Happy Father’s Day! Asking God To Bless Our Dads
Prayer:
Abba Father,
Happy Father’s Day, Lord God! What blessed children we are to have a heavenly Father, loving, merciful, and full of grace. “All who are led by the Spirit of God are indeed Your children. And we received Your Spirit when You adopted us as Your own” (Romans 8:14-15). “And because we are Your children, Your Spirit in our heart prompts us to call out ‘Abba, Father'” (Galatians 4:6).
We thank You for our spiritual father Abraham. For Paul says, “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Romans 9:6-8). Thank You for grafting us into the sacred and chosen olive tree among the blessed offspring of Abraham.
How grateful we are that You have revealed this mystery kept hidden for ages. We thank You Almighty God that according to our spiritual paternity, Jesus Christ is greater than any providence or heritage, status or ancestry, or anything else that is ours by the flesh.
You have made us heirs of the blessed promises through Jesus Christ. We “give thanks to You because You have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:12).
We thank You for our earthly Fathers and on this day set aside to honor dads we ask Your blessings on each dad. May each father feel a warm and jubilant “Happy Father’s Day” wish from their children for what they do and who they are.
We thank You for their love, kindness, instruction, guidance, and support throughout our lives. We thank You for their experience and the times and events that shaped their understanding and wisdom. Help us to honor our fathers always and to respect their wisdom. Help us to understand that we do not know as much as they do whether we deem ourselves “enlightened” in some self-serving way or not. Give us humility that we might understand that our dads know things that we can never know because of their time in history on earth.
Lord God, we acknowledge that not all dads are, or have been, the kind of dad every child needs, or would like to have. In these situations, give us a forgiving heart, understanding, and humility. Help us to put aside the “dad” and “child” factor and see them from a purely human perspective. For each of our particular circumstances, let us keep in mind that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Open our eyes to see the brokenness in our dads. A brokenness that was likely passed down from a dad or mom who was not what our dad needed or would have liked to have. Give us humility that we might understand that our dads are human, subject to fractured families, discouragement, hurt, criticism, like all of us are. Help us to be empathetic to their struggle to deal with life, perhaps without the solid rock presence of a dad (or mom), to help them navigate the difficult times. May we find it in our hearts to intercede, with full assurance that You will give us the strength and the words. And that with You God, it is never too late to be the healer and to offer encouragement. Help us to love our dads earnestly, “since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
Almighty God, we lift up all the dads in America. Dads are so important to the well-being of their children for the present and the future. You know all the statistics surrounding school and success. So we pray especially for all the dads that have children at home. Give them patience and wisdom to “train up children in the way they should go; even when they are old they will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Bless the home, the dynamics of relationships, and impress upon these dads their unique and indispensable role in the life of their children. Help them to be fathers and not friends.
Lord, we lift up our dads to Your protection and care.
Lord, please bless my dad “according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Bless him with all the fullness of Your love in Jesus Christ. Give him strength. Grant him peace. Heal him. Guard and protect him in his job. Give my father strength and comfort. No matter how hard things may be, or how easy, let him feel Your presence 24/7. Help him to know how much I love him, not because he is perfect, but because he is my dad.
Lord, some of our fathers don’t know Jesus. And we lift them up to You.
I pray that You Who spoke light into being will shine the light of Jesus Christ into the heart of my father, (name), granting him the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). Give him his own personal Pentecost this very day. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:24). I pray believing that my unsaved dad, or the unsaved dads of those praying this prayer, have received Jesus Christ in his heart, being fully convinced that I am praying according to Your will. And I thank You in advance for this great act of mercy and love.
We praise You God that no matter what our dads may or may not have done, they have not evaded the forgiveness of the cross. And as James said, “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
Heavenly Father, I pray the blessing of Your Name on my earthly father:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26
In the Wonderful Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
