Parenting: The Father

Friday 31 March
READ: Gen.18:19
MORE LESSONS: Eph 6:1-5, Deut. 4:9-10

Fatherhood is a blessing because a lot of things culminate into maturing a man to the position of a father. A father has the oversight because he has seen what others coming after him are just seeing or about to see, … keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen…especially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God: Deut. 4:9-10. A father is a bundle of experience with man and God. A father, as the one in our text, should be able to share with his children certain experiences, especially the ones where he encountered God. It is not enough to be called a father because a man is able to impregnate a woman. Experience goes with fatherhood. It is by the experience garnered over the years that a father can lead others to becoming fathers.
A person who fathers without experience will fail in his role. The experiences God has taken you through as a father are not for fun, they are proofs of God's faithfulness and should be taught to the younger generation. Fathers should tell the younger generation about the faithfulness of God and His ability to perform His counsels. The revelations of God that the fathers have received are to be taught to the children so that the children can in turn seek God and have something to teach the generation after them. That is the plan of God as we can see in our text.
A father is also a provider. The providing ability of the father comes from trusting God for supply. When a man ceases in his responsibility to provide for his own house, that moment he ceases to be a man of faith and he's worse than an infidel, for the just lives by faith. A father has the responsibility of teaching his children to trust in God for the supply of their need. Though most of the things the children need come directly from the father, he should use this to teach them that God is the Jehovah Nissi like Abraham told Isaac when he asked for the ram for the sacrifice. Our children should be taught the faithfulness of God in providing their need.
A father is the defender and protector of the family. He is the Chief Security Officer of the home. This is not only physically but spiritually. He must be sensitive to the things that happen around him. He must keep his home from intruders and make sure that every member of his home is secure. He has the spiritual oversight of the home and must do all to be on guard at all times.

Prayer/Action
* I speak glory and honour over my spiritual/biological fathers, in Jesus’ name.
* All that makes a father a father shall not be missing in them, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I break the yoke of stagnation, I receive power to advance and I gain speed from today on, in the name of Jesus.