A prayer of heartfelt gratitude to my father
Written by Lynette Kittle
Bible reading:
“Do not rebuke older people harshly; rather, encourage them as if they were your own fathers. Treat younger people as brothers.” – 1 Timothy 5:1
Listen or read below:
Born on my father’s 25th birthday, every few years our common birthday falls on Father’s Day. The day becomes especially meaningful to me because it reminds me of how special it was to be born on the same day as him.
He wasn’t perfect, but he seemed perfect to me as a kid.
Even when I grew up and realized he wasn’t perfect, it didn’t matter. For his love for me and my love for him covered many of our sins, as 1 Peter 4:8 explains: “Above all, love one another deeply, for love covers a multitude of sins.”
In life, it’s easy to think about how our fathers let us down or let us down, and let those shortcomings overshadow the positive qualities they had and the values they instilled in us.
But our fathers don’t have to be perfect for us to be filled with gratitude for their lives and influence. Despite their human flaws and failures, God has given us reason to be thankful for them.
4 reasons to be grateful to your father
1. God gave us fathers. Fatherhood was a divine idea and part of the divine plan. As the original Father of all creation, God created humans in his own image, molding them to reflect his fatherly qualities, and empowering them to pass on to future generations.
Just because God created fathers gives us reason enough to express our heartfelt gratitude to them. As Leviticus 19:32 reminds us, “Stand before your elders, show respect to them, and honor your God, for I am the Lord.”
2. God gives us life through the Father. Even if we can’t think of anything else to be thankful for about our fathers, we can remember that God gave us life through them.
Without their participation in the creation of life, none of us would be here. Nothing made in a laboratory can replace the God-given ability of human fathers to bring new life into the world. As Proverbs 23:22 urges: “Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother in her old age.”
3. God has made fathers essential to life. Fatherhood has suffered over the years, with many declaring that a man’s place in the family and culture is unnecessary or inconsequential, but that idea is simply not true. Fathers are an essential and irreplaceable presence in life.
As commanded in Ephesians 6:2-3, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ This is the first commandment with the promise that you will do well and live a long life on earth. ”
4. God guides us through our fathers. Many fathers teach their children how to live, work, and care for themselves because God has given them a place of honor in the family. But even with their flaws, fathers can teach valuable lessons about life. What to pursue, what to avoid, and how to endure.
As Proverbs 20:20 warns, we want to be careful about how we speak about our fathers, lest we experience the consequences of our words. “If someone curses his father or mother, the light will go out in total darkness.”
Let’s pray:
Dear father,
Today we would like to express our deepest gratitude to you for our ancestors and for those who have been faithful to you in the positions of honor that you have given them.
Lord, we thank you for their fortitude, love and patience as fathers. We are grateful that You have strengthened them and guided their steps so that they may lead us to righteousness.
And Father, we thank You also for the fathers who did not follow Your will. Yet they were created in your image, and you gave us life through them.
On Father’s Day and throughout the year, we offer our deepest gratitude to you for creating the fathers you have given us life for.
In the name of Jesus,
Amen.
Discuss today’s devotion with others in the “Daily Prayer” thread in the Crosswalk Forums.
Photo courtesy: Half Point
Lynette Kittle is married and has four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her work has been published in Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and elsewhere. She holds a master’s degree in communications from Regent University and is an associate producer at Soul Check TV.
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