Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4
Happy Father's Day! May every father around the world be honored and blessed on this special day reserved for honouring fathers and fatherhood. I pray that all fathers will love their wives and children as God created them to do.
It is likely many hurts surround the day set aside to celebrate and honour fathers and fatherhood. Mothers are hurt because their husband may be an absent father, and children are hurt because their father is out of the home. Many adults are repeating the behavior they saw modeled. As a society, we see the damage when fathers aren’t involved in their child’s life.
I am so proud of the mighty men of God who have chosen to fight for their marriage. These men surrender their lives to standing in the gap for their wives and being the example of what a parent needs to do in instructing and raising their children to love their Lord God.
Dads, I know the hurt you feel daily, knowing you won’t see your children. God sees you. He will fight for you.
Lord, we pray for the fathers who are not able to see their children on the special occassion of father's day. Comfort them, give them Your hope, and soften their wives’ hearts to remove the anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness this very day in the Name of Jesus. Amen.
As we reflect on this day, it likely brings up memories of your relationship with your father. Do you have a healthy relationship with your father? We all have memories from our past. Your father may have wounded you.
Are you holding hurts from the past? Have you forgiven your father? You don’t have to wait for an apology to forgive your father for past hurts. Even if he has died, you can let go of the anger and hurt over the past and declare that the unhealthy patterns stop with you. Don’t repeat the behavior that hurt you.
When you forgive someone, you will find freedom in your heart like never before. If healing is needed, I pray that this will be a day when you will knock down the wall of silence and restore a relationship with your father. Ask the Lord to heal and remove all the pain as the Lord heals your broken heart.
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”. Matthew 6:14-15
Will you join me in praying for the thousands of fathers who have run away from their responsibilities as husbands and fathers? We can pray they will surrender to the soft voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to them to “Call your children or go see your children or start building a new relationship with them.” What a celebration familes around the world would have if fathers would have a healthy relationship with their children regularly.
“He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.” Malachi 4:6
Let’s pray that on Father’s Day, many broken or strained relationships will be healed and restored by the mighty power of our Lord God. Will you pray that father's day will be a day an absent dad reaches out to his child? We pray that men will realize the mistakes they have made, turn their hearts to the Lord in repentance, and turn their hearts back to all the waiting wives and families. Nothing is too hard for our Lord God.
God bless you.
