The Praying Father

Judges 13:2-10

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."

Then the woman went to her husband and told him, "A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name. But he said to me, 'You will conceive and give birth to a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from birth until the day of his death.'" 

Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, I beg you, let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born."

God heard Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman while she was out in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her. The woman hurried to tell her husband, "He's here! The man who appeared to me the other day"! 

It is the common thing that wives and mothers tends to worry more about their children. The Lord has equipped their hearts such that they are able to carry so much emotions in them which in turn aids them as they take care of the home and the children as a suitable help for their husbands. The huge emotional capabilities of the mothers pushes them on their knees in prayer and supplication to God on behalf of their husbands and children. And that is why we see Hannah worry more about her childless situation than her husband Elkanah. 

But when we look into the Bible and observe the pattern of God properly we will notice that it is the father who is the head of the home that has been saddled with the responsibility to train his children after the Lord. It is the father's responsibility to impress the word of God on his children while his wife who is the suitable help is assigned to help and assist in this task as in all the other task that the Lord has assigned to the man. 

Genesis 18:19

For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised. 

Ephesians 6:4

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 

There are so many other Bible passages where we see things like this in the Bible, but from the passages above we will observe that God didn't call Sarah but Abraham, and one of the major reasons for this call was because God wanted him to train and direct his children and household after him to follow the Lord. The father is the head of the home, he holds the staff of authority of the home in his hands, he calls the shots while the rest of the family follow in his line of authority. And so in line with this order the Lord says the father who is the head is to lead his children and household in the direction of the Lord. 

And so we are now understanding and appreciating that the assignment to train and discipline the children is that primarily given by God to the father and not the mothers. So unlike the assumption that it is the mother's duty to train the children, based on Bible principle, it is the other way round. The father trains the children with the assistance and help of his wife. The father is the commanding officer in the family unit while the wife is the second in command. In the Nigerian Army the Commanding Officer of any unit is refereed to as the CO while the Second In Command is refereed to as the 2IC. So the father is the CO while the mother is the 2IC in the unit of the home. The father gives the commands, gives the instructions and leads the family in the direction they should go while the mother implement the instructions and commands of the father and takes over the leadership mantel in the absence of the father. This is God's pattern for the home. And that is why the fathers are mostly held responsible by God for the misdeeds of their children unless they have proven to God that they lead the family well.

Going back to the passage theme of this message we will notice some things there, but the highlight for me in that passage was the reaction of Manoah the father-to-be over the news of him going to be a father of not just any child, but the child that would deliver the whole nation of Israel from the hands of the Philipines. The Bible said immediately he heard the news he prayed that the angel of the Lord will come again and teach him how to be bring up the boy to be born. 

It's no mistake that the angel of the Lord appeared first to Manoah's wife, this had to happen because the Lord needed her to prepare adequately for the task ahead, she needed to purify herself and abstain from certain unclean things so as not to contaminate the Nazirite in her womb. Just in like manner the Lord appeared to Mary the mother of Jesus so that she might be prepared for the task ahead. But when Manoah received the news from his wife, he didn't throw it off as nonsense, he didn't assume that since God didn't deem it fit to appear to him also then his wife should just carry on as she was told or as she wished. 

But instead the Bible said immediately Manoah began to pray. He sought clarification from God not as to whether what his wife said was true or not, but he wanted God's guidiance on how to bring up the child. Manoah understood the huge responsibility being laid on him. The child to be born is to bring about the deliverance of his nation from the bondage of the Philistines and if he failed to train this child well to fulfill his God given assignment to delivery the nation from bondage, he will not just fail God as a father, but will also deprive the nation of the one who is to deliver them from bondage. He knew he could not afford to get it wrong, so the Bible said he prayed. He sought help from God, he didn't assume he knew what to do. 

As fathers do you just assume that you know how to raise children or you are daily seeking the face of God on His help to teach you how to raise His generals for Him, knowing fully well that the generals of God under your care are the ones to bring down the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven. Those generals of God under your care are the ones to crush the head of satan and fulfill the words of God in Genesis 3:15. The children under your care are the seed you planted in the woman that the Lord has said will crush the head of satan and so they need to be trained and equipped for this task. Are you praying to God for help to teach you to train and prepare these children for their God given assignment or you are prepared to forfeit on potential general assigned to crush the head of satan? 

Every child is unique in himself or herself, no two people created by God are created exactly alike, and that is the awesomeness of God. And so there is the need to handle and treat each child according to their uniqueness and in this you need the help of God. There are some disciplinary measures that can be generalized, but definitely not all and in this regard you need to always pray to God for help as you carry on your divine assignment as a father. Are you a praying father?  

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