"Demons won't listen to me because I didn't raise my kids right or lead my family well."
How it sounds in your head: My kids are a mess. Some don't follow Jesus. I failed as a spiritual leader in my home—how can I have authority anywhere else? If I couldn't keep my own family in line, demons will laugh at me. My leadership failures disqualify me from spiritual authority.
"And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come."
-- Ephesians 1:19-21Religion teaching that spiritual authority requires proven family leadership, making parenting outcomes the measure of spiritual qualification.
His adult children's struggles feel like public evidence of his failure. Every prodigal kid, every divorce, every rebellion screams that he wasn't man enough to lead spiritually.
Eli's sons were wicked, slept with women at the temple door, and rejected God—total parental failure. Yet God still spoke to Samuel under Eli's roof, and Eli's word to Samuel ('It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him') carried prophetic weight despite his failed fatherhood.
I REFUSE the lie that my children's choices disqualify me from spiritual authority. IT IS WRITTEN that I am seated with Christ FAR ABOVE all principality and power—my position is in HIM, not in my parenting outcomes. My kids' struggles don't revoke my covenant. God chose me before the foundation of the world, not based on how my family turned out. IT IS WRITTEN that greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world, and that includes greater than my fatherhood failures. I declare the BARAK blessing over my lineage—the same covenant that blessed Abraham's dysfunctional family, Isaac's divided home, and Jacob's murderous sons blesses mine. My authority is based on the BLOOD, not my track record.
The Father isn't judging you by your kids' choices—He's running toward you with open arms, ready to restore what the locusts ate. Your position as His son has nothing to do with your success as a father.