A Prayer for Fathers
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, thank you for creating man in your own image and after your likeness. May those qualities of your goodness, righteousness, strength, and compassion reign in my life.
Gratitude as a Father
Thank you for the honor and privilege of allowing me to be a father. There is no greater word I can hear when I hear my child call me Dad, Daddy, Papa, or Abba. Being a father is a privilege but it can also be hard. So often, I feel like a failure as a dad. Help me to trust you and believe the truth that I have what it takes to be a good father as I depend on you and receive what my heart needs from you.
Knowing the Perfect Father
I need your help in knowing you better as my Father. I can sing all the songs and recite all the verses of your love and yet I can feel distant and unloved by you. I have believed the lies of the enemy that have told me you are disappointed in me or that I will never measure up. Would you heal my picture of you because I struggle to be the kind of Father I desire to be for my children when I do not fully understand my relationship with You. Help me to understand your love for me is intimately greater than the love I have for my own children.
I need your help in embracing my identity as Your dearly loved son. Forgive me for trying to find my identity in what I do or accomplish. Help me to be satisfied in your presence as your beloved son.
Freedom in Fatherhood
I also need your healing. We were all raised by imperfect fathers and have varying degrees of pain and wounding that affect how we know you and relate to you. Father, would you bring healing to my heart that yearned to be loved and protected but, in some fashion, came away broken and alone? Forgive me for falling into the trap of isolation, busyness, achievement, or addiction to heal my pain rather than finding my healing in you. Please heal my heart, mind, and soul so I can be freed to love in the way you have ordained me to love.
As I learn to receive your love, embrace my identity as your beloved son, and experience your healing and freedom, help me to love my family in that same way. Give me courage and strength to be the spiritual leader in my home.
Help me to model your love as I love my children. Give me understanding to find the Godly balance of love and discipline paired with grace and truth as I shepherd my children daily towards you.
Finally, I want to praise and thank you for the gift and honor of being a Father. Sometimes I don’t do it well and it sure can be messy, but there is nothing like snuggling with my kids, laughing and playing, being their comforter when they are sad and being their biggest champion. So, Father, thank you for your complete and overwhelming love and for the opportunity to be a loving father as I walk with you.
In the name of Jesus, your dearly beloved Son, I pray. Amen!
