For fathers, the key to stepping into our role as men and leaders of our family is to see and experience God as Father. Remember, Jesus came to make a way to the Father and to reveal the heart of His Father to the world. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) As we are fathered by the Father, we learn to understand what it means to be a son of the King. This journey to sonship allows us to experience the infinite value God places on our lives, causing us to father our natural and spiritual children differently as we see them through His eyes.

Turning Hearts
Rest assured, it is God that turns and transforms hearts and redeems families. The entire process begins with a simple choice of the will of a father to make Jesus his Lord and Savior and surrender his life – family, work, relationships, finances, etc. God is amazing and meets us where we are, no matter how hopeless or messy our lives may seem.

As I began to turn to the Father, my heart and life began to change. Little by little as my surrender began to grow and my love for His Word grew, the Holy Spirit began a new process of transformation in my life. The Lord continued to teach me and change my heart as I made Him my number one priority. Soon I learned to appropriate the victory of Jesus to the various aspects of my life, especially my heart. Jesus paid the full price for our healing and we have the privilege of inviting Him in our past pains and trauma so that we can be set free. This is something I do on an ongoing basis as the Holy Spirit reveals unhealed areas of my life.

When I seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, everything I need is added unto me. I look to Him to receive His love and only then am I able to love Him and others in a new way (including my family). This is a lifestyle of abiding, as apart from God, we can do nothing. We only have life because He wills it. Everything we have that is good is a gift from God. As we abide in His presence, we become a dwelling place for the overflow of His Spirit and become a dispenser of His fruit of love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Everything that brings life is powered by God. Transformation only happens by the power of the Holy Spirit. The spirit of Elijah is the power of the Holy Spirit and a unique anointing of the power of God to turn hearts.

“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)

It is God that turns the hearts of a father to his children and the children to their father. As the love and value of God is expressed and lived out by the father towards his children, the children’s hearts are impacted and begin a new process of turning toward their father in honor. This is the process of restoration of family by the redemptive power of Jesus! It is not by man’s power nor by might but by His Spirit!

So what’s our part?
Our part is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. When I chose to make Jesus Lord of my life (moving from the kingdom of this world and entering the kingdom of God), I turned my very broken heart and life to the Lord. This began a beautiful process of restoration and wholeness in me and eventually my family. As I began to walk out my faith by the grace of God, my daughter began to see the changes I was making. For the first time, my life started to look different from the world and Bryn noticed. My belief turned into active faith as knowledge turned to revelation and religion transformed into relationship. Over time, this began to impact Bryn, even when my time with her was limited due to her life choices.

No matter where you are on your journey with the Father or what kind of relationship you have with your children, I encourage you to seek God’s will for your life. Read His Word. Spend time in His presence. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to you and give you wisdom as you move through your day. Your journey won’t be perfect, only God is perfect, but He will be faithful. He loves you and He loves your children more than you could possibly know.

For Further Reading: Matthew 6:33, John 15:5