Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy our children

The role of a father is sobering and nothing to take lightly and not to do on your own without the Father.

But it seems (at least maybe in my own family) that the enemy is out to steal our kids hearts and their souls for eternal damnation and destruction and it is a battle that a father can easily lose heart especially when a child wanders off.

How can we wrestle with the scriptures that say "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

But sheltering your kids seems to backfire on you and turn your children into bitterness towards you. There seems to be so many voices, so many different counsel in the church on to train, raise, love, educated, and more your children. I'm rambling a bit here, but sharing out of personal experience how the duty of a parent is one that needs to be soaked in prayer and I'm humbled by the process and journey I am in right now.

Brother Doug,

I can honestly say this more than anything else keeps me up at night and on my knees before the Lord....
You are (in my understanding) correct in taking this so seriously as we (fathers) will give an account for these lil ones He has entrusted us with.

Tho some of his theology and writings are obscure for me, I found his biblical reference/model for fatherhood amazingly refreshing. I speak of Watchman Nee,... and his biblical "role model" of a father was Enoch. He makes a very considerate and otherwise subtle observation regarding this person. The OT talks about how that a faithful father will be rewarded with a child who has long life and Enoch's son's life is the benchmark of longevity. Also Watchman Nee points out that Enoch is not mentioned until the birth of his son and surmises that the weight of responsibility felt by Enoch as a father is what caused him to seek out and to walk so closely with the Lord that when the Lord withdrew, Enoch was no more- So if we were to allow the Lords blessing us with children to be the very thing that keeps us in submission/dependence upon Him in order to raise/disciple them properly then it would seem (from Nee's perspective) to be quite fruitful

I hope this is encouraging tho, at the least, know you are not alone brother and remember the Lord is faithful and will reward those whom diligently seek Him:)

Blessings upon you and your children~

I have experienced this also. It seems that lately Satan has increased his efforts, at leat in my family.

Being a single (widowed) mother I despair that I don't know how to correctly "father" my children. Though the Lord has taught me many things since my husband passed away I know I still do not have the mantle of a father. I can see where Satan has,taken advantage of that in some of my xhildren. It does bring me to Him and I cry out to Him asking Him to be a Father to them.

What I have seen in my children is that those who have chosen to surrender truly and fully to Christ can withstand the attack of the enemy. Those that have been holding back something are susceptible to his attacks. We must know our children's hearts and be able to plant in them the Word, but in the end it will be their choice to make.

I am also a single mother, although this is a consequence of a sinful past in my case. By the Grace of God, my oldest son is walking with the Lord, but my daughter is a lesbian. I know God will deliver her because He said so - I even know the name of her future husband! All things are possible to him who believes.

As Brother Mark said, it is so important for we parents to have a close walk with Jesus for ourselves; this really has an impact on our children when they observe us practicing what we preach. In the case of my daughter, I have prayed and continue to pray for her deliverance, and she has seen the Lord transform my own life. She called me in the middle of the night last week and asked for me to pray for her; she knows her mama knows the Lord, lol.

Thanks for sharing, how do you reach the hearts of your children with the gospel and truth?

In regards to my daughter, my son and I have both shared the need for repentance and absolute, unconditional surrender to Jesus. We have used our own lives as examples of the tremendous grace and mercy of the Lord. She knows the truth, but she must surrender to it. My prayer for her has been that the Lord will do whatever it takes to bring her to Himself, and that He will be merciful to her in that circumstance and grant her repentance. The very last thing we want is for any harm to come to our children, but it may be the very catalyst that will produce brokenness in their hearts. I cannot and will not tie the Lord's hands by saying, "do anything except THAT, Lord".

Brother Doug,

That's a good question!

I'm very much in the learning stages of this and am in no way an expert on the subject, so this prolly requires a disclaimer of sorts.

Firstly it's primarily about being ourselves (as fathers) humble before and submissive to the Lord, and by that I mean to say that we should seek Him and act in faith regarding His lead when seeking to minister the gospel. It's very easy to "get ahead" of the Lord and attempt to sow seeds on ground that hasn't been broken up, just as it is to "fall behind" and miss the opportunities He presents us. Also I have found it profitable to be (when compelled by love) to be proactive in creating opportunities to minister the gospel to them. For example when they were younger I would get bible story cartoons for them and watch them with them and wait for their questions or comments that allowed me to feed them Christ. Currently I will just engage them in what they are interested in and draw out the gospel and biblical truths from the reference of their interest. This has been very effective in many ways on many levels.
Having said all this, they are each different and that requires me to handle them differently on an individual level which is allot of trial and error.
An example of this is my first born Asa, he sometimes struggles with self esteem and will act out of an insecurity which usually leads to him getting in trouble at school, or camp or at home. I've learned with him that the most profitable thing is to remind him of who he is in Christ so as to help him learn to renew his mind. Whereas with Kingston, he already has a heart full of obedience but is at times reluctant and second guesses things that he shouldn't because he hasn't received a directive on it, so with him I encourage him to trust his heart and to be courageous and learn to act in faith.
Now these situations create opportunities because they start a dialogue where I can minister the gospel to them in ways they can relate too not just mentally but in their practical experience.

Also, I've made tons of mistakes as a father- sometimes they seem to just string together in spite of my best efforts. So much so that once I just went to the Lord and apologized for being so bad at being a dad and He assured me it's not about being "the best" but is about "being willing"....

Ha! I'm rambling...
Well in any case I hope this helps:)