Now in the midst of your turmoil, He will cry with you, saying, "I know it's bad; I feel bad too. But if you will do something, if you will speak My Word and believe that I will bring it to pass, I will help you."
Our heavenly Father saw His Son Jesus being spat upon, beat to the point of being unrecognizable and nailed to a cross. But now Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, interceding for your children and mine (Rom. 8:34). God loves our children more than we will ever be able to love them.
If you even whisper a prayer to God, He will knock down some fences and kick some demons from pillar to post! When you ask Him from you heart, He will move in your behalf.
There is just one important requirement for you to fulfill as a parent: You must be taking authority in your home. You didn't become a parent because you are the most qualified.
You aren't head of your home because you have the highest intelligence or the most degrees. You are there by divine appointment. So you have to stand up and take your authority. Don't let the devil put you down.
You might ask, "How can I judge my child for doing something wrong when I do the same thing myself?" That's why Luke 6:40 in The Amplified Bible says that a pupil, when finally taught, will be just like his teacher.
Our children do what we do, not just what we say. That means we have to be growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, becoming more like Him every day.
That's our responsibility as a parent. We stand in that place of authority, not because we are sinless, but because God has put us there. That's why we have to quick to repent whenever we do wrong.
When we know we have sinned, it takes only about five seconds to ask forgiveness and to be cleansed. As the Scripture says:
1 John 1:9 says, "IF we confess our sins, he [the Father] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
As the head of my home, I stand washed and cleansed, not because I have lived a perfect life, but because I am forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
My kids know I am not perfect. I sometimes mess up on a consistent basis, but I have learned to repent in front of them. It's hard to do sometimes, but I say, "Hon, I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing I said and dumb thing I did. Will you forgive me?""
Then I have to ask God to forgive me. I'm going to keep growing in God's grace and knowledge.
There is strength in that, not because I have a perfect past, but because I have a perfect God. It's the grace of God being sufficient in me. His name is Jesus, and you can lean on Him, too.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers.
Joe McGee, author, national conference speaker, father, and former school administrator, is the founder and director of Joe McGee Ministries, Inc. and Faith For Families Ministries.
