Spiritual Training for Children II

Monday 15 May
READ: Mal. 2: 15
MORE LESSON: Eph. 6: 1 – 4

One of the reasons why God made a man and his wife to become one is because He is seeking godly children. Mal 2:15a (NKJV) says, But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.... God's ultimate goal is not just that children are produced but that godly children are raised. To achieve this, we have to influence the children from their formative years. We should not allow the society, school and other institutions to form our children and then we try to reform them when we are not satisfied with what they have turned out to be. The best way to form children's conviction is to live a life of spiritual example before them while they are young.
I learnt this experientially years ago. Naturally, I spend a lot of time in the place of prayer. But I can be praying quietly for hours on a spot and no one would know except he/she comes very close to me. However, when my wife prays, you will know that someone is praying. In fact, you don't need to be in the room with her before you know. Of course, I am the one that has to put up with the praying. So, one day I asked, “why are you doing this to me, why can't you pray quietly like me.” She replied, “You can pray quietly for a long time and that is admirable. At the same time, God has blessed you with a wife that can pray loud. If the children don't hear you praying; at least, they will hear me and know they have parents that pray a lot.” I said it is okay. So anytime she needed to pray and I wanted to do something else, I would leave the room and go find a place to do whatever I needed to do. One day, I heard the children mimicking 'mummy's tongues'. They were actually speaking in tongues and saying this is how mummy prays.
It is important that parents do the right things for children to see. If you wake up in the night to pray, even if you don't want to ask them to join you, pray loud and 'disturb them small'. Let them grow up knowing that parents wake up at night to pay the price in prayer over their children's destiny. You should also bring your children to night vigils even if they will sleep throughout. Let them grow up with it.
Conversely, as parents, there are things that are lawful but not expedient. As a mother, a dress might not be a sin but if you wear it, your daughter will take it a bit further. You started it, she will help you finish it and then you can't control it anymore. For the sake of the children, there are certain things you must do and other things you must not do.

Prayer/Action
* Pray that you will not fail in your role as a parent, in Jesus’ name.
* Lord, bring your expectation for my home to pass, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Father, as this month draws to a close, I decree that every calendar of evil prepared by satanic kingdom for my future be destroyed now, in the name of Jesus.

Spiritual Training for Children I

Sunday 14 May
READ: Prov. 22: 6
MORE LESSON: Psa. 78:9

Spirituality and godliness are the principal requirements for a successful home, not just for the father and mother but for the children as well. In order for the home to fulfil God's plan, we need high level of spiritual capacity for our children. This is the reason why the children need to be part of the spiritual exercises in the home. The children cannot be excused from prayer, family altar and other spiritual exercises on the basis of being too young. They must be trained to do it from early in life.
When I leave my house early in the morning, sometimes before 5 am, I see Muslim men going to the mosque in the cold of the morning, small children carrying small mats, running to catch up with their father as they hurry to the mosque. No wonder they grow up to be ardent followers of their religion. However, when going to church Christian parents leave the children at home, saying they are small, and will not understand what is happening in the church. If they are too young to understand what is happening in church, how come they understand what is happening on the television that they switch on immediately you leave them and go to church.
As soon as children can understand sounds and words, it is time to start training them in the way of the Lord. Let them pray at their level, let them fast according to their capacity when they are old enough to. Let them read the Bible and come for Bible Study. The environment puts several ideas into their minds about fashion, speech, friendship and other things in life. They read all manners of books and watch programmes on the media. It is only the Scripture that can format all the wrong stuff out of their mind. If there is any field that parents must be well versed in more than the children, it is the Scripture. Teach them the Bible.
When my children were young, there was no home lesson that superseded Bible Study. The personal tutor would come home to teach them but once it was time to go to church, it was either the home tutor would leave or follow us to church. All the talk about parents coming to church and leaving children at home that they have home lesson or they are reading their school books is not correct. We don't want to raise intelligent sons of belial.
These children are the next generation that will spearhead the Kingdom of God in this end time. The greatest gift and legacy they can be given is a high spiritual capacity so that they will carry God into their generation. Our children will not be found as spiritual weaklings in their day of battle, in Jesus’ name (Psa. 78:9).

Prayer/Action
* Pray that the Lord will grant to you wisdom to bring up your children in the way of the Lord, in Jesus’ name.
* Pray that your children will grow up in the fear of the Lord, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I remove my name and family's from any demonic calendar and programme, in the name of Jesus.

The Triangle of Marriage

Saturday 13 May
READ: Eccl. 4: 9 - 12
MORE LESSON: Matt. 19: 4 - 6

The Bible says that two are better than one. Scripturally, one chases a thousand, two chase ten thousand. Furthermore, in marriage, they actually chase more than ten thousand. This is because marriage is not merely a union of two; it is a union of three. God is the third Person in the marriage. A successful marriage is the man, the woman inside God. It is the threefold cord that will not be broken (Eccl 4: 12). The marriages of many in the world are merely two fold cords; a man and woman trying to work things out. This is the reason why things are not working out. When the man, the woman and God are united in holy matrimony, the marriage will not fail. The man and the woman may not have the strength to pull it through, but God will pull it through for them. God will not allow anything He is involved in to fail.
Marriage is like a triangle; a triangle has three edges, two at the base and one at the peak. Each edge represents the person in the marriage; the man and the woman at the opposite points at the base, God is at the top point of the triangle. The purpose of marriage is oneness in spirit, soul and body. The man and the woman start out at opposite edges because they are two different people and they want to work at a meeting point. They have two options, they can try to cut through the base and meet at the center of the base. To achieve this, they will have to drill through the triangle and meet at the center at the same level of the base. This is what many people are doing and sweating in their marriage. The second option is to each climb to the top of the triangle and meet at the peak. To achieve this, they have to both go up.
There are a lot of problems in marriage because the man and the woman are trying to work out a meeting point at the natural level and leave God out of the equation. However, if they both will grow up spiritually and become more and more Christ-like, they will naturally achieve oneness. This entails that the man and woman keep looking up and climbing higher in God. As they go higher, the distance between them is actually reducing. In a triangle, if two objects start from the opposite edges of the base and climb up along the slants to the peak, the higher they go, the less the distance between them. Therefore if marriage issues must be resolved and oneness achieved, each party has to grow spiritually and become more and more like Christ.
They will definitely meet at the top because the power to become one is made available by God Himself who keeps drawing both. It is for this reason that the Bible says, Two are better than one...: v9, because as they move up the triangle towards God, they get better and better for it.

Prayer/Action
* I declare my home is established in Christ Jesus, nothing shall be able to break it, in Jesus’ name.
* My home will grow to perfection, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
No matter what the devil does, I shall not end my year in shame, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Who you Should not Marry II

Friday  12 May
READ: Gen 24: 2 – 4
MORE LESSON: Prov. 19: 14

The issue of getting into marriage is a destiny decision. Making the right choice is possible and very easy when the principles of God are followed. This is why we started yesterday to give the description of a person not to marry based on the Scripture and the spiritual wisdom that God has graciously given to us.
You should not marry a person who doesn't submit to leadership. Do not marry a rebel in the house of God, who defies all the authority so that you will not partake of the curse upon his life. When you see a man/woman who doesn't submit to spiritual leadership, stay away from such a person. Such people claim that they are the alpha and omega of their own lives. That means if he is intent on doing wrong, there is no man anywhere that can tell him to stop and he will obey. Several marriages have collapsed because there is no authority to report to.
Do not marry a person who wants to marry you just because he/she 'likes' you. It surely takes more than 'like' to have a successful marriage. A person who likes you can also like someone else. Admiration is good but it is not the basis for marriage. A man can 'like' the way a lady looks now but after giving birth the shape changes and he doesn't 'like' her anymore. A woman can like a man because of his looks, job or money now and something happens that takes those things away and she doesn't like him anymore. Just because he/she 'likes' or even 'loves' you is never enough for marriage. There must be a spiritual conviction that both of you can hold on to.
A lot of people react against this when we say that the fact that a person loves you or you love a person is not enough ground for marriage. They say 'Why shouldn't I marry the person I love, are you not saying that I should marry the person I don't love?' There is nothing wrong with love. Love is good. In fact God Himself is love. So you should love the person you want to marry. God will never force you to marry someone you don't love. In fact when the leading is truly of God, the first evidence you notice is that evidential love starts to flow from your heart to the person. However, this love is not circumstance-driven or flesh-motivated but God-based. The truth is that many who profess love for people they want to marry are victims of mere infatuation and emotional stirrings. The love is based on looks, family pedigree, possession or other external attributes. But the love that will last long and weather the storms is that which is built on the altar of God – who is love Himself; not the many things people call love. It is only the agape love of God that can stand the test of time.

Prayer/Action
* I receive grace to follow God’s principles no matter how unpopular the path may be, in Jesus’ name.
* O God, rescue everyone that is heading into wrong relationship, in Jesus’ name.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
As Joseph, Esther, Daniel, and others were selected to office in foreign land that even indigenes envied them, so let me be remembered for divine selection to great places this year, in the name of Jesus.