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Ideas and prayers for use in a service or as part of a special event |
Ideas
Visit our Ideas for celebrating Father's Day page and explore the wealth of references, both biblical and otherwise, to God as our Father at the same time as celebrating our earthly fathers. The ideas are adaptable for use at home or for groups meeting online.
Prayers
A prayer of blessing
Bless our fathers, God the father of all.
And bless all those who have fathered us in the spirit.
We bless you for their gifts to us –
gifts of nurture and strength,
of understanding and dependability,
of energy and decisiveness,
of gentleness and wisdom,
of peace and courage.
We bless you for all that is good in their influence on our lives.
We ask you to cherish and sustain them as they have cherished and sustained us.
Give them happiness in their relationship with us.
Give them recognition for what they do.
And may we do for others the good things they have done for us.
Amen.
A prayer of praise and thanksgiving
We pray:
for our fathers who have loved and supported us.
We praise you O Lord and give you thanks today.
For our mothers who have cherished and nurtured us.
We praise you O Lord and give you thanks today.
For the children entrusted to our care as parents.
We praise you Lord and give you thanks today.
For our godfathers and mothers and for all who first spoke to us of Jesus, and who have drawn us into the family of our heavenly Father.
We praise you Lord and give you thanks today.
Help us to live as those who belong to one another and to you, now and always.
Amen.
Prayers of intercession
Lord God, it’s not easy being a father today, and so we pray:
for fathers in a society that is constantly redefining their role;
for fathers who stay at home and look after children;
for fathers who have been forced out of their families or away from their children;
for fathers with adult children who must relearn what it means to be a parent.
We pray also for families with fathers who are inadequate, violent, lazy or unkind;
for families where there is no father present at home;
for families in which there seems to be a succession of different ‘fathers’,
making it hard for the children to build lasting relationships or know their true identities.
Whatever their circumstances,
may every family find wholeness and help
as they look to God, the loving Father of us all.
Amen.
For those whose fathers are absent, through desertion, war, or imprisonment:
Lord have mercy.
For those whose fathers are abusive:
Christ have mercy.
For those for whom the word 'Father' is a word of fear:
Lord have mercy.
For those whose fathers have died:
Lord have mercy.
For those who are anxious at the prospect of fatherhood:
Christ have mercy.
For fathers who miss their children desperately:
Lord have mercy.
Loving God,
as a father feeds, nurtures and sustains his children,
so you feed us with the rich food of your heavenly banquet.
Help us who have tasted your goodness
to grow in grace within the household of faith:
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen