth, which is by definition unchanging, making it a rock on which I can stand.
I do think my hunger for God's Word came from both my upbringing and circumstances. My parents were saved when I was 8-years-old, and Daddy later became a pastor, so I call myself raised in a pastor's home, and 2 of my grandparents were called and licensed ministers. I remember marking verses during sermons when I was quite young. I was also challenged to memorize Scripture as well as the books of the Bible, and for that I'm thankful. I've sat under some amazing Bible teachers, professors, and pastors, people who challenged me and awakened questions which led to more and deeper study. I've read the Bible more times than I can count, but my daily ministry for those who pray for prodigals has taken me to more in-depth Bible study than anything else. When the Lord brings something to my attention or asks me to write a book, it makes me hunger for answers and causes me to seek answers in prayer more often.
Q4: I'm always curious how people go about securing wisdom from the Bible. Do you go to the Bible and happen upon passages that speak directly to your circumstances? This happens to me. For example, this week I've been hammered with the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (on 5 different occasions, I've been exposed to this passage with teaching). I believe God is shouting, "In your daily battles, make use of the living water I've provided!" and asking, "Are you spreading good news?" On other occasions, I go to the Word with a need and seek (through concordances and searches) what God's Word has to say about some word or topic. Is this true for you? Can you give examples of how and when God has led through His Word in your journey?
Tami: I love that the Lord brought the story of the Samaritan woman to you five different ways and the direction you received from it. We are similar in how we go about finding answers in the Bible. First, by reading my Bible every day, I open myself up to happening upon passages that speak directly to my circumstances. Many times, I then start digging for supporting passages. While in prayer, I've been reminded of memorized verses or phrases in prayer and urged to search for deeper meaning or better understanding. In sermons, a verse will challenge me and lead me to deeper study. All of this contributes to notes and reminders on little pieces of paper, in my phone and email until I can start a computer document. I place other verses as I come across them until I am ready to study it out. Strong's Concordance is a faithful friend, as are cross references in Bibles and Bible apps.
Once, while intending to read Psalm 150, the first verse stopped me because I'd never researched "firmament." I turned to my trusted Strong's Concordance and found one meaning is "expanse." Living in Huntsville, Alabama, with NASA and The Space and Rocket Center, the discussion of the reality of the expanse of space is more prevalent than anywhere else I've ever lived. The verses that say God reveals Himself to man through His creation came to mind (Psalm 19:1, 97:6; Romans 1:20), and the infinity of God came to life for me! God's superiority in power, might, authority, and sufficiency permeated my faith. Nothing is a true contest to God! He outranks everything, including the enemy of our souls.
Q5: Though I'm calling prayer the third thing, each is equally important, so I'm not slating them in order of importance. Indeed, this is often the very first thing I do when facing another obstacle in my journey with a prodigal son. When I first realized my son was overdosing, I dropped to my knees and cried out to the Lord to save him. Praise God, He heard and intervened! Could you share your thoughts on this weapon of prayer?
Tami: There's so much, but I'll dive in. I am so thankful the Lord heard and intervened for your son! I, too, believe that prayer is another important part of all of this, and it is difficult for me to place the parts in order of importance. That being said, prayer is a mighty weapon necessary in this fight for the salvation of prodigals. I don't know why God ordained prayer to affect His will on earth, but in His infinite sovereignty and wisdom He did. And what a privilege it is! To boldy go into the throne room of the one and only true God, the creator of all things, is a privilege we don't deserve, yet He promises to hear every prayer prayed by His righteous children (Proverbs 15:29; James 5:16; 1 Peter 3:12). He encourages us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. What matters to us and affects us, matters to Him (1 Peter 5:7).
I've asked some pretty big things of Him and witnessed His answers to some of them already, but He tells us in Ephesians 3:20 that we can't ask for or even think of things as great as He can and will do! Also, Revelation 5:8 tells us the prayers stay before His throne! Nothing else changes things like prayer does. Praise and thanksgiving change the atmosphere, fasting changes our awareness of and sensitivity to God, but prayer changes lives, things, outcomes, situations, and circumstances. Miracles happen, hearts and bodies are healed, minds and hearts are changed, faith increases, and eternities are changed through prayer, not to mention closeness with God.
Q6: I love your observation that fasting changes our awareness of and sensitivity to God. My blog readers know I spent a fair amount of time fasting and praying for my prodigal last year. At the end of the year, this became a struggle. It felt like the more I mourned and cried out for His intervention, the darker my darkness felt and the more overwhelming it all seemed. It has been a while since I read your Encouragement in the Waiting book, but I'm wishing I had used it as a guide to direct me to more positive sentiments in that process. Have you ever been overwhelmed by the intensity of a problem? What led/leads you to a more positive place?
Tami: Even though the Lord has saved many of my family members, there are still unsaved others, beloved prodigals. At times the weight of the grief of lost time, fear of what might come next, and heaviness of the burden overwhelms me and consumes my thoughts and life, including my health. Several things led me to a more positive place at different times and situations.
Remembering that the Lord's yoke is easy and light, and He is in the yoke with me, reminds me that the bulk of the burden isn't mine. It's His and He is more suited to handle it. In fact, I can do nothing to fix situations other than call on God and follow His lead in prayer, fasting, Bible reading, and obedience. There are times I take the yoke back up again, but getting back to a better place gets easier with practice. It is comforting to know He can and will handle things, that He alone is the God of salvation and The LORD our healer, and I don't have to save prodigals or heal people I love.
However, recently I was faced with the mortality of my Daddy. He became gravely ill and we almost lost him two or three times. I mourned. Hard. When a wave would hit me, I would go to prayer, or put on praise and worship music and let it remind me of who God is and of His love. A few other times, I read the promises only in Fighting for Your Prodigal Through Prayer. One day, the Lord gave me a bunch of promises from His Word; they just flowed, and I noted them. After that, for days and days, promises kept coming, and they are still coming from time to time. I am sharing them in the ministry as Reminder Verses on social media. They ministered to me, and still do, so I revisit them. Bit by bit, the Lord brought me out. Daddy is now getting stronger, and for that we are very grateful!
As for the prodigals I love, there have been heavy showers of raindrops, and I am just waiting for the deluges!
In His Word, God has already given us the way back to peace: keep our minds on Him (Isaiah 26:3), and "in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let [our] requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6 NKJV). God didn't leave us without weapons. Prayer, thanksgiving, reading His Word, praise, worship, and fasting are mighty weapons when the battle is hot and the burden is overwhelming.
You mentioned Encouragement in the Waiting, and I have a funny story about a difficult time in my life. Once, I was telling a friend about a problem, and she told me she knew someone who wrote a book about encouragment. She meant me. A bit later, Daddy told me the same thing. I got a chuckle out of it, but I read it, and it truly helped me.
Q7: I realize now it would have been better to begin each of my prayer sessions (while fasting) with song and specific promises from the Bible. This is exactly what you provide in your book, Trust God As, because you explore the attributes of God. What did your research for that book look like? Moreover, what did you experience personally while researching those attributes?
Tami: Wendy, I, too, often start my prayer time with singing and/or playing the piano. That book really developed as a personal challenge while praying with Moms in Touch, which is now Moms in Prayer International. Praying with them exposed me to the names of God, which led me to write a roughly-put-together "book" about the names of God. It was never published, but it eventually served as a chunk of the research and collection of Scripture passages I needed to write my third book, Trust God As: His Names and Attributes for Your Journey With a Prodigal.
During the writing process, I learned about God. I learned more about who He is and is not and what He will and will not do. I learned the depth of His love for me and His devotion to prodigals. I understand more about His power, might, wisdom, knowledge, sufficiency, authority, and infinity because of the studying necessary for finishing that book. I also understand that because He is infinite, there are simply things I do not have enough time left in my earthly life to study and understand Him completely, which makes me fear and reverence Him more.
Q8: Oh, how I wish I could play the piano! I listed the three things that help me in my journey. Do you have any others you have relied upon?
Tami: Two things that go hand-in-hand to change the atmosphere quickly are praise and worship.
Q9: What led to the founding of your Prayer for Prodigals ministry? What are some comments you've received from those blessed by this ministry? Also, how can my readers give to or pray for your ministry?
Tami: The Prayer for Prodigals ministry grew organically. My husband and I moved back to Huntsville, and a friend invited us to visit her church. When I asked if they had a group who prayed for prodigals, she told me they did not. Without my knowing, she asked her pastor if we could start a group and he agreed. We met on a Monday night and had 30 in attendance. Because I prayed with Moms in Touch, I modified their prayer prompts for our prayer time to include a Scriptural promise, a name of attribute of God for praise, and a prayer based on a verse of Scripture. I printed one for each person.
We continued to meet and I continued to print the prayer starters. One week, someone couldn't attend but wanted the prayer starter, so I sent it via email. That started the weekly email prayer starters that now include raindrops (praise for answered prayers in prodigals' lives) and deluges (praise for the salvation of a prodigal). Hundreds of people receive them weekly.
Someone suggested the prayer starters were so good I should save them. So I did. Later, someone suggested I should put them in a book, and Fighting for Your Prodigal Through Prayer was born. The miracle of that book's publication is a story in and of itself, some of which is shared below.
The email list grew. It became obvious rather quickly that people who loved and prayed for prodigals needed support. I had no idea what I was doing, but my daughter followed several ministries and she suggested I needed a website. I had no clue about it, so she set it up for me, and the blog and the rest of the website came into being.
She also suggested the social media pages and helped me set those up. Later, Darlene Vice, who helps with the ministry and has a women's ministry page asked if I would do a weekly live prayer on her page, and the weekly live prayers began. They are now posted on her ministry page as well as the Prayer for Prodigals page, and she prays live when I can't. All along the way, God has put people in my path to help when He was ready for the next step.
As for comments, I received one just today from a follower of the ministry in reply to the email prayer starter I sent: "Thank you, Sister Tami, for these updates. They really keep me encouraged as I pray for others." A mom of an addicted prodigal daughter reached out for prayer when her daughter was on her death bed and she was saved. I later received this comment, "[Y]ou will always have a special place in my heart!" She reached out and we prayed. The comments seem written to me, but God is the one doing the work. I encourage. I pray. I have others pray. I simply try to obey what God wants me to do. The pray-ers do the planting, and we water by praying in agreement with them, but it is God who saves. The glory and the thanks belong to Him!
As for giving to the ministry, the story of my going into the ministry full-time is another story revealing God's hand in all of this. I was working at our church and trying to write Fighting for Your Prodigal Through Prayer. By the time I would get home, I would be emotionally and mentally spent. About the second year of working on the manuscript, my husband was approached to work for another company. They asked his salary requirements. He took his then salary plus my salary, added ten percent, and gave that figure to the new company. Without hesitation, they accepted his offer and he told me to quit my job and finish the book. That is when the ministry went full-time. Even then, God did it. He has worked things out all along the way. Because of that I've never asked for donations, and no one has ever offered until you, so thank you for asking. God is still providing.
I will, however, be happy for others to pray for the ministry. My prayer points are that prodigals will be saved, that I will follow God's will for the ministry always, that the people who need to be connected will be connected, that the books and other resources will get into the hands of people who need them, and that, through the ministry, people who are in journeys with prodigals will be encouraged in their prayers, their lives, and their own ministries and callings, and be able to have rest, peace, and joy despite what they see in front of them.
Q10. Your reliance on God sounds very much like the ministry structure used by George Muller, as mentioned in my last book review. When we depend wholly on Him, He provides in mighty ways! Finally, are you thinking of or working on another book? Do you see yourself primarily as a nonfiction writer, or would you ever consider working on a novel?
Tami: I just this week asked God if an idea He gave me was to be in a book, because it is extensive, and I felt the answer was "No," that I am to share it through social media part by part, at least for now. There may be a testimony book at some time in the future, but right now, I am just working to keep up with all God pours into me to be shared through the ministry.
As for fiction, I simply do not have it in me. I should say I do not have it in me right now. Darlene Vice, who prays in my place on Facebook Live, writes fiction and I edit for her. I am always in awe of how the story evolves and resolves. The process is amazing and elusive to me. If God gives it to me, though, I hope I will say yes anyway and let Him guide me through the process, just like He has through all of this and still is. He is so faithful. He has been with me every step of the way, He still is, and I know He will be.
In conclusion, writing and the writing process cause me to internalize the Word of God, to learn more about Him, and put the truths found in the Bible within reach when I need them at a moment's notice. There is nothing like the process to teach me and causes what I learn to stick. Writing is a distinct and powerful part of my life and my walk with the Lord.
I want to thank Tami for taking time out of her busy schedule to field these questions. Her answers are so very thoughtful and thought-provoking. What a joy to have fellow writers to bounce ideas off of and to encourage along the way! What a blessing her support is in my ongoing journey with my prodigal son! May God bless Tami and her ministry. May He get her books into hands that desperately need them.
