A Father’s Day Prayer

Our heavenly Father, though Father’s Day is a holiday created by man, it reflects the intention of one of your foundational commands: honor your father and mother (Exodus 20:12). Therefore, we thank you for our dads, for their love, hard work, sacrifice, provision, and instruction. Through them, you have often shown your faithful care and provision and sometimes used them to introduce their children and grandchildren to Jesus. We ask you to bless our fathers richly.

Yet we live in a fallen world broken by the effects of sin in more ways than we know—a world that will only be made fully right when the Lord Jesus returns to set up his kingdom (Rom. 8:18-21). Therefore, we recognize that a day dedicated to the honor and remembrance of earthly fathers may be difficult for some. For those whose happiness is mingled with sorrow, we pray.

For those who have suffered the loss of their father through death, Lord, please bring them comfort. May they sense that you are the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be better equipped to comfort others (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
For those who may be losing their father a little bit at a time through disease or dementia, Lord, please give them an extra measure of your grace to serve and honor their father well. Give weakening fathers the humility and grace to accept help from their children (1 Tim. 5:16).
For those who never knew their father because of death, divorce, or desertion, Lord, please draw near to them. As Psalm 68:5 declares, be to them the father of the fatherless and the one who sets the lonely in families.
For those with a father who misunderstands the nature of their God-given authority to lead their family and, therefore, may be harsh or overly critical, help them to see the beauty of your structure for orderliness (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21). And help all of us as men not to neglect our leadership responsibility but to carry it out in the servant spirit of Jesus (Mark 10:45).
For husbands who long to be fathers but live with the painful trial of infertility; Lord, kindle contentment and hope within them. Answer their prayers and fulfill the longing of their heart through conception and birth or adoption (Ps. 113:9).
For fathers who have lost children to premature death, be their rock of refuge and strength for today. Help them to lean on your mercies, which are new every morning (Ps. 71:3; Lam. 3:22).
For those who have children who have chosen the way of foolishness and rebellion; Lord, stir hope and patience in their hearts to pray and wait on you for their child’s repentance (Luke 15:31-32). Help them to remember that your fatherly heart understands and sympathizes with their pain (Isa. 30:1).
For single dads raising their children without a mom in the home, Lord, give them the grace of endurance that produces godly character. And help us serve them well as their church family and fellow teachers of their children (Rom. 5:4; Matt. 28:18-20).

Knowing that making disciples of Jesus is the task you have given to all believers, we pray for every man of our local church. We ask you to strengthen us to be wise and faithful mentors, men of God whose example is one the children and youth of our church will want to follow. We pray we would be like the apostle Paul, who said, “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:11-12).

Your Word teaches that all who trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord become adopted children of God. Therefore, we praise you for being the perfect, all-wise, sinless Father who never fails us. As our heavenly Father, you know what we need before we ask, and you love us enough to correct and train us for godliness (Matt. 6:8; Heb. 12:6-11; 2 Cor. 1:3-4). Help us keep your faithfulness utmost in our mind so that we will worship you in spirit and truth and walk in humble obedience.

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

About The Author

Paul Tautges

Paul Tautges serves as senior pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. He is also a counselor and the author of the 31-day devotional Anxiety: Knowing God’s Peace.