Stage 1: Naming and Dedicating our Children to God
We all have seen or heard of baby dedications. In the Catholic Church it’s called christenings. We all should, as an outward sign of thanks to God, offer our babies to God. Not necessarily in a specific “my child will do this for you” kind of way, but a more “we will train them to live for You” kind of way. We dedicated our son, Devante, right away. Though we didn’t know all the implications at the time we knew it was important to do.
As we see in the scriptures, the baby doesn’t have to even be born yet to make a declaration to God about their life.

1 Samuel 1:9–20 (NLT)
Hannah’s Prayer for a Son
9 Once after a sacrificial meal at Shiloh, Hannah got up and went to pray. Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance of the Tabernacle. 10 Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the LORD. 11 And she made this vow: “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the LORD, his hair will never be cut.”
12 As she was praying to the LORD, Eli watched her. 13 Seeing her lips moving but hearing no sound, he thought she had been drinking. 14 “Must you come here drunk?” he demanded. “Throw away your wine!”
15 “Oh no, sir!” she replied. “I haven’t been drinking wine or anything stronger. But I am very discouraged, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD. 16 Don’t think I am a wicked woman! For I have been praying out of great anguish and sorrow.”
17 “In that case,” Eli said, “go in peace! May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
18 “Oh, thank you, sir!” she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

Eli’s words of encouragement gave Hannah hope and that hope began to rekindle her faith.
Samuel’s Birth and Dedication
19 The entire family got up early the next morning and went to worship the LORD once more. Then they returned home to Ramah. When Elkanah slept with Hannah, the LORD remembered her plea, 20 and in due time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, “I asked the LORD for him.”

Samuel means “name of God”

Though my wife and I didn’t know the full meanings of his names, our son has become the embodiment of their meanings on his own, even without our knowledge of their meanings.

Devante: name of Spanish origin that means fighter of wrong – the act or process of communicating and the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs. Strong influencer
Glenn: of Scottish/Gaelic origin meaning Valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides. True to form this would make the both the valley and my son easily accessible, likeable, and approachable. A place where people want to go and hang out.

Some people don’t believe the old testament because of the naming conventions in it. Every character is named the way they behave or according to their function. I would like to submit this concept to you:
I believe that we function, whether knowingly or unknowingly, as we are named.

God renamed Abram to Abraham and Saul To Paul to get them to hear their destiny whenever they heard their name

The Faith and Obedience of Hannah
1 Samuel 1:21–28 (NLT)
21 The next year Elkanah and his family went on their annual trip to offer a sacrifice to the LORD and to keep his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go. She told her husband, “Wait until the boy is weaned. Then I will take him to the Tabernacle and leave him there with the LORD permanently.”
23 “Whatever you think is best,” Elkanah agreed. “Stay here for now, and may the LORD help you keep your promise.” So she stayed home and nursed the boy until he was weaned.
24 When the child was weaned, Hannah took him to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. They brought along a three-year-old bull for the sacrifice and a basket of flour and some wine. 25 After sacrificing the bull, they brought the boy to Eli. 26 “Sir, do you remember me?” Hannah asked. “I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the LORD. 27 I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 28 Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life.” And they worshiped the LORD there.

Notice that her husband, though he didn’t hear from the Lord, realized that his wife had and trusted her judgement.

Point #2: Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child
I’m not saying that we should get delight out of beating our kids. I am saying that we are to train a child in the way that they should go, and they will not depart. We can’t be afraid to correct our kids. We’re supposed to be parents first, then friends second.

Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

The bible says that God is a “just God” so we need to be fair with our kids too.

Proverbs 13:24 (NLT)
24 Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children.
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.

My wife used to carry a piece of an old dog collar in her purse. We joke about it now, but Devante was seriously afraid of that collar. When he started acting up, all she would have to do is slowly inch the tip of the collar up from her purse and he would scream, “No mommy, no! I’ll be good!”
It’s important to have clear, defined, and enforced boundaries. If there are two parents, then both must agree and enforce, otherwise the child will always go to the more sympathetic parent to get their way.
We also used positive reinforcement, as well as time outs, groundings, and taking away things or limiting their use but perpetually “sparing the rod” will cause both you and them problems in the future. Solomon was one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth, so I always went with what he said:

Proverbs 23:13 (NLT)
13 Don’t fail to discipline your children.
The rod of punishment won’t kill them.

I don’t know how you feel, but I wanted my kids to be able to understand the importance of authority and the consequence and pain that happens when we don’t obey it.
Best Buy Teen

Hebrews 12:5–12 (NLT) quoting Proverbs 3:11
5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,
“My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
6 For the LORD disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
12 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
Stage 3: Pray and Raise Your Children but Don’t Interfere with God

“Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17–21, NLT)

The bible even tells us to keep praying and never give up:
Matthew 7:7–11 (NLT)
Effective Prayer
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

“One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ ” Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”” (Luke 18:1–8, NLT)

Your prayers shouldn’t be just about you

Ephesians 6:18 (NLT)
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Galatians 6:10 (NLT)
10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Ultimately God wants us to be “Kingdom minded”. That includes the way that we raise up our children and the way that we act. I’ve heard the phrase, “don’t do I do, to what I say.” That is not the way for us to be with our kids.

It helped me to realize that I don’t have to pray with my wife all the time. I need to have my own personal prayer times as well. God speaks to her differently than He speaks to me. When we put our revelations together it usually makes much more sense. We come together and pray for important and urgent things, but our norm is to pray separately.

Helping our Children’s Future – The story of Rebekah

We shouldn’t go into debt to help our children’s future. We should be leaving them an inheritance.
Proverbs 13:22 (NLT)
22 Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren,
but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.

“Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked. And the LORD told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”” (Genesis 25:21–23, NLT)

Rebekah had a clear vision from the Lord that her younger son, Jacob, would be served by the elder, Esau. Even when we have a clear vision from God, we will cause more harm by “helping God” rather than allowing Him to direct our paths.

“And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins! The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau. Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau’s heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.” (Genesis 25:24–26, NLT)

Jacob means heel and means insidious, deceitful. Esau means to press or squeeze. Oppressor.
Rebekah made one critical mistake: she didn’t share the vision with her husband. Yes, the times were different then but we have examples of women of courage in the bible who took risks and chose kingdom-mindedness over personal preservation.

How we, the Lynch family, share our revelations and petitions practically

• We share nightly about the day and what God did or we think he’s doing
• We have date nights (and days) weekly to make sure we stay romantic and bake awesome cookies
• We go out of town (Anaheim, San Diego, or Vegas) twice a year to make cookies and set goals
• Now in our later years, we are taking a yearly week vacation via plane to wind down and relax
• We both have conversations with our son individually, now that he’s older, to hear his heart. Not afraid to correct, but now I mostly just give wise counsel.