Fathering Leadership

  • About
  • Speaking
  • Discovery Prayer Ministry
  • Blog
    • Fathers Love Articles
    • Sonship Articles
    • Fathering Leadership Articles
    • Christian Devotions Articles
    • Prayer Ministry Articles
    • Redemptive Gifts Articles
  • Training
    • Training Menu
    • The Fathers Love
    • Sonship
    • Fathering Leadership
    • Christian Devotions
    • Discovery Prayer Ministry
    • Redemptive Gifts
    • Articles
  • Contact

Prayer Ministry – Joy Development

June 17, 2012 by Robert Hartzell

Prayer Ministry – Joy Development Is An Important Foundation to Living As an Overcomer

Introduction
Prayer Ministry Joy Development gives us a foundation for life to live restfully from love rather than striving from a base of shame wherein Prayer Ministry Joy Developmentmistakes and corrections are not tolerable. Our family life, our work projects and relationships, school and studying, learning new skills, can all be done joyfully rather than dreadfully with the right foundation.

Shame
Consider George. He went to a conference and learned about the power of combining fasting with waiting in God’s presence. The promises given were many, everything from intimacy with God to greater rest in the midst of circumstances to greater discipline to accomplish. George set out with great “intensity” to fast and wait on God, dreaming of finally feeling successful. When his wife didn’t share his enthusiasm, he was disappointed and became short with her. His fervor faltered and a fear of failure extinguished his determination to be spiritually significant. George ended up feeling defeated and condemned.

When we set out with a vision for something with “intensity,” that usually means we are trying to be good enough to be loved and acceptable.

Love
Consider a loving father’s joy on the day his child is born. The child has yet to accomplish a single thing and yet there’s a joyful rejoicing and elation just because the child is there. Experientially knowing that God has deep joy over you just because you exist is an important aspect of experiencing His love for you and coming into rest and living from a place of joy.

1 John 4:18 indicates to us that fear is the absence of love. Joy expresses the opposite of this in a deep way. If God feels joy over me then my making a mistake and getting berated is not a part of the equation.

Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. God exults over you, He is at rest in His love toward you, your mistakes don’t rattle Him. He is so excited about you He shouts for joy!

Conclusion
Living from a base of love takes away our striving and fear of failure. It empowers us to face the vulnerability of learning – even with all the setbacks that are an inevitable part of the process – with joy rather than frustration.

Filed Under: Father's Love, Prayer Ministry Tagged With: Father's Love, fear, fear of failure, joy, love, Prayer Ministry Joy Development, Rest, shame

Father’s Love Defaulting to Joy

December 9, 2010 by Robert Hartzell

Just Love

Cyndi and I married in our mid-twenties. We’d met at the church we’d been attending for several years. A couple years later, Darren was born. What a moment of joy that was! I’d heard people speak of a love that hits you with the birth of a child. Now I felt it, a love so strong I instantly knew, I would die for that child if necessary.

Love as the Foundation to Joy

We came home from the hospital and I’d just stare at him in wonderment. So beautiful.  So vulnerable. So precious. He didn’t have to do anything for my love. Just looking at him in my arms was incredible. I remember thoroughly enjoying each stage of Darren’s growth. As an infant he first rolled over at my in-laws. Then there was the trip to the mountains when he was four, and we could actually climb the rocks together. So many memories through the past 17 years.

Dr Jim Wilder in The Life Model, “In a child’s first years, the desire to experience joy in loving relationships is the most powerful force in life. Some neurologists now say that the basic human need is to be the ‘sparkle in someone’s eye.’ When you catch a glimpse of a child’s face as he runs toward an awaiting parent with arms outstretched in unrestrained joy, you can witness firsthand that incredible power that comes from ‘being the sparkle in someone’s eye.’ ”

When mom and dad express this basic love, it produces joy–joy at being alive, joy at being valued just for who you are. This is God’s plan, that we feel the love that says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Joy is to be our default emotion. When troubles come, we should have the capacity to return to joy.

This prepares us to naturally connect with our heavenly Father, who loves us passionately even though He knows everything about us, and to connect again and again to His heart as we face life’s challenges.

Joy Strength

“Having enough joy strength is fundamental to a person’s well being. We now know that a joy center exists in the right orbital prefrontal cortex of the brain. It has executive control over the entire emotional system. When the joy center has been sufficiently developed, it regulates emotions, pain control, and immunity centers; it guides us to act like ourselves; it releases neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin; and it is the only part of the brain that overrides the main drive centers – food and sexual impulses, terror and rage.”

God rejoices over you with joy and singing because He is so thrilled to be your Father! You truly are the apple of His eye.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made! (Zep.3:17; Deut. 32:10; Ps. 139:14)

Friesen, James G., E. James Wilder, Anne M. Bierling, Rick Koepeke, and Maribeth Poole. Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You. Pasadena: Shepherd’s House, 2004.

Filed Under: Father's Love Tagged With: brain science, Dr Jim Wilder, Father's Love, joy, life model, Prayer Ministry

Invite


Interested in having Robert speak to your group? Read More About Our Topics

Contact Us Click Here

Books

hmmdbookWant to go deeper in your experience of the Father’s Love? Get The Sonship Empowered Life, A Road Map to Growth and Maturity.

fatheringleadership5.5x8.5Want to grow deeper in your leadership creating a culture of growth for others? Get Fathering Leadership, Creating A Culture of Growth.

Connect

Follow us on Facebook

Questions? Contact Us

Get our Weekly Updates

Copyright © 2023 · Agency Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.