With five kids in the home, he had not thought about spending one-on-one time with any of the kids. Every activity was coordinated as a family for all to participate. The only exceptions were summer gatherings with extended family. But then his wife scheduled he and his oldest daughter for a father-daughter trip.
There was some apprehension about all the trip entailed and even nervousness around what all this time with his daughter was going to accomplish. Then in the first father-daughter discussion time he realized how quickly his ‘little girl’ was becoming a young lady. It was going to take more intentionality on his part to learn to relate to her as she needed him to. He let the heart-turning began.
He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, or else I will come and strike the land with a curse. – Malachi 4:6. This has been one of my favorite passages in Scripture. And Elijah is my favorite prophet. He convicted me to start the heart-turning in my life. Throughout the Old Testament, particularly when reading through all the prophets, the Lord God has the expectation of hearts being turned to Him. Josiah gave it the most valiant effort earning recognition in 2 Kings 23:25 – Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses. God spends most of the OT warning about the consequences for hearts turned to idols instead of to Him. He finally gets fed up with the people and drove them into exile as documented in Ezekiel – I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. – Eze.22:30. I think C.S. Lewis may have been reading Ezekiel when he made the observation that there were two kinds of people in the world – Those who say to God, “Thy will be done.” And those to whom God says, “Okay, thy will be done.” When a father’s heart is turned to the Lord, he will stand in the gap for his marriage and family. He will turn his heart to his children and the children will turn their hearts to their father.
Tips to let ‘Heart-turning’ to begin:
- Get to know God by reading His book – 90 Day Bible Journey;
- Establish a regular date night with your bride;
- Read Seasons of Fathering;
- Schedule routine one-on-one time with each child;
- Pray daily for yourself, your bride and kids by name, and pray with them.
Prayer guide: Thank You Lord for Your word and for being my faithful Father. I confess I have turned my heart to things of this world – success, status and the dollar. Forgive me. Guide me in reading Your book, that I will become the man You expect me to be. Grant me strength to turn to You with all my heart, soul and mind so that my children see You in me. I want to let the heart-turning begin so the kids will want to turn their hearts to me. Grant me strength to lead my children and grandchildren in letting their hearts turn to You. That is the dad You call me to be and that is the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father lets the heart-turning begin.
