Biblical Parenting | Young Families

Tonight, we're talking about biblical parenting. Guys. Parenting is hard. Just full stop right there. It is hard.

Who parented extra hard today? I felt like today was like, let's parent super hard. Let's get in there. We're talking about parenting tonight, and the kids are gonna test it all out, take it for a test ride. They wrote it hard and put it away wet.

Let's just put it that way. So hallelujah. But parenting is also very near to the heart of God and can be massively fulfilling, let's just put it that way. Because if you saw the bathroom video usage we just showed a second ago, for those who are listening to this, you're like, what the heck are you talking about? You should have been here.

So the idea of getting space away from your kids can be a little bit challenging at younger stages. There are those of us in the room that have kids who are much older. We call this now. If you have kids who are younger, now you're on your second climb. And it can be a little harder sometimes, too, because you are older.

So all that to say, raising kids. It cannot be just about us trying to do the right thing or helping our kids to navigate challenges, or even about them growing into responsible adults. All those things are correct and admirable. All those things are good and they're needed. But biblical parenting should be phrased, or could be phrased like this.

Teaching our kids about the love of God and helping them give their whole hearts to. To Jesus. Because a truly surrendered heart will be led by the Holy Spirit so that then they can become all those things you're trying to accomplish and all those things you want them to do. So Proverbs 4, 23, one of the most favorite scriptures I have in all of the book of all the Bible. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

That sounds kind of important. It is very important. Your heart matters. And if our children become surrendered to the Lord, then they can carry. I'm sorry.

Then they can trust the Lord to lead them as they navigate all of life's challenges. That's what Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 looks like when you live it out. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't depend upon your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and then he will show you which path to take.

So how do we do that? Good question. I know we are going to look to Scripture to give us the roadmap and directions for parenting our children. The scripture that we just really felt like Kind of depicted all of that was Deuteronomy 6, 5, and 7. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Amen. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. In other words, our goal should be to surrender our own hearts to Jesus and then spend the efforts as parents teaching our children to do the same.

So we only have one God. He is our God, and he's the God for our entire family. That's what sets the stage. And then in that we are called to love the Lord with all of our hearts, with all of our soul, with all of our strength. So basically everything that we have, we.

We can't expect for our kids to have something on their hearts that's not on our hearts. Amen. So prioritizing this and getting before the Lord daily will set the stage for your kids to be able to do the same. Scripture says to talk about the. Or talk about it when we are sitting at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down, when we get up.

So basically being in conversation with your children every single day, all day long about the goodness of the Lord and how he is faithful. So in other words, we need to train our children. Hallelujah. Train them up. Train it up.

Train it up. Keep growing. Oh, okay. I like it. Proverbs 22:6.

I don't know why I stopped. Proverbs 22:6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go so that even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Training up a child in biblical sense means giving truth based instruction and love based discipline. That's true. Also notice what that scripture said, even when he is old.

Dude, your kids are going to grow up, guys. They're not going to stay babies. Most of you guys who have older kids now know this painfully. And you're watching and going through all these phases where it's very painful to see, like, I don't know what I'm doing at this phase. This is why it's so important that we get to the heart of things when they're young.

This is why. Because they're going to grow up. And, and then we. Then we have a whole new host of problems to deal with. So it's about understanding that we're raising adults.

Like April has told me many times, we ain't raising babies. They may Be babies. Now we are raising adults and kids who will turn into adults. Sorry. No, you're good.

The goal is not to get everything right. And there will be days when you get to the end of the day where you're like, I answered in love. I didn't answer in anger. I was patient. I was kind.

I respect, responded the way that I needed to respond. And you just feel like you're winning, winning. And there are days when you're going to lay in bed and just be reminded of all the ways that you've ethically failed. But the goal is not to get to the end of your parenting career and know that you did everything right, but just to know that you tried your best with leaving the imprint of the Lord on their heart and inviting the Lord to lead you as you did it. Training up your child.

So how do you run a marathon? You train. So it takes training, it takes practice. But the whole goal with biblical parenting is being submitted unto the Lord while you're doing it. Amen.

Listen, guys, I sat in my bed this week, laid my head down, and was like, I answered in anger many times. I lost my cool many times. I yelled at my kids many times. Felt like a failure. So if you feel that way, like I feel that way, oftentimes, you are not by yourself.

And I want you to understand that this isn't a let's bash everybody, because we're trying to figure out, guys, we do not have it put together in any way, shape, or form. We are trying our very best, but we thought, we. We fought. We thought it would be helpful that we tell five practical ways that we feel are important about training up our children. The first way, teaching our children the power of praying the scriptures.

It's not enough just to read the Bible, but to pray the Bible. Second thing is, we want to model reconciliation and forgiveness with our kids approaching parenting with unity. This is really hard to do sometimes because there are things that you guys do not see eye to eye on. There's a long laundry list. Giving proper boundaries to kids, which can be a big deal.

That's a big fat word. That's like the word no can be a big no no in some houses. A. Well, it's part of it. And then lastly, I thought it's really important because it's all through scripture speaking and pronouncing a blessing over your kids.

You have to speak it into existence because that's what most of creation happened with God spoke it into existence. So in regards to the power of praying the scriptures, there's a phenomenal book. We gave it away tonight. Who won that book tonight, by the way? Who was the, who was the lucky winner of the book that we gave away tonight?

Yes, you. Okay, Anna? See I got it right this time. See so I called her like Laura or something in the concourse. That was my bad.

So this book has been profoundly powerful to me. How do we actually pray God's word over our kids? So Mark Batterson, who wrote another book which he also gave away tonight, which is called the Praying circles around your kids, he says the Bible was meant to be prayed through, not just read through. So here's an example that I put here, Malachi 4, 6. You can put that up there.

So the Scripture says he will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse. Well, I modify prayer with something like this. Heavenly Father, I believe and declare that you will keep my heart and Samantha's heart tender towards Jonah, Anna and Micah and that their hearts will be open and ready to receive and listen to our spirit led guidance. We will all remain in relationship with Christ and our home will be blessed and not cursed. We take the Bible, change a few words to adjust it to our kids names and pray it because it's very effective when we do that.

Another example, Philippians 4, 6, 7. You all know this one. Here's what it sounds like as a modified prayer. Father, I ask that Micah would not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition and with thanksgiving, Micah would present his request to you. Lord and I ask that your peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard Micah's heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

We know that scripture super well. But do we pray that scripture by putting our kids names in there or your spouse's name in there, or your father and mother's names in there who are lost possibly. So why is effective prayer. I'm sorry? Why is it so effective to build prayers around Scripture?

I'll answer that with scripture. God answers the question. Isaiah 55:11. This is not on the screen but it says this. It is the same with my word.

I send it out and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to and it will prosper everywhere I send it. It didn't say it happens sometimes. It didn't say he answers his word only on Tuesdays at 9am he always responds to his word and nothing he says has ever returned void. So why not send back what he has already said to him and say, lord, you've already written this.

It's never going to return Void. I'm just going to hop on the train. So another one, Psalm 138:2, says this. You have exalted above all things your name and your word. Some versions of that scripture say that the Lord has exalted his word above his own name.

In other words, he's not going to revoke what he wrote. So we want to return to him what he wrote. And I'm hopping on that train, guys, and I want to send it back to him and say, lord, about our kids, I want it to be like this. So the best thing we can do in prayer is to repeat his word back to Him. And he has made a commitment never to violate it.

And our prayers are most effective when we stand in agreement with Him. Amen. Next. Perfect. Okay, so the next area is forgiveness.

One of the most crucial stages in training up our children is teaching them about forgiveness and reconciliation. It is healthy to say to your children that you are sorry, that they actually need to see what it is modeled and look like. And not just like you need to tell your sister you're sorry. But actually receiving it from a parent opens up that door for them to receive it and for them to give it later on. It's a huge part of training up your children in the way they should go and a practice and a challenging aspect in the Christian walk.

Forgiveness is Spiritual Warfare 101. It's one of the many doors that the enemy can use to attack your children or your family. So modeling that forgiveness with your children is imperative. First, John 1:9 says, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us or to forgive our sins and cleanse us from everything we've done wrong. Modeling reconciliation and forgives us Forgiveness teaches our children that they are worthy of being forgiven.

Amen. Many of us have struggled with forgiveness ourselves because we feel like we've never been forgiven so we can extend forgiveness. So working with the Lord to bring that area to him, to have him be the one to rectify that wrong to right, will open up that door for your children so that they can understand how. What it means to forgive and to receive forgiveness. And knowing that our children are all born into sin nature and, and that they must be chained or they must be trained to not wallow in that shame.

Can I say that part right there? Is that okay if I say that part? Yeah. Actually, you know what? Sometimes guys, I get in trouble because I get super Excited about stuff.

And I interrupt you like I just did. And then I, I get in trouble later. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna stand here and say, take it back. He, he gets really excited and it's 5:30 in the morning and we're writing down scriptures and he's preaching at me. And I'm like, you're doing it again.

I love you, but you're preaching at me. So continue. It's okay. Reconciliation tears down the power of sin because it prioritize. Prioritizes confession.

Yes. And confession neutralizes the enemy's primary tactic, which is fear. That's right. That is right. When you confess, there's so many.

There's so many scriptures. Proverbs 28, 13, James 5. When you confess your sins one to another so that you might be healed, not so that you can wallow in your shame and someone can rub it in real bad. And you feel really terrible about yourself. The idea the enemy uses is fear of.

But if you confess it, they're all going to know you're junk and they're all going to judge you real bad. And then you'll feel all this shame and you'll never come out of it. That's what the enemy tells you. That's fear. And fear.

And fear. Confession neutralizes that. And when we confess to our kids. Jonah, dude, I blew it. I yelled at you really bad.

I should not have been as harsh as I was. And I just gotta say, from me to you, that was wrong. And I'm seeking forgiveness and I'm sorry, man. I have had to do that so many times with our children. But you know what I've noticed?

They're so quick to forgive. I mean, like that, like. It's okay, dad, it's okay. No problem, Whatever. Move on.

Let's go. Play ball. Whatever. They are quick to forgive because they don't. They aren't pre programmed to hate you.

That's not what's happening. I'm saying they're not pre programmed. They don't come out that way. Sometimes things happen and they turn that way because we don't have a chance to catch their heart soon enough. So I'm sorry to tag on your train.

So next thing we're talking about practical idea number five or number three, Sorry is unity in parenting. This is a biggie. As Christ following parents, we need to unify around one thing, the word of God. When it comes to training up our children, it can't be around Dr. Phil's best intentions or what somebody else said or what our parents did, because it's always been that way. We need to examine is it lining up with.

The scripture says there's lots of different styles out there about parenting, some good, some bad. I'm not going to get into that. I'm not here to analyze all those things. There's too many opinions about that. And that's great.

The styles will vary widely and the methods will also vary. But what we need is the anchor of God's word. That's what we need to rally around. So Proverbs 23:23, which is not on the screen, it says, get the truth and never sell it. Also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

The truth. Get the truth. There's a singular article there. All you grammar nerds out there. So there's only one of them.

There's only one truth, and the name is Jesus, the word of God. So as parents, we have to accept the supreme leadership of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13 says that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. That means that we may have to do some unlearning of some. Some bad habits.

It just is what it is, guys. We have to. So we need to work towards operating in unity concerning our parenting with each other. And that is done by letting God be the final authority, not our feelings or even our emotions about things. And this is a touchy topic, so I'm just going to say it.

We must be willing to accept the fact that how we were raised by our own parents in our own house as a kid may not have been totally in line with Scripture. It's very possible. We need to be willing. Not saying you have to overhaul everything, but we need to be willing to examine us and if needed, forge a brand new path with your spouse that is in line with scripture. It may require us to do some examination and be willing to listen to what Scripture teaches.

So Ephesians 4. 3 says, make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Now, I want to say a quick word to the fathers in the room. We carry a specific mandate, okay? Very specific.

That's assigned to us in Ephesians 6. Four fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Why does it say fathers and not parents? He's not talking to mamas.

Mamas don't have this problem most of the time. This is usually where dads drop the ball sometimes. Myself, I'm first in the line here. Here's what the amplified Bible says about the same Scripture, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger. Do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive, nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them.

But instead bring them up tenderly with loving kindness in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord. How we talk to our children fathers, is a big deal. This mandate was specifically assigned to us as men because we have a specific responsibility in our home to be the priest of our home, to be the ones that actually set the tone of our home. It's up to you, dads and me. It's up to us.

So all that to say, do not press the panic button right now. Hallelujah. Because I would be failing. The Holy Spirit will teach us, all of us men, how to do this and how to produce his fruit. But just like scripture says in Ephesians 5, husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and laid his life down for her.

And wives, submit to your husbands. Husbands also need to be in full submission to the Holy Spirit that is first and foremost. Otherwise we cannot produce the fruit the scriptures talk about. I wanted to mention that part about dads because it often gets overlooked. And that's a very important piece.

Perfect. All right. The next area is boundaries. Establishing boundaries and providing biblical discipline creates a safe place for our children to thrive in. Our goal is not to tell you how to parent.

I'm so sorry if that's how what you came for tonight, we're not going to do that. But we are going to give you what the Bible says about parenting and lay out what scripture says. The riddle family are kind of like theme verse for our house is Joshua 24:15. As for me and my house, we will serve the lor. That has been the scripture that we have encouraged all of our children to memorize.

And we've got pillows and like wall hangings and it's in everyone's bedrooms because it's important to us. Because as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. So if we're gonna serve the Lord, then what does that look like? We're gonna strive to teach our children to always love the Lord first, to expose them to the word of God, to pray with them and over them, and to protect the spirit spiritual atmosphere of our house. Protecting the spiritual atmosphere of our house means we are watching what our children are watching.

We are listening to, our children are listening to, and we are with them when they are being exposed to certain things. Nowadays, TV shows and movies are made with children who are being disrespectful, dishonest. They are teaching children these patterns and behaviors. Movies are coming out with witchcraft, and it's, you know, it's fine. It's a Disney movie, and there's a really catchy phrase.

It's still witchcraft. So I'm just trying to speak the truth in love. When you expose your children to these things, it sets the stage for the house, and that is called spiritual warfare. It will change the spirit, the realm of your house really quickly. We have noticed that in our own house, there are even times when our kids are acting crazy, and we are like, oh, we are turning on George.

And, like, curious George can't go wrong with Curious George. You know, like, he's mellow and he's a monkey, and there's no narrative there. Like. But what you have on your house will depict the atmosphere of the home. So just being mindful of that.

The music that you're listening to with your children there is a popular artist. She is a woman, and she has dominated the world. And her newest album is all about speaking negatively to. About fathers, about, she's breaking down the covenant of the Lord. And, you know, but you get on this wagon in this train, and there's a color and a number, and you like fingernails and bracelets and all the things, and you buy into the lie, but what you're buying into is this idea of.

Of creating this realm and area for disrespect and honor for a parent and then thinking negatively of the love of the Lord. So just knowing what your kids are listening to, knowing what they're watching on tv, that will change the spiritual realm of the house. And then, you know, if the spiritual realm of your house is off and your kids are having nightmares and everyone is fighting, because those are really real, practical things that will happen when the spiritual realm of your house is. Is off. When we experience that in our home is we anoint our home.

And, you know, sometimes our kids get a little crazy with it, where they're like, you know, they lay down for, like, four seconds and like, mom, you're like, yes, honey, I just left your room. What is it that you need? I had a bad dream. I'm like, there's no way you had a bad dream. You're not even asleep yet.

I had a bad thought. Had a bad thought. I need you to anoint my room. And you're like, okay, I will anoint you, but when I do, everything is gone, and you're going to bed. So our children know that you know, when they're having a bad thought or a bad dream, we do anoint the house.

But in real, you know, in honesty, there have been times, especially last summer, Andrew was in Israel at this time. And the place that he was at, there was a lot of spiritual warfare. And me and the children back in Kannapolis were feeling the spiritual warfare from where he was. And all of our children had nightmares and were saying weird things and were talking weird. And I'm like, what?

What is going on? And then the Holy Spirit spoke to me that this is demonic and that I needed to pray over my kids and regain the spiritual atmosphere of my home. And when I did, it stopped. And we all slept, but I was exhausted. And Andrew was like, oh, yeah, that's because I was at the Temple Mount and it's run by Muslims and we couldn't even speak the name Jesus.

And I was like, oh, gosh, listen, let me. Let me tell you this. I was on a bus, okay, heading to the Temple Mount in Israel. And it's like 8 o', clock then there in the morning. So they're about seven hours ahead.

I think of where we're at. My phone rings. I'm like, no, no, no. And it's her. It's like 1am I like, this is not going to be good because she's calling me and I'm like, man, hello.

Hello. I had the third child that had woken up with a nightmare, and Micah needed just to hear Andrew's voice. And as soon as he heard Andrew's voice, it calmed down. And I was like, I don't know what is going on. I am so tired.

Every time I lay my head down, I'm popping back up with another kid. And he's like, it's because I'm at the Temple Mount and I can't even speak the name Jesus because I will get taken to prison and my passport will be taken away and I'll be deported from the country or I may not be able to leave. So that's why you're experiencing what you're experiencing. And I'm like, oh, perfect. Great.

Yep, that's great. So what I did was I anointed my children, I anointed the bedpost, because we were all snuggling in the same bed at that point. And I told the enemy that he had to leave. And so just saying, like, those are really real practical things of things when it happens to us, or if something comes in through the tv. Our son loves watching football and we watch it live.

That's pretty much the only live TV that we watch. And those commercials are directed towards Ben. And Little Eyes should not be seeing some of these things. And sometimes, you know, especially in the fall when Halloween movies are playing and there's scary stuff that comes on the tv, it messes with their minds and they have nightmares and. And so we go and we pray over them and we anoint them with oil.

So there's always hope. There's always. The Lord comes in and his word is final and he does get the final say. But knowing what's coming in through your TVs and what your kids are listening to and just being aware of the movies and the shows that are coming out these days, this day and age is all meant to create a culture of dishonesty and disrespect in your home. That's true.

To tear apart the family dynamic. Now, concerning discipline, I'll read the scripture concerning the idea of discipline. Lots of ways to look at that. I want you guys to Hear what Hebrews 12, verses 5 and 11 say. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children?

He said, my child, don't make light of the Lord's discipline. And don't give up when he corrects you, not if he corrects you. When he corrects you, praise God for his correction. Right? No.

Discipline is enjoyable while it's happening. It is painful. But afterward, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living. For those who are trained in this way, that's a big deal, guys, because it requires us to embrace the idea that discipline isn't something that we should associate with our kids as a negative thing. No, it means that we're going to correct something that is negative that will take you down a road that leads to death.

Scripture is very clear that when sin has a chance to basically ferment, we'll call it that it grows. And what does it grow into? Death. It will drag us to death. What James talks about.

So when there is a whole lot of things that need to be corrected, and there is oftentimes, because kids are bombarded these days, how we discipline and when we discipline in love makes a big difference, guys. So why don't you read the Next Scripture, Proverbs 19:18. Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives. Ruin your life.

Look, the Bible says you will ruin their life. So that. That's. That's cozy. That's from the Bible.

Okay, so speaking of discipline, before I start, I just thought about this. There's this really Funny quote that we like to pull people from. We're like really old. Like in our mind, like when we got first, we first got married, we would like watch Jeopardy. And Wheel of Fortune to be like 8 o', clock, time to go to bed.

Yeah. You know, like we've always been like that, like before we had kids. And now we don't get to watch those shows anymore. But fall asleep on the couch still though. So.

I do, I do. Actually. It's called Schnorves. We call it snore before the big naps. So.

But anyways, there's a show, Home Improvement. Anybody who's watched it, there's a quote that's like, if we don't get to make the rules, we're just the tallest people living here. And I'm like that just. I love that concerning discipline. It's not if we can't make the rules, man, we're just the tallest people living here.

I mean, that's the who. What benefit is that? So we're, we're the tall people. I'm like, sometimes I feel like we're just the tall people there. It's like, what is going on with you kids?

The Bible clearly states the need for discipline and the importance of disciplining your child, children and what will happen happen if you don't, you will ruin their lives. And it's not about being the hardest hand parent and serving the biggest discipline. Because what you're going to do is you're going to make your children's heart hard and then they won't respond back to you. But the, the goal here is after their hearts. But what we suggest is getting before the Lord, you and your spouse, and asking him what is right for your family.

What's right for your family will not be right for your, the family next to you, you, or even the family behind you. Everyone's going to parent their children differently. Everyone has different parenting styles and it's not about who has the best parenting styles, but it's just knowing that you're fully submitted unto the Lord and you're doing it under the Lord's direction. The biggest thing that we try to do is don't make empty threats because those empty threats will. You will lose the respect of your children or they will lose respect for you and you'll lose your authority with your kids.

Disciplining them when they're young is imperative and which just means laying the foundation of what discipline looks like in the early years and building on it. Don't think that a situation will get easier. As they get older, it gets harder. So knowing that there is hope if you're experiencing a situation with an older child versus a toddler, but providing discipline at a young age and building on it, you'll notice that you've gained your children's respect. And they know that we're.

That they. You have authority. Amen. What is right for our daughter, Anna, is not right for our sons. And the way we discipline our boys will destroy Anna.

So just know that you're gonna probably discipline your children differently, and that's okay. And you're just. You're after their hearts and the situation and, you know, being submitted unto the Lord. I agree with you. And I don't know about.

I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm raising my hand. I got the belt when I was a kid. I don't know if you did or not, but I got the Holy Ghost belt. I got empty threats. You got empty threats.

Okay. And I turned out good, though. I did turn out good. We're working on things, so somehow we find this unity thing we're working on. But there is so much to be said about how discipline should happen with Jonah.

I'm just going to shoot straight with you guys. And I know this is being recorded. Sometimes I feel like he's a little too old for his banking, But I will put that boy over my knee and I will whoop him. I'm just going to tell you right now. But what I like to do the most, because I get his attention the most, is I will make him carry a gallon of water in this hand and a gallon of water in that hand, and I'll make him run seven laps around my house carrying two gallons of water.

So that may be harsh to you, and I'm. And I know that. That that's what's right for us. So that may not be right for you. So.

But I. But I got his attention, and at the end of it, could I put a time on my lap? If you don't do it in 30 seconds, you're doing another lap. So he's going to have huge biceps. That's exactly.

Is Jonah working out? I'm like, no, he's actually just being disciplined. He's so fit. So I guess I'm failing. No.

But I want you to know there's so many ways. I'm not here to tell you how to. How to parent, what to do. That's not what we're here for. But I do want you to know that what works for us we do fall in that camp of we're okay with the spanking.

And if that is offensive, I understand that. But that's just where we line up back based on what scripture teaches. So, Troy, could you bring me that praying, the scripture sheet, a copy of that whenever you get a second? No rush, but that's fine. So we're going to land the plane here in a second.

I want to make mention of that in a minute. So the last thing, the last piece is speaking a blessing over your kids. Discipline's important. Correction's important. Boundaries are important.

All these things about unification are important. Forgiveness. But it has to lead somewhere that you feel like a blessing is needed. Because John Tyson, I think, says it this better the best in the intentional Father. He says we are created for blessing and we cannot function without it.

In fact, we are desperate for it all. Throughout Scripture we see the power of a spoken blessing from the Garden of Eden, when God spoke a blessing over Adam and Eve and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. And praise God. We're all here because that did happen. Praise God.

To Abraham, when God pronounced a blessing over his heritage. To Moses and Aaron pronouncing a blessing over the people of Israel. And to Jesus speaking a blessing over his disciples before he ascended to heaven. Over and over and over. We see this in scripture.

So numbers 6, 22, 27 says this. Then the Lord the Lord said to Moses, tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people. God told them to do it. Go bless the people with this special blessing. May the Lord bless you and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace. Watch this. When Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them. I want the blessing of God on our life.

Here's why a blessing is tied to being in alignment with with God. He will not bless disobedience. He doesn't do that. But when we are in alignment with His Word, he can bless who we are in him. Receiving God's blessing indicates being in favor with him, seeking to accomplish his will and remaining submitted to his heart.

This is why it is so important that we speak and declare a blessing over our families. Because there is power in the tongue. Scripture tells us so. Proverbs 18:21 is on the screen. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

And those who love it will eat its fruit. If you want to forecast your children's future, speak a blessing over it. Pray A blessing over it. Don't let YouTube and TikTok decide how your kids will be raised. You do it.

It's our responsibility. This is what we have to do if we're going to be the ones that stand in the gap for our kids. So it is the principle of sowing and reaping. Matthew 12:36 says that we will give an account for every idle word that we speak that should terrify us. What also falls underneath that?

In my opinion, this is not the Bible. But my opinion, every idle Instagram post, everything we liked, everything we put out there, the reason why is because it influenced somebody. Oh, they think this or they like that. That should. That should be sobering for a second because everything we say is going to be held to an account.

That terrifies me a little bit, especially when I know that I blew it. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. So I do believe we should be intentional about sowing a blessing over our children so that a harvest of righteousness can be reaped. Amen. So.

So what does a blessing sound like? I'd say we should base it off of scripture and that we should customize it for our family. And I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm actually gonna pray a blessing over you guys here in just a second.

But before I do, there's a few resources that I wanted to mention. Can I mention the first? A note card? Yeah. So every single person is gonna get one of these tonight.

I know we're about to break into some small groups in a second. And for those of you who hate small groups, I love you. I do. I know you're leaving already. Thanks, Josh.

So, gosh. So we're gonna break it into small groups, but every person will be given one of these cards. Sam and I built this this morning at 5am Some of the topics on here, Praying for your children's relationships. Praying for our children's use of technology. Praying for your children during a crisis.

Praying for our children's purpose in life. Praying for salvation for our children. Praying for our children to love God's word. We. Praying for our children to promote God's kingdom.

Praying for character development in our children. Praying for the safety of our children. Praying for our children's identity and emotional well being. Praying for our relationships with our children. Praying that our children will learn to serve others well.

And praying for wisdom and discernment for our children. There's scriptures that you can literally insert your kid's name here and pray this every day. And everybody will walk out tonight with One of these. And those who are listening to this after this is being recorded. If you want one of these, send an email to youngfamiliesuge.net all right, commercial over.

All right, next. Yeah. So those prayer cards that we were making this morning, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna put one in every single one of our kids rooms and whatever I feel like they're walking through, if they just need encouragement, I'm like, we're building it for us. Actually it has nothing to do with anybody else. It's for our three children that we are raising up in this day and age.

So we're really excited about those. The book, praying circles around your children. It's a quick read, but it's power packed. I read that it's a really great resource. Resource.

Praying scriptures over your children. The book that we gave tonight, we pulled a lot from that. Boundaries. If you're having a hard time establishing boundaries, Boundaries is a really great place to start. It talks about what is a boundary, how to establish a boundary, and how to us obtain the boundary.

And then the Growth Book. TheGrowthRootsCo.com is a prayer journal site that will help you navigate a year of growth and deepens your relationship with the Lord. I found this actually in this book. It's a huge repertoire. If you want to say, look, my, my prayer life or my spiritual walk has grown a bit stagnant and we've all been.

I have been there. Okay, this is me. I found this resource. And they have a zillion different colors for this or for. If you're like, I want to have whatever color they've got that.

And basically it's a prayer journal. But if you're like, I'm just not a self starter, I don't want to go get a blank journal. I need someone to kind of guide me. This is a great website that you can go to growthrootsco.com and it's a phenomenal resource. And just like we ended it with the marriage talk we're doing with biblical parenting.

We love to give you guys like priority practical application and ways that you can grow and strengthen your relationship with the Lord concerning your children. So I would encourage you as husband and wife to get before the Lord and get note cards for each of each one of your children and figure out what the Lord has to say about your kids. Just get before him and. All right, Lord, what are you saying about Jonah? And write it down.

And then write down areas of weakness that you feel like your children struggle in but the truth in. In that, and then praying that together and speaking life over your children. If you're not praying for your children, who is? So it is our goal and our responsibility to steward our children well. And so praying for them daily, but praying for them intentionally is our goal.

So giving you the praying scriptures over your children is a practical way to have. Help you to obtain that goal. Amen. Has that been helpful for anybody? Anything tonight?

Okay, we're. We're not. I'm not going to belabor this, because y' all all have young kids, and praise God, they have bedtimes, and then you can actually eat all the good food that comes in the house. Praise God. We love when the kids go to bed.

Cu. All the chocolate comes out and all the good stuff that they're not allowed to touch or they yell from their bed. We smell them. We smell it. I know you're eating out.

You made popcorn. I smell those cookies. Will you save me one? You say, sure, sure. Last night.

This is great. Last night. Micah, our youngest, he's three and a half, almost. No, before next month. I'm sorry.

Shoot. So he's eating an apple last night, and we're like, all right, bud, time for bed. Because, you know, we're dragging our kids to bed at, like, 9 o' clock these days. Like, dear God, get into bed. He's, like, still eating his apple.

I'm like, bud, let's go. He's like, okay, will you save her? I'm like, yeah, bud, we'll save it. So he goes and he puts it back on the apple rack where it came out. I was like, yeah, that'll work.

We can put it right there. That's fine. So you know what? I found it this morning because I forgot about. I was like, oh, shoot.

Should have put that in the trash can. Thanks, Micah. So kids are cute. These are cute. So I want to speak a blessing over every young family here tonight.

So if you would grab your spouse's hand, bow your heads. This is based off of Psalm 115, verses 12 to 15.

The Lord sees you and remembers you. May he equip every mother and every father with understanding. May he guide and honor those who fear the Lord, both young and old, great and small. May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. May the name of Jesus be written upon the hearts of everyone in your home, and may he be glorified in your homes.

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.