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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________     Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post:       https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_Podcast05182020_What_to_Do_When_Your_Child_Goes_Astray.mp3 ______________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, May 18, 2020. Today’s Podcast is Episode #20 in Series 2020 and is titled “What to Do When Your Child Goes Astray." There's an old saying attributed to the 18th-century Scottish poet Robert Burns that goes like this: "The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray." If you're like me--and I think you are--you've had plans that have not turned out the way you wanted. This can be very painful, but it is especially painful when those plans included our children. Far too often have parents come to me in anguish over a child who has turned away from all that is good and holy and followed a lifestyle that leads to destruction. As a mother, my heart goes out to such parents. But what can they do? Indeed, is there anything they can do? Yes, there is something they can do. But first let's explore some reasons that our children go astray. 1. FREE WILL (Joshua 24: 15). The number one reason that children go astray is that they have a free will. We can warn, admonish, advise, enforce, and even object, but bottom line, our children will do what they want to do. Not even God--Who gave us free will in the first place--can keep a child from going astray if that child wants to go astray. God respects the free will of His creation, and so should we. 2. BELIEVING THE LIE (Romans 8: 6). Our children go astray because they choose to believe a lie. Every path to destruction is strewn with lies. A key to helping our child is prayerfully to discern what lie or lies he or she is believing and then presenting the Truth as an antidote to the lie. 3. A STRAINED RELATIONSHIP WITH A PARENT (Ephesians 6: 4). We parents can alienate our children by being too harsh with them, by not listening to them, by treating them condescendingly, or simply by not trying to understand their side of the story. When children feel unheard, they go elsewhere. Examine your own heart to determine if you have done anything to contribute to your child's going astray. If you have, repent and ask the Lord to forgive you. Also, ask your child to forgive you. 4. SITTING UNDER THE TEACHING OF A WEAK PASTOR (Jeremiah 50: 6). In this day and age, it is vitally important to sit under the teaching of a pastor who preaches the Word of God without compromise. Many of our children have gone astray because they have listened to the teachings of pastors who want only to tickle their ears. Now, let's look at some things you can do to influence your wayward child to return to the Lord: 1__Declare the Word of God over your child (Mark 11: 23). There is power in the Word of God to tear down the strongholds that are keeping your child bound. While you cannot and must not violate your child's free will, you do have authority in the Name of Jesus to command all lying spirits to desist in their maneuvers against your child. 2__Focus on the character of God as you pray (1 John 4: 8). God is Love and wants your child to return to Him more than you do. He will do everything, short of violating your child's will, to bring your child back to him. 3__Pray that your loved one will hear the voice of God (Isaiah 30: 21).