The Priest

‘The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth’ Isa.38:19 [KJV]

The father is the priest. Priests are custodians of God’s Word and law. The father should be the custodian of the Word and should teach it to the children. ‘The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth’ Isa.38:19 [KJV]. The father is the priest and runs the priesthood. Of course the mother too can teach the Word of God. Yet the fathers are the custodians of the priesthood. Priests, apart from being custodians of the Word of God, are responsible for sacrifices and all the offerings that are going up. By sacrifices I am referring to the sacrifices of praise, of worship, of prayer, of fasting, and of giving. The father is responsible for initiating these sacrifices within the family. I am not saying the father must be the one to lead the praise and worship, prayer, and everything himself but he is responsible to provide the leadership. What does leadership do? Leadership provides direction, an enabling environment, and encouragement. So the father is to provide leadership for prayer because he is the spiritual head of the home. While his wife may be able to articulate prayer better than him yet he is responsible for initiating prayer in the home. So if the family is not praying together, worshiping together, or giving sacrificially as a family it is the father that is responsible. It is a huge responsibility. So even if your wife has the gift of intersession perhaps, you still need to go before the Lord to find the direction for the family and then partner with your wife in the place of prayer. It is important for your children to see you bow before the King of kings because children learn by observation. You cannot insist on family prayer time and yet be absent every time. As the priest, you must be hands on to being the sacrifices before the Lord.

When a young man comes to me and says he wants to get married, one of the things I look out for is can he stand as the priest of his home? Young women must also learn to look for this quality. Can he take the sacrifices of your home before God?

Prayer: Father, anoint me afresh as priest of my home. Make me the head of my family in everyway, in Jesus Name.