The Experiencing God study and parenting

Over the past 3 to 4 months some of us in our church family have been working through the study, “Experiencing God” Knowing and Doing the Will of God” by Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby, and Claude King, ** This is my THIRD time to go through the study in the last 15 years.

It’s THAT good.

If you take this study seriously and works through it day by day as instructed, you will be challenged to grow in your personal relationship with the LORD in ways that are amazing.

You will truly learn how to experience God.

While I couldn’t recommend this study more, I will say this one “cautionary” statement…

I am all for evangelism. People need the LORD. But in my opinion, the authors’ applications are too much in an evangelistic direction.Those who are not gifted in evangelism may come away feeling a bit “less than” in their Christian walk, simply because they are not gifted in ways that give them lots of “evangelism success stories” like they read about in the Experiencing God study. I know that’s not the authors’ intent, but it what has surfaced in my experience with the study. If you are able to do this study and make applications more fitting to your own gifting and bent, it will be a great challenge to your faith.
Having said that, I must add this… don’t avoid the evangelistic applications altogether… the LORD may WANT you to grow in that area, even if you’re not gifted in it!

Experiencing God – and parenting

This time through I was particularly gripped by one of the daily studies at the end that focused on parenting issues as they relate to the topic of the study. The authors cover some HUGE points that I believe are worth highlighting here.

First is a quotation that summarizes the entire day’s study about “Joining God’s Activity in Your Children’s Lives.”

Our greatest single contribution to God’s kingdom is teaching our children to watch to see where God is at work around them and then join Him.

Under that point, the authors give 3 very practical steps parents can take toward that end. I’m going to list each point, and then give a quote from the Experiencing God study about it…

1. Pray with and for your children

As much as we love our children, we can’t begin to imagine all God has in His heart for them (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). That is why we rob our children if we merely seek to have them meet our expectations. We need to be on God’s agenda for our kids’ lives so they can experience the abundant life God intends for them (see John 10:10).

2. Talk with your children about God’s activity

Parents should rehearse with their children God’s acts throughout their family history. Parents ought to recount to their children how they met Christ personally, how God led them to be married, how God guided them in their careers, how God led them to their church, and how God has walked them through the years. Parents should point out to their children God’s ongoing activity in their lives sot hey learn to recognize God’s activity for themselves.

3. Minister with your children

It is important to model for our children how to join God’s activity…

If you’d like to check out the Experiencing God study, here are my affiliate links. If you use them, you’ll pay the same low price through Christian Book Distributors **, but I’ll receive a little financial bonus for sending you there. Those funds help Christian Home and Family to continue it’s mission to help you make Christ the center of your home, so that you can build a legacy of faith in your family for generations to come.

And if you are interested in knowing more about the ministry and work of Christian Home and Family, you can check out my “Partner” video.