Spiritual Opportunities for the Father in Every Man

As many of you know, Angela and I had our firstborn 8 days ago and have been enraptured by her ever since (I apologize for posting so many pictures!). Through this time, I have been experiencing revelations about God's nature as a father through the paternal instincts that God designed. Although I have only been a dad for a little over a week, I have been meditating on what it means to be a father and praying for our child every day since I knew that we were going to be trying to have a child. After finishing up one of the diaper changes last night, I got back into bed and immediately felt the Holy Spirit give me a few spiritual opportunities that he wants every father to capitalize on. They may seem simple, and that's because they are meant to be simple. Here they are:

1. Pray every time you wake up or get woken up, no matter how often or how long you're up.
2. Use your spiritual authority as a father by speaking with faith in every situation and issue your family is facing. As opposed to ignoring issues with "positive thinking", faith-filled speech empowers God's grace, peace and miracles to embrace you and overwhelm your dilemmas.

I also believe that God spoke to me about his heart for future dads and spiritual fathers, echoing what he was working in me during Angela's pregnancy. For all of you men, whether or not you have a child, here is what I believe is the Holy Spirit's assignment for you:

1. If you believe you are supposed to be a father one day, pray for every aspect of your children's life before they're even conceived, even if you're not even married yet.
2. Whether you're called to be a father or not, pray for and give to those around you who are in need of the guidance and love of a godly father. They don't need to share the same DNA to be blessed by the heart of God through you.

These opportunities are not complex, but I can attest personally that praying for Mia every day during the pregnancy took a lot of endurance and God's grace. If you feel like God spoke to you about one or a few of the opportunities above, be sure to put them in your daily prayer list and ask God to give you grace to do them as long as he wants you to.

May God inspire all you men to be fathers in one capacity or another, following Paul's example in regards to the Corinthians: "For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me" (1 Corinthians 4:15-16).