‘There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up.’ 1 Cor 4:15
This is a time of year when we celebrate fathers and all that they mean to us. I am thankful for mine, but also to all those who over the years have poured into my life in different ways. We all, to some extent, are products of our environment. We certainly are who we are today because of our parents and those who have been a part of our lives, for better or for worse.
When I was a newborn I needed help clothing myself, feeding myself, and changing the messes I made. I would not have survived without the help of others. Spiritually, I believe it works the same.
Too many churches, ministries, Christians only want to be a part of conception because it is self-gratifying. Not as many want to take care of kids. This part is messy and usually stinks.
Everyone has the ability to procreate. However, not everyone wants to be a Father or Mother. We need people who are not only interested in conceiving but interested in raising kids, raising them to be Fathers and Mothers.
Below is an exert from the Goodbye Generation Book
My Dad
My prayer for my kids is that they will go further in ministry, do more, share the gospel with more people, go places I will never go, and have experiences with God that I never have.’ I heard my own father say that and similar statements many times about my brother, sister, and myself. I know I walk today under the blessing of my father. He prayed for and declared our success all our lives.
I know at times we caused our parents much grief. But there is something about having parents that don’t give up; that stay up praying when their kids don’t come home; that don’t let go when you choose to run away; that stand looking and waiting for their lost son to return.
I have never been without a home, without a family, without someone to call out to when I was in trouble. I have always known someone believed in me. I have always known someone was calling out to God on my behalf.
I am what I am today because of my father.
A father wants his children to succeed. A father wants his kids to go further than him. A father wants his children to have a double anointing. If a church wants to see its community and even its own country changed it must desire the next generation to go further. When we begin to view this generation as our sons and daughters, desiring that they go further in ministry, reach more people and go places we have never gone, there is a power that is unleashed.
This generation needs to walk in its father’s blessing. Throughout the Old Testament we see the power of the blessing of a parent. They would lay hands on their children and their words would speak into their future generation as Jacob did in Genesis 49. Lives, directions, and destinies were changed by the blessings given. It is now up to us in the church to speak this over our younger generation.
As this was my father’s prayer for me, I now pray and speak it over my own children; That Matthew, Jordan, and Amanda will be blessed. That every good thing that God has given and imparted to me will rest on them in double proportion. I pray that they would experience things in God that I never have, that they would go further, believe for greater things, and that the world would be a different place because they serve God. I pray this also over those I lead and this generation.