If we are truly serious about having the right know-how of ‘parenting that works’ we need to wind-back the clock to creation’s beginning to pick up the divine parenting-thread that Adam dropped in the dust in the Garden of Eden when he and Eve first said ‘no’ to God.

Prior to their disobedience Adam and Eve frolicked freely as God’s delightful kids in Paradise. God was their Father… their Dad! However, satan stuck his evil head into that idyllic setting and tempted Adam and Eve to trade-in their Creator-Father for him… the handsome, but deceptively dark created-angel… the one who has been judged by God and earmarked for “the fiery lake of burning sulphur… where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). It was at the beginning of creation that Adam and Eve traded-down their Heavenly Father for the down-and-out Lucifer!

Friends, in order for today’s parenting dilemma to be turned around we must go back to Eden and pick-up that divine parenting thread… We need to confess and repent of our rebelliousness to God and profess our need of Him… our Divine Father! We need to follow His perfect script for life and be empowered by His Holy Spirit if we are to have any chance of experiencing parenting that truly works.

So, where do we start? Firstly, both parents, father and mother, must be ‘holy joined’ to their Heavenly Father… relationally connected to Him through obedience to His word and ‘being’ empowered by the Holy Spirit (God, residing and ruling in their lives). Secondly, through this divine connection, parents need to seek instructions, daily, from their Heavenly Father in order to live as they should. This will enable their children to receive from them the same divine instructions so that they too may live as they should… lives that are pleasing to God. Our Heavenly Father says to parents, “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up (Deuteronomy 11:18-19 NLT).

Parenting that works results from parents who wholeheartedly commit themselvesto God’s truth and who teach such truth ‘through their lives’ to their children at home, on the road, when they go to bed, and when they get up… for the duration of their lives! This is God’s universal parenting strategy!

Friends, parenting that works is far from being a ‘piece of cake’… ‘a walk in the park’ experience! And, at no time is there is a God-given guarantee of an ideal outcome. However, parents who dedicate themselves to this divine calling have a great chance of succeeding. Please note: Parenting that works results from parents and children cooperating together in following God’s parenting pattern. Parents, we have an awesome job to do – With God’s help we can do it!

Best wishes

Bill Joukhadar