If you’ve followed Stand Firm Parents even for a second, then you know I have two daughters. It’s our hope for them that not only would they come to know Jesus as their Savior, but that they’d hold on to Him for the rest of their lives. I’m sure you hope the same for your children.
My wife and I have deeply worried—even before they could talk and before they could walk—whether they’d come to be saved or even live for the Lord. Them not doing so is our greatest fear. And that fear has driven us to be intentional daily, and even by the minute. It has pushed us to pray extremely hard for them each day. Fortunately, our worries were alleviated to a large degree for both my daughters made professions of faith at early ages. Of course, we worried because they were so long, but in both cases their persistence and clarity of conviction assured us. Then moving forward, they have shown evidence of growth and have kept a high interest in the Lord.
As a family we engage in ministry together. We’re constantly having faith talks, and each night we read the Bible or a devotion together. Our kids love church and each children’s program they have been involved in. In all honesty, we have gotten to a point where we felt like we had it made in their spiritual future. So, we really dropped our fears they wouldn’t follow Jesus, and we have become lazy in daily fighting for their souls.
Again, we still pray for them daily—but not in earnest as before. We still have them in church—but we’re not as intentional. We still try to have our Bible reading every evening—but we’ve had far more skip nights than before. Although we still have faith talks, we aren’t seeking them out as we once did.
Since we know they we’re saved and have eternal life “locked up” and we’re tracking in following Christ, we have gotten off the proverbial gas pedal of fighting for their souls. We fell asleep at the parenting steering wheel, but this past week we had a wake-up call.
For the first time one of our daughters came to us questioning aspects of the Bible and faith. Her concerns weren’t that deep or serious, but it was the first negative reception we’ve seen our girls have towards faith. And oh, it stung. It hurt. In retrospect, I saw this coming. I had been prompted to intervene in my own daily prayer time, but I was asleep at the wheel. I had been procrastinating rather than fighting for their souls like I once did.
Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.
