Have you ever been so weighted by your daily loads plus each season’s particular stresses coupled with your children (tweens and teens) constant complaining? Thus, when they act up or out, you drown them out? Or don’t take much notice? Or overreact?

Let’s stop here before we get started. Deep breath. Life – and child raising – are tough. Bless your heart. Greater grace, Father!

Behavior which leads to acting up or out is influenced from many sources. Some come from inside, others outside, every person. A core essential building block which impacts behavior is food. Today, let’s start by take a deeper look at it physically and spiritually.

Food Influences

Food heals and builds the body, or weighs and breaks down the body. Nutrition that supports healthy brain, heart, digestive and immune functions from clean foods, whole foods, and non-to-low processed foods give great side effects—more cooperative and pleasant behavior. On the other hand, food that is highly processed, high in refined sugars, some dairy, most commercially processed grains, and corn sugars and starches, give negative side effects—such as temper tantrums, lack of focus and cooperation and unpleasant behaviors. The reason why is because the food releases building blocks which fuel chemical processes, or interrupts them, which impact brain function and the digestive system leading to pain, sugar rushes and crashes which fuel aggressive and depressive behavior, and various other troubles as “pieces” are missing to fuel normal, healthy, God-designed physical functions to sustain life through strong, healthy bodies.

Once children are attached to their favorite foods, there’s a soul tie in addition to physical dependency. So, they have negative reactions when the offending foods are removed.

If you have opportunity, learn how to eat for nutrition and life, and start it from Day One with your children. If you know you’ve already started poor nutrition in some areas, there is hope for change. We are proof.

Every journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step.

1. The first step is to realize change needs to happen and to commit your plans to the Lord so they’re under his jurisdiction where He will cause them to succeed (Proverbs 16:3).

2. Soul tie prayer.

Father, I confess, repent for, reject and renounce every soul tie for comfort, strength, desire, etc. that I made to any food or drink, or connection to family or friends with food and drink. Separate me from it together with all words, thoughts and actions in those paths. Destroy it all at the Cross. Restore the broken and torn portions of my spirit, soul and body. Remove from me everything negative that flowed as a result of these soul ties. Restore everything good and right that You gave that was stolen as a result of these soul ties. I yield all these parts to You, Father, Son and Spirit. Rebuild, renew, restore, rule and reign forevermore. Give me the desire and follow-through to learn and grow, receive and develop resources to purchase and/or grow, prepare and consume healthy nutrition through food and drink. I consecrate all this was, is, and is supposed to be to You, Father, Son and Spirit. Let Your fire fall upon it, burn up the bad and purify the good. I entrust this to Your care, Lord Jesus Christ. Please accept, apply, and activate these prayers for my family (fill in names of spouse, children, grandchildren). I decree that their sins are forgiven and remitted in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please seal all this work within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rearguard and seal us and this progress with Your glory in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen.

3. Weaning process. Begin reducing their favorite poor nutrition choices in increments until they are eliminated.

Find healthy choices that they like and increase these meals.

4. Fasting. For us, fasting began with me. I fasted and prayed multiple times and ways over the course of ten years. My family began to notice. Once, a massively important issue captured my attention; I told them I planned to fast and pray for it, and asked if they would join. To my surprise and delight, they opted in! This doesn’t have to be hard. It could be a Daniel fast where meats and sweets are eliminated. A protein shake fast. A bone broth fast. It could be foregoing one meal daily for a week. For a day. Or a couple meals. With a prayer focus centering on the move of God in some way in your life, your family, your church, and/or your nation.

5. Build momentum from the fast. Seize your moment! A fast naturally clears out the body’s fog and creates a space where we hunger and thirst for what nourishes. Build on the fast’s momentum by planning ahead to have nourishing food available immediately after the fast is completed. For example, chicken broth. Fresh fruit and nuts for snacks. (If you alone embark on this journey, building your momentum will be enough, because as you feel better and learn more, you introduce more good nutrition to your family!)

In addition, Father honors these fasts and does all kinds of amazing spiritual work in us. Some problems, physically and spiritually, disappear without any further effort on your part! Our work is the fast. His work is amazing signs, wonders, healings, miracles and restorations of all kinds!

6. My prayer for you.

Father, thank You for the abundance of information and available resources to heal and build our families nutritionally. Please shine Your light and make it clear, knowledge and direction by day and dreams and visions by night, what is the next step(s) nutritionally and health-wise for each family. Please cause it to be so clear that they do not miss it. Please bless and expand their efforts, as You part the sea of resistance in their families, and make the way for their families to desire healthy change and to work with the mom/dad and not against them. Give greater grace for the changes You are calling them to make so that they can live the abundant life You desire and paid for them to have—that they have health and wealth to accomplish their purposes in their generation in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen.

7. There is such an abundance of information that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Here are valuable resources to assist your journey.

The Natural Life offers recipes that maximize nutrition for the whole person without going into information overload, but which serve up maximum nutrition on interchangeable ingredients.

Cultures for Health offers all kinds of starter kits for kefir, cheese, fermented veggies and kumbucha, properly prepared grains, as well as an abundance of ebooks and videos that take you simply through the whole process. Their products and knowledge of the processes involved gets you started producing your own whole foods at a fraction of the cost of purchasing them.

Dr. Z and Mama Z offer abundant strategies, recipes and classes to safely use essential oils to heal and build your health, your family’s, your home and your pets.

Hope Streams offers spirit and soul healing/building resources. The audio version of Perfect Peace (in available in two albums or as singles) most speedily increases the inner peace in you or your family as you face healthy growth or recovery challenges.

by Crystal Wade, copyright 2018