Bring Your Hammer

Let's say your son is caught cheating at school. You have to address it. He needs correction and likely some serious consequences. What if you prayed before stepping into his room?

"Dear God, You are the God of truth and honesty.

Please hear me. I want to help my son learn from this experience. But, I too am a cheater! I've cheated You with my t

We should also pray for the challenges they will face. The struggles your kids will face will be similar, while at the same time vastly different than the challenges you faced at their age. Pray for them when you are at odds with each other. Pray when you're mad or disappointed in them.

There is no bad time or way to pray for your kids. Interceding

What do you think God does when you intercede for your kids with prayer? How do you think your prayers affect the lives of your kids? Does this make you want to pray more or less for your family? Why?

How have you tried to teach your kids to pray? Do they see prayer as a priority of yours? Why or why not?

What are some simple steps you could take to

How well do you know God's promises? If you had to list five or ten things right now that God promises to His children, could you do it (without Googling it!)?

How often do you pray His promises over your children whether you're with them, or by yourself?

Do you see prayer as a conversation or a request machine?

What can you do to bring your understan

What evil clutter have we allowed to gather in our hearts and homes? What effect is it having on us? On our family?

Do your kids have any wicked garbage around that is stinking up their lives? What do you need to do to help them dispose of it?

How can you demonstrate repentance to your family?

What do you think the benefit of doing this could be?

Side note: While I haven't flown on Air Force One or been to the secret retreats of society's rich and famous, I have been around my share of influential leaders. I've discovered one thing they almost all have in common. They love a straight-up request. Don't hem and haw. Get to the point. What do you want? Spit it out, man!

If you're heading into a

One lesson we can take from this: Dads, we need to ask our kids great questions and a ton of them!

Ask them about their thoughts, likes, friends, fears, temptations, hopes, sins, regrets. Ask them about their favorite things. Their least favorite. Ask them how you can be a better dad. Ask them what they want in their future spouse. Ask them why they

Meetings with God Quiet time. Devotional. Prayer time. Whatever you call it, there should be a time set aside for you to be alone with God. Personal time with just you and Him. For us to be devoted to God's Word, we need to know what it says. For us to understand what God is trying to tell us, we have to give Him time to speak. A time set aside for

As the ones leading the charge, we need to learn how to NEWOO tie our kids' talents into the roles they play in the family. If you have one kid who is showing an ability with numbers, bring him into the process of planning the family vacation.

Let him help out on how the money will be spent. How much of the budget goes towards the place you stay? Fo