Fathers: Pray Fervently For Your Children

“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they are Yours” (John 17:9 NIV). 

Jesus reflected the father heart of God when He prayed for the disciples. As a father, or mother, you can pray that your children will focus on the five purposes of God.

God’s five purposes for your children are the same as God’s five purposes for your life, and the same as the five purposes for the church. Jesus prayed for all five purposes in the lives of those He was leading. 

Jesus said, “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given me, for they are Yours” (John 17:9 NIV). 

We can pray that our children will live for Christ joyfully: “I say these things while I’m still in the world so that they will have the same joy that I have” (John 17:13 GWT). 

We can pray that our children will grow strong spiritually: “I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17:15 NLT). 

We can pray that our children will serve Christ effectively: “Make them ready for Your service through Your truth; Your teaching is truth” (John 17:17 NCV). 

We can pray that our children will experience fellowship personally: “My prayer . . . is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are one, Father . . . and the world will believe You sent me” (John 17:21 LB). 

We can pray that our children will bring others to Christ regularly: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in Me because of their message” (John 17:20 TEV). 

Even if you are not a father, or a mother, you will help others move toward the heart of God by praying for them and the purposes God has planned for their lives.

Source: http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/full-post/fathers-pray-fervently-for-your-children

The side effects of God's Love

What are the side effects of God's love ? This question may seem odd but yet it connects to our current belief with all the medicine that exist, they come with side effects. In fact commercials will hype up a certain medicine and then give all the things that could go wrong. So if medicine can produce side effects, what about God's love? I'm convinced that his love will shine through us in ways that reflect His grace  and mercy, yet Christians along with churches struggle to do this practically and we are missing out!

The side effect of his love are not a plague to avoid but rather an opportunity to embrace that breeds change personally and beyond. These are what God's love does:-

1. Removes fear. When you an I receive his love, we begin the journey of being fear free, which empowers us to freely give others. This is crucial because God touches people through us. We are the method God uses to touch humanity. 1 John 4:18.

2. Creativity. This is a side effect to give us new ideas, to think out of box which empowers us to reach to people. We are not to force people into our religion ; we are to lead them to Jesus! So friends be very creative.

3. Authenticity. This is what Jesus is and his love will help us be the same. We are not to perform our faith;  we are to live out our faith in real way. God is real and His love tangibly changes lives and hearts forever, our job is to be authentic in our faith in Christ.

4. Relevancy. This is another side effect we should have . I am talking about being relevant with people's hearts. True relevance is being able to connect with others, to hear their hearts and give them the answer that they need.
 On a final note, friends do you have these side effects working in your life today? Are you creative, authentic and relevant? Its time we pull back the curtains of fear and let faith fill our soul. Life is too short to live with regret, we can do something great for God.

Prepared and delivered by :Adeyeye Kayode Adeniran.
This is the message I preached in a gathering of God's children in the month of July, 2015.