Certainly for some people it takes being as low as anyone could ever imagine being, before they can see their need to be in relationship to God. Some people only turn to God when they are in desperate circumstances. Having sunk about as low as he could, the son returned to his home. He hoped that, by returning, he would be treated as a hired hand. But he had failed to understand how great his father's love for him was.
Some people drift away from the faith.
As the family grows up, somehow they get out of the habit of going to church. They intend to go. They sometimes yearn for the sense of community that they once had. But at the same time, it seems impossible to go back. They feel unworthy.