To all the dads: this is for you! Now, more than ever, we need to celebrate the role of fathers, encouraging our children to love, honor, and respect men. This “Prayer for Dads” is a beautiful, meaningful way to not only show love to the dads in our lives, but to glorify God and His creation. There’s no denying that dads are special!
The Undeniable Truth
From an early age, my father discussed the importance of having a two-parent household. He emphasized that even though we didn’t have a lot of money, we had something very valuable: both of our parents worked Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm. We ate supper together every night. My parents never worked a weekend. And today, I see why he wanted us to value that. Both a mother and a father are irreplaceable in a child’s life. It is crucial for children to have their father as a a strong presence in their lives throughout the course of their upbringing.
An Honest Look in the Mirror
Can you identify one of the greatest challenges that fathers face today? Is it the temptation to be unfaithful to their wives? Would you guess that it relates to addiction? You may have countless other ideas. While all of them may be true, there’s one big challenge I want to spotlight: the normalcy of “humor” and “comedy” at the expense of fathers and men. What do I mean? I began to pay attention to old sitcoms I watched in the 1990s and 2000s. You may have heard this before: the father is presented as the lazy, stupid idiot. He is hardly respected. His wife and children render him useless. It makes us wonder what Hollywood was trying to teach. It is no surprise that these ideologies have trickled into our real life family units and divorce rates.
Why We Need Change
I will never forget when I first watched a few episodes of Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines. On the surface, they were unsurprisingly enamoring: they had a yin-yang humor, you sensed a balance in their personalities, and they have beautiful children with lots of animals. After lots of trash reality television, this seemed like a refreshing, wholesome change we all needed. But underneath it all, I noticed something I will never forget: Joanna Gaines would often tell her children, “Look how STRONG Daddy is!” WOW. I was amazed at her approach. Something clicked in me: if you build up your husband often in front of your children, that is the father they will remember. Naturally, they will continue to grow in love and respect for him. And that’s what I wanted for my family. So I’m here to ask the wives and mothers reading: do you do the same? Or do you notice, now that I mention it, that you unknowingly, unintentionally have the habit of making jokes at your husband’s expense?
Breaking the Chain
Here’s another similar anecdote for you: Recently, I was a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding. We realized that we were missing “something old” to honor the tradition of “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” So one of the bridesmaids thought of offering to send her husband to pick up something old from the house. I will never forget what she said: “I can try to send him… except HE’S USELESS.” I was heartbroken in that moment. What a sad way to portray the father of her children. We NEED to break this chain of how we discuss men in conversation.
Why We Need a Prayer for Dads
Because our modern culture has become so “man-hating” and disrespectful to men, we NEED TO PRAY FOR DADS. Dads do so much for their children! As we continue to discuss, dads have a special love and a special bond with their children. This is crucial in their character formation and faith formation. Learning to love and respect our own dads is a way for us to grow in love and respect for God, our Heavenly Father, Father of all. Dads need prayers to fight the good fight and continue to serve as a strong presence in children’s lives.
Praying for Their Safety
Dads work lots of dangerous jobs and deal with many difficult situations. They also suffer lots of temptations, some of which are unique to men. The devil strives to bring temptations into their lives to break up the family unit and separate them from God’s divine plans that families grow to know, love, and serve Him. It is important to pray for the physical and spiritual safety of our dads, who, in turn, guide and protect their families every day.
Praying for Their Faith
It can be difficult to trust in God, whether you are a man or a woman. Imagine the benefits of asking God to help fathers to trust God with all of their worries and concerns! If dads can trust God more with all challenges that come his way, he can serve as a stronghold for his wife and children. Yes, when dads can persevere through adversity, it helps them to meet financial goals, career goals, family goals, etc. The sky is the limit with dads!
Calling on St. Joseph
And of course, we need to pray to St. Joseph and his intercession! St. Joseph served humbly as Jesus’ foster father, the epitome of a strong and loving dad. He taught Jesus his trade, honored the Blessed Mother as his wife, and protected his family. We need more dads like St. Joseph! We should also encourage our sons to pray to him so that they may become fathers just like him when they grow up.
For All Dads, Living and Deceased
I can’t end this article without praying for the two dads who mean the most to me: my own husband and my own father. My husband is the most patient, gentle, loving father I know. I often say that I don’t deserve him. He cares for me and our children with no shortage of patience for our tempers, our tantrums, and our flaws.
And I continue to pray for my father, who passed away several years ago. I thank God every day for the many life lessons he taught me. But most importantly, I thank God that he was consistently there, in my life, in our home, supporting us every single day.
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It Doesn’t End Here
Keep praying, keep praying, keep praying! Maybe your dad or the father of your children deals with serious vices. Say this prayer for protection against evil. Or maybe your father or husband is dealing with financial difficulties. Perhaps they need a financial breakthrough! Whatever you’re doing today, pause for a moment and say a quick prayer for dads throughout the world. Whether we see change and benefits now, God hears us and will answer us!
Thank you for sticking around through this post! If you want to learn more about me and the mission of Life with the Saints, you can find out by clicking here.
Blessings to you always!
