5 Things Dads Should Pray Over Their Daughters Daily

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5 Things to Pray Over Your Daughters Daily

1)  Her Salvation.  Dad, if you are a Christian and any of your children do not yet know Jesus Christ as their Savior, it is spiritual malpractice if you do not pray for the Lord to draw them unto Himself every single day! I’ve spoken to far too many heartbroken parents about their lost children to take this for granted.  The stakes are far too high to ignore.

2)  Her Calling.  Culture tells us to want more for our children than we have obtained for ourselves.  This is a noble aspiration to an extent, but far more than wanting success for our children, we should want them to discover and follow God’s calling on their lives.  God has a plan for all of His children.  A life lived in obedience to God’s call is a success greater than man can measure.

3)  Her Husband.  Men, we have to face it.  We won’t be the only man in her life for very long.  It is never too early to begin asking the Lord to prepare a Godly young man who will love your daughter for a lifetime and provide the spiritual leadership her family will need.  If you doubt the importance of this, just speak to any Father who has watched his little girl go through the tragic pain of a divorce. 

4)  Her Mother.  You want to let you daughter see what it means for a man to love his wife?  Let it begin by hearing you pray for her mother.  There is no bigger influence on a little girl than her mother.  Ask God to give her strength to live that example well.  If you have a Godly wife, then let your little girl hear you thank God for that gift.  Your daughter needs to know you love her mother and the high value of motherhood needs to be affirmed.  Don’t let a day go by without it.

5)  Her church.  God has not called us to live the Christian life in isolation.  He has given us the gift of Christian fellowship through the church.  Men, Jesus loved the church enough to die for it. Your little girl needs to know you love the church too if you expect her to love it after she leaves your home. With so many young people leaving the church after they leave home teaching your children to love the church has never been more important.

Answer I gave a friend about church

Been a while since I've posted, but it's a new year and I've got a lot to say...so here goes

A friend asked me on Facebook yesterday if one had to go to church to be a "true" believer in Christ. Here is the response I gave him.

I do not believe that one must go to church to receive salvation. Salvation comes from believing in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and repenting of your sin. Nothing more is needed. Baptism, church attendance, giving tithes...none of these are required to go to heaven.

That said, I think it is entirely fair to think about what our response to God's undeserved and overwhelming grace through Christ should be. The Bible speaks to this as well. Christ said that those who love Him would keep His commandments. Similarly James wrote that faith without works is dead. In other words, if our faith is real and sincere, we will be motivated to obedience. If we believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that Christ did the things the Bible says He did, I can't imagine responding any other way.

Now, does the Bible speak to church attendance? Absolutely. See Hebrews 10:25 where Christians are told to meet together and encourage one another. I would also call attention to what Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 12 analogizing the church to the body of Christ and explaining each part's dependence on the other. This makes sense as it is plain to see that a hand that is cut off from the rest of the body is of little use. The Bible also points out that Christ loves the church and analogizes the church to being Chirst's bride. Finally, and most persuasively to me, the Bible teaches that Christ Himself was a regular attender of church and if being a Christian is about being more like Christ, then there can be no greater example. See Luke 4:16 describing Christ's regular practice of attending church on the Sabbath.

So if you believe what the New Testament says about the way Christians should function together and you want to be like Jesus, then it is really hard to justify a careless attitude about attending church.