A Prayer to Forgive Our Fathers - Your Daily Prayer - June 12

A Prayer to Forgive Our Fathers 
By Lynette Kittle

Bible Reading:
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” - Ephesians 6:4

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What if your father didn’t follow God’s word and did exasperate you, causing you to decide to exclude him from your life? Is that okay with God? Does He care if you choose to never forgive your father and write him out of your life? In looking for movies to watch, there seems to be a large selection of father-daughter and father-son-themed relationships, ones that often focus on overcoming an estrangement or ongoing conflict between father and adult children.

Truthfully, many fathers haven’t done so well fathering due to an array of reasons such as growing up fatherless themselves, or having fathers who were around but didn’t have fathering know-how and skills to model and teach them, or fathers who had serious personal issues such as addictions and other weaknesses that occupied their time. It’s heartbreaking for a kid to grow up without a father there to love, care for, and teach them about life. As well as, it’s difficult for any child to grow up with a less-than-perfect father, who disappointed and let his kids down in big ways by his behavior or lack of presence in their lives.

God’s Call to Forgive our Fathers
Colossians 3:21 describes the effect a father’s wounds can have in the lives of their children. “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”

Sadly, many kids grow up hurt and wounded by their fathers, children and teens who grow up to be adults who are still angry, disappointed, bitter, resentful, and unforgiving towards their fathers for their weaknesses and failings, carrying it around with them all the days of their lives, unwilling to let go of it. Yet, Christians especially, need to know that it’s not okay with God because He calls us to forgive our fathers for their shortcomings, their lack, and yes, even their sins against us.

It comes back to our accepting God’s gift of Salvation, where we experience His forgiveness of our sins for all the days of our lives, meaning when we do, we surrender and give up our right to hold sin against other people, including our fathers. In asking us to forgive our fathers, God isn’t overlooking their failures and sins but offers us His presence in our lives as our Heavenly Father. Psalm 68:5 describes how He promises to be “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.”

As long as we hold our fathers responsible for their sins toward us, we hold God at an arm’s length and restrict Him from being the father He longs to be to us. Unforgiveness toward our fathers interferes with our father-child relationship with God.

Letting Go of Our Fathers’ Failures
Judging our fathers for their sins is not okay with God because, like us, He offers them forgiveness. To truly enjoy God as our father, we need to trust Him enough to forgive and let go of all we hold tightly with clenched fists against our earthly fathers, releasing all the anger, bitterness, resentment, and more. When we do, we receive so much more than we missed out on in life from our flawed human fathers. As Isaiah 41:13 explains, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”

As long as we hold on to unforgiveness toward our fathers, our hands are too full to hold on to God’s hand. Forgiving our fathers allows us to take hold of our Heavenly Father’s hand and look to Him to help us, to guide us in life, as we had hoped our earthly father would have done. He gives us the support and strength we need to let Him love and forgive our earthly fathers through us, despite their failings, frailties, and sins. As 1 John 4:19 describes, “We love because He first loved us.”

Instead of our love for our fathers being based on our experiences, or lack of experiences with them, we are free to follow God’s example in loving people, including our own fathers. Romans 5:8 explains, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let’s Pray:

Dear Father,
More than anyone else, even ourselves, You know the hurt and wounds we have experienced with our earthly fathers. Still, You call us to forgive them and to let go of the anger, pain, and disappointment we carry with us towards them. Set our hearts free today, O Lord, to trust You by forgiving our fathers and taking hold of Your righteous right hand to lead us in life. Heal us from the deep hurts and wounds we may be carrying from their failures, shortcomings, and sins. Fill us with Your love and replace all bitterness and resentment harbored deep within our hearts towards our earthly fathers. Help us to let Your love fill us and overflow through us to our fathers because You first loved us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/monkeybusinessimages

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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