I shared a prophetic word over all of you. (Read here) You are spiritual fathers to your nation. That God is raising up a generation that will lead nations out of poverty and out of the past!
Prophetic words guide us to move forward in the direction that God has already been speaking to us. Prophetic words must be accompanied by action! Actions that coupled with training so that we can fulfill the Word of the Lord. I can prophesy that you are fathers, but if I don’t help you to gain the necessary tools of fatherhood, then I am setting you up to fail! The Holy Spirit is going to help you, but there is a need to be trained, and equipped to do what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you.
Just as the apostle Paul shared with the Corinthians, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” 1Cor. 4:15
Men have in them the ability to impregnate a woman and bring forth a child, BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM A FATHER! There is a huge difference between having a child and being a father! So for me to just expect you to father your children, both spiritual and blood born is a mistake, without giving you the tools that are necessary to be good fathers!
We are living in a fatherless generation. There is an orphan spirit that prevails in our world today. Josimar spoke to this in his previous message. (Read here) This is what the Holy Spirit is speaking of at this moment and has been trying to help the church to understand for many years. Many Pastors want to grow their church, but they are men having children, not fathers raising Kingdom sons and world changers!!!
I am not sure how many of you have children of your own, but fathering begins first with your blood born children! Paul spoke to Timothy about in 1 Timothy 3 by giving Timothy the qualifications of a leader. They had to first have their personal home in order, before they could lead others. THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM IN THE CHURCH TODAY AND WHY WE DO NOT HAVE MANY SPIRITUAL FATHERS.
This is an incredibly important subject because the building block of all nations is the home. This is why marriage is so important and why it is under attack. Divorce in our society today is on the increase. Unfaithful marriage partners is a common way of life with many. Homosexual relationships is a direct attack on God’s creation of family. All of these relational issues contribute to the lack of fathers in our world today.
I am not going to assume that you know what a good father does or who he is as a person, but the Word of God gives us everything we need to become who He created us to be. Ladies you can be spiritual fathers also, so please don’t think I am leaving you out. Begin by being a good mother.
Here are three things that came to me as I have been praying and thinking about this subject.
A good father:
- Delights in his children. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17. “For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.” Prov. 3:12 That word delight means to approve, to be pleased with, to accept. God delights in us as His children and it has nothing to do with what you do, but everything to do with who you are! You are His son! He is proud of you! He boasts about you! He speaks words of praise and purpose over your life. He sees the good in you and His words are not flattery, but words of purpose because He is guiding you into your destiny.
This is what a good father does. He sees the strengths and gifts in his child and he guides them, does not control them, but leads them to succeed at an early age. Every person is created with a gift or talent. It is your job as a father to discover that gift and then guide your child to success. Every child is different, but they have some area that they are good at. Find it and help them to succeed. Early success and praise builds self esteem for a lifetime! Remember the power of your words and use them to create a positive picture for your child to see!
- Disciplines his children. “For whom the Lord loves He corrects…” Prov. 3:12 “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:9-11
This is where many fathers fail. Discipline is the key to training a child to succeed. Many fathers fail to properly correct their children. Correction or discipline is what guides a child in the way they should go. They need this guidance to reach their destiny. They will not reach their destiny very often when left to themselves. God gave us fathers and mothers for a reason and this is true spiritually also. Discipline is a key tool in your parental tool chest. Remember it is discipline with love! Who the Lord loves He corrects! The same is true of a father. If you love your child you will discipline them in love to guide them in the way of righteousness. We must be trained, disciplined to overcome our Adamic nature, sin nature to do wrong. Have you ever wondered why you do not have to teach a child to do wrong? It is our fallen nature and therefore we must have fathers to train us to do right! A child left to himself brings shame to his parents!
It is of the utmost importance that you BE the person that you want your children to be! You can’t train someone to be something that you are not! Be the role model for them to follow. Paul said, “Follow me.” Jesus said, “Follow me.” A true father says, “Follow me.” Your words will mean nothing unless you support them with your actions!!! This takes discipline on your part father!!!!
- Places a demand or expectation on his children. There are many parables of Jesus that teach us that God our Father has an expectation of us. Read the parable of the minas or talents in Luke 19:11-27. Each person received something to work with and when the master returned he expected a return on his investment.
The creator, expects something out of His creation! This is simply commonsense. You were created for a purpose. Fathers help you discover that purpose and then fulfill it. A father’s expectation actually motivates the child to please his father. I know in my life I always wanted to please my parents and when I did it brought them great pleasure. My success, was their success and their joy, became my joy. They trained me to succeed! Anything less than that would not have been acceptable. This did not happen by chance! This happened because they trained me, they invested in me, they spoke words of praise and purpose over me. They did not wait until I was an adult to tell me. “We expect you to succeed.” No! They planted seeds of success in me from a little child. They prayed over me from conception! I did the same for my children! It works!!!!
These are only three areas that are part of being a good father. Let me share one last thing. I believe in in the power of my words and in the name I give my children. Names are powerful. I remember my wife and I had plaques made with our children’s names and their meanings and placed them on the wall. As I have married each child to their spouse I have created a blessing that I spoke over them at their wedding. I found an amazing thing! The child became what we named them! We named my son Cory. Cory means “prosperous one.” Cory has become very prosperous. He has amazing gifts to discern people and has used it to become very successful in the banking industry. I could share the name of each of my children and you would see that they became what we named them. Fathers, speak blessing over your children. If you believe in them, they will learn to believe in themselves and in their Heavenly Father who created them!
Keep believing for the impossible!
Dr. Taylor
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