Lord of Heaven and Earth,
Your Word tells us that—of all your names--your favorite name is Father.
Father in Heaven, hallowed is your name;
And hallowed is the role of father.
Fatherhood is holy because you allow a man and woman to co-create with you as you form a new life from theirs.
Fatherhood is holy because you call fathers to be like you: truthful and loving and just.
Fatherhood is holy because we cannot be godly fathers without the power of your Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, we men confess our failures as fathers and husbands called to be like you. We confess because you forgive, cleanse and transform us to serve you and our families.
Having prayed for ourselves, we now pray for our own fathers who are living.
Lord, grant them grace and power to continue to parent in your image.
Help us to honor and respect them that our days may be long upon the land.
Help us to forgive them when they fail and love them in every season.
Help them to be like you.
For those of us whose fathers have passed into eternity, we thank you for the times we experienced your character through theirs. We look forward to reuniting with them and enjoying them--healthy and whole--forever.
For those of us whose fathers were absent or abusive, we trust you to heal our scars and forgive them as you have forgiven us.
We pray today for the fatherless.
Let us wrap our arms around the widow and the orphan.
Let us redeem what it means to be a father, and thereby be a witness to the world about our Father in Heaven—a Father who gave his own Son so that we might all become children of God—even those who believe upon his Name.
Abba Father, let your will be done on earth today as it is in heaven every day.
Even this day: Father’s Day.
Amen.
