| Poster | Thread | bluenote177
Member
Joined: 2005/12/11
Posts: 9
| | Pray for my relationship with my dad | | To whoever reads this, I would ask you to please pray for my relationship with my dad. I have been following Christ now for about five years and all this time my dad has been fighting it. I know that whenever I am truly comfortable around my dad then I have compromised my faith; God has revealed this to me. My dad is Jewish and is not a believer and I have shared the Gospel with him on many occasions. Almost every time I get together with him he grills me and tests me (when he tests my faith with all his questions it reminds me of Jesus and the Pharisees and religious leaders). Today he got to quizzing me again, and I told him in the Spirit, "Dad, I've already answered you, but you will not believe me. I have told you that unless you are born again you cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." God laid it on my heart to not throw that which is holy to the dogs. After I told my dad that I was telling him the truth, he exclaimed while pushing me violently, "Get the f*** out of my house! I don't want to see you anymore. Leave my house! Right now!" Please pray for me. My dad has rejected the Gospel on many occasions and I need to know if the Lord wants me to walk away from my dad. Thank you and God bless. |
|  2007/5/27 14:07 | Profile | elected
Member
Joined: 2004/11/21
Posts: 362
Tulsa OK
| | Re: Pray for my relationship with my dad | | Noah i said a prayer for you and will keep praying for you. Dont be in a hurry bro , be patient with your dad and show him the respect you owe to him as christian.Let God guide you and keep the intemate relationship with Jesus and if God wants you to lieve your dad he will make it known to you in your heart if you keep close enough to Him.
When i was a young christian i had some kind of verbal 'persecution' from my dad is was a testing time. My simple advice is dont be in a hurry dont let emotions lead you but the Word of God and his Spirit and come to our heavenly Father and unburden your heart.
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Redi
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| | 2007/5/27 14:50 | Profile | Isaiah64
Member
Joined: 2006/9/27
Posts: 85
| | Re: Pray for my relationship with my dad | | Brother, I'll be praying for you and your dad. I can imagine how hard it must be to be rejected by your own father for the Gospel's sake. It's exactly what Jesus promised us in the Scriptures. Just know that it's not you he's rejecting, it's Christ. Be patient and let Him work in your father's life. He's obviously been convicted by what you said, and the seed was planted.
God bless you. |
| | 2007/5/27 18:34 | Profile | RumbleBee
Member
Joined: 2007/4/13
Posts: 20
Houston, Texas
| | Re: | | Dear Bluenote177,
Let the Lord guide you in this.
Emotion will indeed be involved simply because you love and respect your father. But rest in Christ and let Him guide and direct your speech and responses toward your father.
Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit would touch your fathers heart and to open his eyes to Truth.
I will pray for you and the situation in which you find yourself. As long as you and your father are alive, continue to have a father / son relationship, and continue to lift him up in prayer that he may be another soul won for Christ. You need strength to persevere and to lay your father at the feet of Jesus. Oh how wonderful it will be when your father surrenders to Him.
Yes, I will be in prayer for you and with you, my friend.
Your sister in Christ,
Carol Eads
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| | 2007/5/27 18:51 | Profile |
| | Re: Pray for my relationship with my dad | | Sometimes the best thing to do is to remain silent. I am reminded of the verse that Jesus said: Quote:
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
I am sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love your Dad very much. I have found in my walk with those who have been angry at me, I would either give a soft word or say nothing at all, most times it was nothing at all.
There is power in doing good to those that can't stand your presense, over time it will reap a harvest.Quote:
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not
It seems physically you've done all that can be done, now it's time to give this over to prayer and good works (doing good)
God Bless Your Dad |
| | 2007/5/27 20:25 | | TaylorOtwell
Member
Joined: 2006/6/19
Posts: 927
Arkansas
| | Re: | | Dear bluenote,
Please do not give up in sharing the love of Christ with your Dad.
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Taylor Otwell
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| | 2007/5/27 23:08 | Profile | bluenote177
Member
Joined: 2005/12/11
Posts: 9
| | Re: | | Thank you all for your prayers. Yesterday evening God led me to an amazing man of God who showed me the incredible freedom I have in Christ. This man's father was also Jewish and kicked him out of the house when he was 18 (one year after he became saved). This man and I have so much in common and he plans on calling my dad to talk with him about Judaism. Once again, thank you for your prayers! God is listening. |
| | 2007/5/28 10:13 | Profile |
| | Re: | | Praise the Lord, Noah! Isn't it amazing how powerful our God is, even when we call upon His name! I will be praying for you, of course.
In Christ,
Slavyan |
| | 2007/5/28 16:34 | | Nellie
Member
Joined: 2004/4/5
Posts: 952
| | Re: Pray for my relationship with my dad | | I pray that God will give you His Wisdom and Knowledge to know how to handle this situation.
Sometimes just letting your light shine for Jesus is better, but follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
God Bless you
Nellie |
| | 2007/5/28 19:10 | Profile | UniqueWebRev
Member
Joined: 2007/2/9
Posts: 640
Southern California
| | Re: Treading lightly | | Quote:
Compliments wrote:
Sometimes the best thing to do is to remain silent. I am reminded of the verse that Jesus said:Quote:
Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
I am sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that you love your Dad very much. I have found in my walk with those who have been angry at me, I would either give a soft word or say nothing at all, most times it was nothing at all.
There is power in doing good to those that can't stand your presense, over time it will reap a harvest.Quote:
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not
It seems physically you've done all that can be done, now it's time to give this over to prayer and good works (doing good)
God Bless Your Dad
Bluenote,
I am sad to say I agree with Compliments above, though mostly from my own experience with my Dad over Christianity.
When someone will not hear, it is not that they are closed off to you, but that they see no reason yet to agree with you.
The known is always more agreeable than the unknown, and although my Dad is not Jewish, he was violently against Christianity.
He hated the hypocrisy he experienced in Christianity when he was young, he hated the churches he had been dragged to in his youth, and he hated, intensely, discussing such a personal subject with me.
Once, he finally snapped at me in honesty, "I don't want to have to change!"
From that period on, about 6 years ago, I simply asked my friends to pray for God to open his heart and mind, his ears and eyes; to give my Dad curiousity about what happens after death, and only on rare occasions did I bring up the matter, and then only in a word or two, barely a sentence, knowing I was going to get reamed again, or meet with that brooding resistence that makes your heart ache.
But as the years passed, he became a little more open. I could put in a whole sentence. I could tell him that the only reason I bugged him about it was that I wanted him to be in heaven with me, and not in hell. One of my friends consistantly said the same thing to him when he would complain about me "always talking about God". She simply told him that I was afraid he wouldn't be going to heaven.
My friends and I changed our prayers to have the Holy Spirit convict him of the very real possibility of death (He was in his late 70's), and prayed for his heart to be softened, for him to be called, and I always added on my own prayer, that I would have the witness of his testimony so I would never have to worry about him not being with me in heaven.
My friends continued to pray. I tiptoed around his disbelief, but never stopped walking out my own belief, or talking about little blessings and favors that happened due to prayer to me and to others.
After some time, the curiousity bug got him through the Bible Code books by the athiestic journalist, Michael Drosnin. Had they been by a Christian, he would never have picked them up. I was careful to keep my mouth shut.
The statistical impossibilities of what were published in the science world about what was found there convinced Him of one thing...the Bible was not a lie, not just stories, and not in the least inaccurate. The one special test for the names of the chosen list of Rabbis, and their birth dates and death dates was indisputable to his very logical mind.
So if the Old Testament was true, and the New Testament the completion of the prophecies in the Old, he could begin to see some basis for belief.
Then, I think the matter became one of pride. I can not teach him...He is my father! I casually smuggled into his house another book about the Bible Codes that had Christian doctrine in it, and prayed all the more. He grumbled about the book, but he read it...a bit here, a bit there.
Occasionally, he would ask a brief question, but after the simplest answer, he would shut me up with, "That's enough of that!" And my friends and I, well, we prayed some more.
And one day, to my surprise, He told me that he had already "'said the prayer', and he was converted or saved or whatever", and had been for some time!
And my friends and I celebrated, and began to pray that the Holy Spirit would lead and teach him, for he is the prickliest, most incommunicative man about God!
He took his first communion this past Easter with me leading, and him only saying 'Amen", and barely understands it except that it's a remembrence of Jesus, if he understands that much. He won't read the Bible or go to Church, and hears only a bit or two about God in interviews on TV with Bill O'Reilly, or Sean Hannity, or from talk radio. And he never speaks of it.
When he complains about my behavior, I simply tell him to talk to God about it when he can't sleep at night. And my friend does the same when he complains to her. She'll say, "Have you prayed about it?" in her innocent way, and leave him stumped. But from time to time, she tells me he has said he will.
And since some things are happening in my life that I haven't asked for, I am positive they may both be praying for things about me that I don't know of!
But suddenly it's okay for me to say two or three sentences about Godstuff, as long as I don't do it too often or too 'churchily'. And when I was told to "Write" by Jesus, and started a web ministry, and was ordained, I think my dad went into shock for a few minutes, but all in all, he's handled it.
Last night, I was an hour late for dinner at his house because I had gone to the store, and instead of getting groceries had spent three hours talking to a street minister named Thomas.
And I actually got to tell my Dad about Joseph, and his being sold into slavery, put into prison, etc. because the preacher I had been talking to had been paroled, then sent back in three times for obeying what his Parole officer told him to do, and all three times the Parole Officer had set him up, and even told Thomas he just couldn't stand the sight of him, so he was going back in!
My point is that I was able to actually tell my Dad a Bible story, because I had met a guy who had been treated as Joseph had been, and in all three prisons he went into, Thomas started inter-racial bible study groups, talking to all his brothers in Christ, at meals, in the dorms, in the Yard, which for any of those who may know about men in prison, it is a miracle of God that he wasn't killed, or ever attacked.
I don't know how much my Dad caught of what I was trying to say, but I'm sure the Holy Spirit will fill in the blanks of what ever I didn't explain well, or that he didn't hear well.
Over 6+ years, a lot of prayer, walking softly, and I can barely talk to my Dad about God. I cannot talk about what I am doing without getting yelled at, and I doubt if he reads what I write.
But lately he called me on a matter he thought was spiritual pride, but didn't even know that was the name of it. I was so pleased I didn't bother to explain the whole circumstances, and how when something good happens, you need to give God the Glory. He wouldn't have heard me anyway!
But I can talk about what others are doing. And when I told him why I was late, he actually just laughed, and said not to hurry. Such a change in the man!
But I watch the Holy Spirit working in Him, and I bide my time. My Dad is almost 83 now, and his fragility is showing. If I say too much...He still snaps at me. He's too private a person to share his walk with God with me. But I see him changing a little, softening a little. And I know we will have a lot of fun together in the New Jerusalem.
My brother, don't despair. And don't push so hard that the message goes by him, instead of into him.
He has at least heard you out, I hope. If not, the Holy Spirit can reach him in ways you cannot imagine. And prayer, consistant, regular, and inventive prayer can do wonders.
Don't press too hard. You've planted a seed. And if you don't press him on the subject, since he is not observant in Judaism, you can maintain your relationship. If he continues to refuse to see you, you keep trying to see him, in cheerful obedience to the commandment to honor your father by making sure he's okay on a regular basis. He can't dispute with you on that one!
Continue to pray. In the end, God will answer that prayer, for He is willing that all men come to Him, and God is most willing to give you what you want...your Dad's salvation, for it is a very good thing.
Blessings,
Forrest
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Forrest Anderson
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| | 2007/6/1 2:33 | Profile |
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