Why we should teach our children to fight

What do you do when you send your child to school and they don’t return home? What do you do when you read that 200 Nigerian school girls are abducted by an Islamic terrorist group? Does a sense of hopelessness and despair wash over you like the dark clouds in the sky on a rainy day? When we see people marching helplessly on the streets carrying placards that say “waiting for our girls” and “bring back our children” how do we feel? I don’t know about you but this makes me so angry! Are we just going to sit idly by and let the devil have his way with our children? Are we going to continue to allow our children to become victims and casualities of war as we gently pray for their return? As we shut our mouths and walk around with placards gently demanding the return of our children, gently saying that “enough is enough”? I dare say that this approach will not work any longer. It is no longer business as usual and we need to open our eyes and realize that this is not just another battle that we have to fight, we have to realize that this is war! The enemy has infiltrated our camps and he ain’t backing off. He is coming at us with all that he’s got and we have been caught unprepared. Where are the Christian soldiers who should be fighting for our children and our families? Where are the watchmen that have been appointed to guard the city? Where is the army of the most high God? Still getting dressed for battle? We need to open our eyes and realize that the Phillistines are upon us! There is no more time to waste. We should have been dressed and ready for battle and should have taken our positions long ago! What we fail to realize is that satan and his army are organized and are strategically positioned, attacking our camps from all directions. They have a game plan and they are executing it. They have no intention of losing this war. The hard work has already been done. They have worn out the army of the most high God. We have been distracted, we have been stressed out by the harsh economic realities of life, we have been bombarded with the cares of life and we have allowed ourselves to become entangled in civilian affairs.

As Christians, we all want our children to grow up to be decent men and women, good citizens who will make a positive contribution to society. We all want them to be successful, to find a good life partner, to themselves become good parents and good people. As Christians we have taught our children to be obedient to all those in authority and therein lies the problem. They have learned the lessons well. Do not talk back to adults, do not question adults, follow instructions and do as you are told. But we have not taught them well. We have set them up as targets for the devil and his entourage. What we really should be teaching our children is to be obedient to all those in authority under GOD. So when someone comes and tells them to do something that is contrary to the word of God or to do something that in their little spirits they are uncomfortable doing, they know that that authority is not under God. That authority is of the devil. And they don’t need to be obedient to any devil. We need to teach our children that when Mommy and Daddy aren’t around and they don’t know what to do, they can talk to their almighty Father about it and know that He will hear and answer them and help them in times of trouble. When they feel afraid, they should know that they can call on God and He will rescue them even if they just pray in their hearts.

But so many of us fail to teach our children how to pray. We pray for them but we leave it there. But we can do more. We can teach them the word of God and we can teach them how to defend themselves. Our children are out there in the line of fire just as much as we are. So what should we do?

• We need to teach our children how to pray at home so that when they leave our presence, they know how to pray for themselves. The teaching should be active, not passive. In other words, don’t assume that because they hear you praying they know how to pray. Tell them how to pray and give them ample opportunities to practice praying when at home. Listen to their prayers and guide them. Applaud them for good efforts and teach them to expect God to answer their prayers. Teach them how to recognize when God has answered their prayers so that they trust God with all their hearts, no matter what.

Can you imagine how different things would have been if those 200 Nigerian girls had all sent up silent prayers to God when the enemy came to lure them away from their school? Do you think God would have just ignored them and carried on? No, He would have responded and today we probably would not have to read the horror stories in the media. Our children need to be armed for battle just as much as we need to arm ourselves by putting on the full armor of God every single day. We need to train our children how to be little soldiers  who know how to fight and how to defend themselves. Not physically, but spiritually. The bible says that we fight not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So the fight is a spiritual one and while we encourage our children not to get involved in physical fights, we should equip them to fight spiritual battles. The devil does not care that they are children. He comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But in the name of Jesus Christ he cannot have our children. We claim them back for the kingdom of almighty God and we enter into the enemy’s camp and we take back everything that the devil stole from us including our children. The violent take it by force and we come armed and dangerous. The devil must drop his weapons and flee! He has no choice. We are not unaware of satan and his devices. We come in the authority of Jesus Christ. Let us no longer take a passive approach. Let us be active and get our children ready for war too.  Teach them how to fight!