Nigerian American Reminding You That God The Father Still Loves You Segun Aiyegbusi

Are people listening when we preach? It may not all be on us as communicators. Sometimes, we simply need to understand the WHO we're speaking to

How is it that the church in Nigeria, for all its reputation about being one of the Nations with the fastest growing number of Christians, is in reality a nation STILL rampant with corruption and strife at every level of society, even within the Church??

My kids are quite the curious bunch, especially my oldest. A simple answer is never enough for him. He’ll ask questions till he gets to the root of my underlying motive for why I said what I said; which is fine, except for the fact that it’s usually at 2:00am and I gotta get up in 4 hours!
But one of his oddest follow up questions he has consistently stuck with is the one that comes after I tell him how much I love him. He’s fond of following up by saying, “I love you too, daddy. But why do you love me?”
Interestingly, I have been preparing for this question since I was in seminary. I know that sounds odd, but let me explain. In seminary, I took a class called, “SOUL CARE” (which is exactly what it sounds like), and it ended up bringing to light some childhood wounds I never dealt with.
The class helped me work through and let go of a lot of baggage I had carried years. One key lessons that came out of that season was the truth that God loves me, not because of how much effort I was making to do the right thing in my walk with Him, but because it truly gave Him joy (and because it was “…according to the good pleasure of His will.” – Ephesians 1:5).
That Biblical truth transformed my vision of what a Father does and who a Father is supposed to be, way before I was even a dad!
So, when my oldest son, even at an early stage began to ask why it is I love him, I was very careful to let him know that it wasn’t because of how handsome or brilliant he was, or how great a job he did at whatever his mom last instructed him to do; but rather, I told him that I loved him because God gave him to me as a special gift!
Now, that is a love he never has to earn!! That is a love that will always be readily available for him as long as God gives me breath.
It is, of course also a love that I don’t always live up to. 
As fathers, our kids look up to us as heroes, but we know all too well just how human we are. We know that we will love our kids imperfectly, and whether intentionally or unintentionally – our sinful behavior may end up demonstrating to our kids that our love and approval of them depends on their performance.
Like I said, we’re awfully human.
The one thing we can work hard to do right, however, is to teach them that their Father in heaven is madly in love with them, so much so that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to come start a lifelong friendship with us. It’s that message that we as dads should strive to make clear to our kids!
So, dads, join me as I pray for that our kids would truly embrace the truth that God not only loves them, but actually likes them! 




































PRAY ALONG WITH ME, DADS“Lord Jesus, your word says in Romans 8:38-39 that no one and no thing will ever be able to drive a wedge between you and us! Absolutely nothing! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! Thank you so much for loving my children so dearly. Jesus, I pray that you would help this truth stick to their heart like glue so that they never forget about your great love for them. 
Lord Jesus, guard my children’s hearts against any lie that the devil might try to tell them about their value and their worth. Place a shield of truth around their mind so that when other people speak negative things to them about how they look, where they’re from, or what they do, they would be secure enough in your love to say, “Nope, that is a lie. I am loved by God, the creator of heaven and earth!”  
Father in heaven, convince my children by your Holy Spirit and through the Bible that even on their worst days and their greatest mistakes, that You still remain faithful to them. Show them according to your word that absolutely nothing can get between them and your love because of the way Jesus Christ has embraced them. Remind them always that when

Okay, fine! I’ll come straight to it, my son is way smarter than I was at his age.
To be clear, he still does dumb 8-year-old-boy stuff, but academically, my not-so-little-anymore dude is crushing it! When he was in kindergarten, he was reading at a 2nd grade level. Presently at 4th grade, his math, spelling, and coding skills are off the charts. 
While I like to brag to my wife that he gets it from me, anyone who knew me growing up me knows that is a straight up lie! Man, when I was his age, I couldn’t pass a math test for my life even if you handed me the addition and subtraction charts with all the answers. 
Let’s just say, I didn’t really step into my academic-game till sometime after high school. I remember when I graduated high school with something like a C+ average, my parents actually threw me a party because no one even thought I’d ever graduate!! I shared this in one of the earlier posts in this series, but it’s for this very reason that when my son was in my wife’s womb, I pled with the Lord that He would bless my him with a brilliant and intelligent mind. 
THANK. YOU. JESUS!
While I’m grateful for God’s gift to my son, I am keenly aware that there are some of you whose kids might be taking a little longer than you’re comfortable with to step into their academic comfort zone. Maybe they’re behind in school (math, reading, or even speaking) and you’re starting to get worried? Or perhaps it’s clear to you that they are intelligent, but they’re having a really hard time expressing that innate cleverness? 
Well, it’s you I want to pray for today. I want to ask God on your behalf to increase your child’s brainpower, increase their capacity to retain and process information, and bless them with the ability to freely and clearly express all He has placed in them. 




































PRAY ALONG WITH ME, DADS“God, your word says in the book of Ecclesiastes 2:26 that you give wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please you. And then in James 1:5, you say again that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
Lord Jesus, I ask on behalf of my children that you would fill them to the full with your knowledge, wisdom, and understanding in every aspect of life. Bless them with a mind that is able to distinguish between foolish and wise choices, and the willingness to follow through on wise decisions. 
Bless my children with a sharp and brilliant mind and help them reach every developmental milestone they need to reach at the right time. Wherever they might be lacking academically, replenish them in abundance with your wisdom. Grant their minds the capacity to retain all the information they’re learning and the ability to process it in a way that makes sense to all whom they express it to. 
Father in heaven, Help my children quickly and easily identify the areas of giftedness you’ve blessed them with and grant them a godly tenacity in refining and perfecting those gifts. Help them excel in all they set their hands and mind to do. In their areas of giftedness, help them increase in their skillful use of it and make them influencers of culture in their generation.  
Grant them many opportunities for them to put to great use all they are learning, and bring them into contact with brilliant and caring friends who will challenge them and bring out the best in them. May their learning be marked with joy, and help us as parents discern how to develop and foster the abilities and talents you endowed them with. 
Lord God of all wisdom and knowledge, bless my children with understanding all the days of their life.
In Jesus name I pray.”






























DOWNLOAD WEEK 6: PRAYER RESULTS WORKSHEET

When each of my kids were born, I had specific things I prayed God would do in each of their lives. Call it Dad-instincts or Holy Spirit inspiration, I’m not sure, but I asked God to use each of them in very specific ways in their generation. 
For my daughter, I prayed that God would bless her with a confidence rooted in His love for her that would stir others to action. I wanted her to have a strength and beauty that wasn’t just external, but an intellectual depth and a godly fierceness that would make her influential in her generation. 
Interestingly, I’ve observed God honoring the prayers I prayed for each of them. My gorgeous little princess, even at the age of three has enough confidence, spunk and emotional intelligence to last two lifetimes!
I praise God for this because I know that she will be growing up in a culture that is saturated with digitally altered images of impossibly thin women who bare no semblance to reality. A culture that unfortunately measures a woman’s value, not by what she knows, but what she’s willing to show on her social media account.
If you’re a dad to a girl, I’m willing to bet that concern has crossed your mind a few times.
So today, today, Dads, I want to pray for our daughters. 




































PRAY ALONG WITH ME, DADS“Father in heaven your words says in Psalm 28:7 that you are our strength and our shield and we will trust you with all our hearts. So, Jesus, be my daughter’ strength. Bless her with great confidence that is deeply rooted in your love for her and not just in what she looks like or what she wears. Grant her an unshakeable faith in you and let her confidence inspire others to live for you.
Jesus, also bless my daughter with peace and confidence in the physical beauty You have gifted her with. Grant her a healthy Biblical view of her body and her sexuality. Help her to fully embrace the unique qualities you have blessed her with. When she looks in the mirror each morning, help her recognize that she is fearfully and wonderfully made by You, and that Your works are wonderful! 
Your word says in Psalm 28:7 that because you are her helper, her heart will be filled with joy and she will burst out in songs of thanksgiving. Lord Jesus, I pray that you would open the eyes of my daughter’s heart so that she will always sense your presence with her. Fill her life with your joy so that it becomes contagious to her friends. Fill her life with your Holy Spirit and your wisdom so that she becomes influential in her generation and leads many closer to Jesus Christ. Fill her with songs of thanksgiving so that no matter what circumstance she finds herself in, your praises will always be on her lips.
Grant my daughter clarity in her calling in life. May she discover early in life her passion and the purpose for which you have put her on this earth. Give her creativity and insight so she may know a hundred and one ways in which she can express all you have placed in her. Bless her with a fearlessness in pursuing the ambitions and dreams You have planted in her heart and through it all, may she always give you praise for all her successes in life. 
Use her mightily in her generation. In all that she does, may many observe and give You praise for the wondrous works You are doing through her.
Bless her life, and may your joy be her strength all the days of her life, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.”






























DOWNLOAD WEEK 5: PRAYER RESULTS WORKSHEET

I grew up in a household with a strong religious mother and an even stronger grandmother. My dad was not a man of faith, but he never kept us from following in the footsteps of my mom. In fact, he encouraged it. But I do recall that when I was growing up, my faith felt more like a burdenthan a relationship with God.
Church was a duty we had to get up for every Sunday morning way earlier than any human should me made to wake up on a weekend. Though I enjoyed the musical segments of our Church services, the rest of it was way over my head, except for when they would talk about the fires of hell.
Then, I paid attention! 
I lived in constant fear of hell because I was a bad kid with a track record of some really dumb decisions, and from what I was able to discern in all the teachings in Church, hell was where bad kids ended up. It wasn’t till Junior High school that I began to wrap my head around the idea that Christianity wasn’t about having fire insurance, but about a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
So, as a dad with 3 inquisitive kids with an ever growing list of questions about spiritual matters, it’s important to me that I frame their understanding of Christianity in the context of what God already did for them when He sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay for their sin.
I hope this next statement is true as true for you as it is for me as a dad - my greatest desire for each of my kids is that they would someday choose to trust in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life.  I hope and pray that their relationship with Jesus is not just a Sunday-morning faith or one borne out of obligation, but a thriving relationship where they know and experience His presence and power in their lives. 
So, it’s this prayer that I want to pray for you and your kids today. 




































PRAY ALONG WITH ME, DADS“Lord God in heaven, thank you for creating us in your image and for blessing us with the means to be able talk back to you. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ to die for the sin of the world, including ours. And thank you for providing a way through faith in Jesus Christ to have a joyful relationship with you.
I confess that my children and I have sinned and failed to live up to the holiness you demand of us. I ask today that you would forgive us for all our sins. Remove from us our sins and separate it from us as far as the east is from the west.  
O God, you say in the Bible that no one can come to you unless your first draw them near by your Holy Spirit, so I pray that you would draw each of my children close to you. Jesus, grant my children the gift of eternal life and write their names in your Book of Life. Win over their hearts so that they know you not only as Savior of their life, but as the Lord and King of their lives.
Jesus, bless them with a joyful relationship with you, not one borne out of fear or obligation. May their lives be constantly marked by the joy of the Lord and may their relationship with you take center stage above all other relationships in their lives so that they truly grow to love you with all their hearts, all their minds, and all their body.
Help them by the power of your Holy Spirit to live each day with the knowledge that they are saved by your loving grace and not their efforts to keep being good. Remind them daily by your Spirit and through the scriptures that they can always approach your throne of grace because of what Jesus has already done for them on the cross!
May their confidence in your salvation free them to live for you and to be bold witnesses of the grace they have received. Thank you for loving them so dearly and for the gift of eternal life, in Jesus name I pray, Amen!”






























DOWNLOAD WEEK 4: PRAYER RESULTS WORKSHEETHey dad, thanks for taking the time to pray along with me today. If you enjoyed today’s blog post, I would love to hear your feedback and any insight you mig