This week I have been talking to women who deeply desire their husbands to step into the role of Spiritual leader in their home. Even though they are Christian men, they don’t seem ready or comfortable to be this leader.

So what can we do?

How can we lead our children?

Maybe you are a father and are not sure how to lead your home.

Friends, how we lead our family Spiritually is a huge part of the legacy we are leaving our children.

Here are a few tips to leading your home Spiritually:

• Make your own quiet time just you and God a priority. When we are living for Christ and spending time with Him two things happen. One, our family will see that example. • Two, we are bringing the Spirit of God into our home.
• Make meal prayer times a must. Thank God for the food He has provided for your family.
• Have a time of family devotions. There are some great books out there for family devotions but don’t rush right out and buy a bunch of books. Just spend time in God’s Word! The book of Proverbs is a great place to start. It has 31 chapters and most months have 31 days. With the family, read a chapter a day then talk about it. If your kids are little, you likely have a preschool storybook Bible, if not you can pick them up fairly cheap at Walmart. Read a Bible story each day then talk about it. Be sure to pray with the kids too. Don’t think your time has to be hours on end. Start out with fifteen minutes.
• Play worship music in the house and car. Sing along and encourage the kids to sing along.
• When the kids start acting up that is a teaching time! Talk about how God can help us control our feelings and pray about it.
• If someone gets hurt, bandage and care for it if need be, but never forget to pray over it.
• When something good happens, be sure to praise God for it and let the kids know that God has blessed you.
• When you’re in a bad mood, ask your spouse or even child to pray with you that you will have the joy of the Lord.
• Be careful what you watch on tv and the websites you visit on the computer. Always think integrity!

What should we do to encourage our husband to take the lead?  Here are a few tips:
• Never push him! The more you push and nag, the less he will want to lead
• Pray over him. Pray that God will give him a boldness in his faith and the courage to take a stand for his family.
• When it is prayer time or Bible reading time, ask him quietly if he would like to say the prayer or do the reading. If he says no, do not be upset or disappointed. Just say “okay, maybe another time” and leave it at that.
• When you are feeling sick, upset or discouraged, grab his hand and ask if he would please say a prayer for you. If he is shy about praying out loud, just ask him to pray for you when he says his prayers.
• When the kids have an issue and come to you for guidance and prayer, say “let’s go to dad and ask him to join us for prayer.” Even if he doesn’t pray, his presence is important.
• Though we want our husband to lead us, we can still lead him by example. Pray and read the Word. Talk to your husband about what you have been reading in the Bible and about what God is speaking to you. Open that line of communication.
• One of my favorite movies is Courageous. Have a family movie night and watch the movie, then in private, ask your husband if he has any ideas that you can do as a couple to lead your family toward God.
It’s so important to lead our family closer to God. If we don’t then the world can lead them closer to Satan.  —submitted by Jenifer Metzger, US