EFFECTIVE PARENTING

EFFECTIVE PARENTING
Anything is considered effective if it is producing the right or expected result. And parenting simply put, is the process of raising and educating a child from birth until adulthood. It implies carefully guiding a child to know how to be successful in life as a person.

‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.’
Pro 22:6

Parental laxity is oftentimes and in most cases, at the root of most societal vices. Most parents are simply ‘too busy’ to spend quality time with their children, let alone teach them the basic morals of life. And these children are left to themselves and usually end up acquiring and imbibing ungodly patterns. When you do not teach children the ways of God, they will naturally imbibe the ways of the world. Most issues plaguing the society today can be largely traced to the failure of parents or guardians in passing basic godly standards to their children.
In the Bible, the Israelites were instructed to pass on to their children, divine commands stated in scriptures on how to live their lives, and they were to do it diligently.

‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.’
Deu 6:6-9

One major way to curb societal vices is to start at a foundational level, of imbibing and inculcating sound moral values in the lives of our children. This is one of the major ingredients that make an effective parent. And the best and most proven of all moral values to inculcate in your child can be found in the Bible. Teach your child to know and understand God’s perspective on different issues of life. He will grow up with an excellent mindset and be able to make quality decisions concerning different aspects of his life. The heart of a child is likened to wet clay, and impressions made on their hearts through diligent guidance and counselling will set, stick and grow with them.
One thing that works powerfully in raising children is intercession, and it is the art of continuously standing in the gap for your children in prayers and asking for God’s intervention in the affairs of their lives. That way you are bringing the power of God to bear upon their lives to steer them in the way they should go. And by so doing, you are spiritually watering seeds of good morals in their hearts and fending off anything that could corrupt or steal those good seeds. You are erecting supernatural walls of defence around their destinies to protect them from satanic intrusion. When parents wholeheartedly lift up their voice to God in prayers for their children, heaven responds. But how many parents would sincerely set the time to pray for their children? In the book of lamentations,there is specific call to parents to call to God for His intervention when things do not go well in the lives of their children,

‘Arise, cry out in the night: in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord: lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger in the top of every street.’
Lam 2:19

One major show of laxity with parents in raising their children, is in the area of spending time to pray to God for their children. Most parents cannot even last up to ten minutes in prayer for their children. God has all the power to make your children become all He created them to be in life, and He has the power to turn any issue of concern regarding your children to testimonies. But there is need to pray to God for them if we desire tosee the power of God manifested in their lives. And praying for your children doesnt mean you are speaking just anything that you think is right, but that you are declaring specific words from scripture concerning them. As a parent, you are like a farmer and the destinies of your children represents the farm. And God has provided you with spiritual seeds to sow into the destinies of your children. These are specific promises of God in scriptures concerning your children. When you speak these words in prayer continuously to God concerning your children,God will multiply these seeds to yield a harvest of blessings in the lives of your children. For instance, in Isaiah 54:13, God promises peace concerning your children. And you turn this to prayer for your children, calling for God to bring that peace into manifestation in the lives of your children. This way you are comitting God to bring to pass what He has already promised. Another scripture promises that your children will experience signs and wonders. Then another promises the outpouring of God’s blessing upon your children. These are but a few of all the wonderful promises which God wants to bring to pass in the lives of your children. But He seeks an intercessor.

‘And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.’
Eze 22:30

And whatever you speak in faith to God in prayer concerning your children, He is faithful to bring to pass in reality in the lives of your children. So let every parent rise up in the place of prayer and declare, ‘O LORD, let the influence of Your Word prevail against the influence of the world in the lives and destinies of my children.