The Faithful Father

Prayers:

1. Give thanks and praises to the Most-High God, the creator of the heavens and the earth.

2. Faithful God, uphold all father’s, husbands, brothers, uncles, nephews, friends to the end in the name of Jesus.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, nephews, friends

Text: Isaiah 46:4

“I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you. (NLT)

Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. (NKJV)

We thank God for all fathers, husbands, our uncles, brothers, nephews, friends and so on. Our heart especially goes to families who their beloved fathers and father figures are no longer with them. May the comfort of God continue to keep them and all they have left behind in Jesus’ name.

May God continue to strengthen and perfect all that concerns our fathers in Jesus’ name.

NOTE:

1. Your heavenly Father loves you so much.

If you have strayed away from Him, He is eagerly waiting for you to come back to Him, like how the father was constantly looking out for the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 and welcomed him back home with a big celebration party.

There is also joy in heaven over one sinner who repents – Luke 15:7

2. When you honor your father (and mother) you honor God, and you schedule blessings your way because you are being obedient to God – Matthew 15:4

For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’

Also, Malachi 1:6

3. Don’t deceive your father – you will not only be deceiving yourself, but you’ll be sowing generational seeds of defeat into your family and future.

Jacob deceived his father in Genesis chapter 27 to steal his brother Esau’s blessing.

Later his children deceived him that Joseph had died.

Judah’s second son deceived him when he was supposed to marry his late brother’s wife and bring up a child in his late brother’s name.

Still in the line of Judah, Achan deceived Joshua and the Israelites after stealing cursed objects that God told them not to touch while destroying Jericho.

David’s son Absolam deceived him when he invited David and the kings’ sons to a celebration planned to kill his older brother Amnon.

Get rid of deceit in your life.

Pray:

Father, forgive me of everything I have done that is impacting my life and generations negatively in the name of Jesus.

Generational liability flowing in my family, be cancelled by the power in the blood of Jesus in the name of Jesus.

May every Generational liability flowing in your family, in your ancestral blood line, be cancelled by the power in the blood of Jesus in the name of Jesus.

4. Your earthly father may not see all you do, or even notice some things about you, your heavenly father sees all things and knows all about you. He is all knowing and always present God.

5. God hears your prayers and is willing to answer them, so pray. In Matthew 6:6, the Bible says: But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Absentee fathers have led to a lot of menace in the society

A Father’s Impact on Child Development

Children with active, involved fathers during childhood and adolescence experience significant advantages. The Fatherhood Project has researched the impacts of father engagement during childhood development stages. Both The Fatherhood Project and our Father Engagement Program are dedicated to improving children’s and families’ health and well-being by empowering fathers to be knowledgeable, active, and emotionally engaged.

Here Are 10 Important Facts From Their Research:

10 Facts About Father Engagement

1. Attachment: Fathers and infants can be as attached as mothers and infants. When both parents are involved, infants form attachments to both from birth.

2. Health Outcomes: Father involvement is linked to positive child health outcomes in babies, like improved weight gain in preterm infants and higher breastfeeding rates.

3. Authoritative Parenting: Father involvement using authoritative parenting (loving with clear boundaries and expectations) leads to better emotional, academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for children.

4. Future Success: Children close to their father are twice as likely to enter college or find stable employment after high school, 75% less likely to have a teen birth, 80% less likely to go to jail, and half as likely to experience multiple depression symptoms.

5. Critical Role: Fathers are crucial in child development. Father’s absence hinders development from infancy to adulthood, with psychological harm persisting throughout life.

6. Quality Over Quantity: The quality of the father-child relationship matters more than the hours spent together. Non-resident fathers can positively affect children’s social and emotional well-being, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment.

7. Sociability and Self-Control: High levels of father involvement correlate with higher levels of sociability, confidence, and self-control in children. They are less likely to act out in school or engage in risky behaviors in adolescence.

8. Academic Achievement: Children with actively involved fathers are 43% more likely to earn A’s and 33% less likely to repeat a grade than those without engaged dads.

9. Behavioral and Economic Benefits: Father engagement reduces behavioral problems in boys and decreases delinquency and economic disadvantage in low-income families.

10. Psychological Benefits: Father engagement reduces psychological problems and depression rates in young women.

The impact of fathers and father figures is substantial. While father involvement has many positive aspects, the effects of their absence can be detrimental.

Father Absence

According to the 2007 UNICEF report on child well-being in advanced nations, kids in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. rank extremely low in social and emotional well-being. A largely ignored factor among child and family policymakers is the prevalence and devastating effects of father’s absence in children’s lives.

Studies show that children without fathers at home suffer greatly. Even before birth, a father’s attitudes regarding the pregnancy, prenatal behaviors, and the father-mother relationship may indirectly influence risk for adverse birth outcomes. School-aged children with good relationships with their fathers are less likely to experience depression, disruptive behavior, or lying and more likely to exhibit prosocial behavior.

Fatherless homes significantly impact adolescents. These children are more likely to experience the effects of poverty. Former President George W. Bush stated, “Over the past four decades, fatherlessness has emerged as one of our greatest social problems. We know that children who grow up with absent fathers can suffer lasting damage. They are more likely to end up in poverty or drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, have a child out of wedlock, or end up in prison. Fatherlessness is not the only cause of these things, but our nation must recognize it is an important factor.”

Many individuals recognize the lasting impact of a father’s presence in a child’s life. Many admit to struggling with feelings of abandonment and low self-esteem due to a lack of a father’s love. Some have turned to drugs, alcohol, risky sexual activities, unhealthy relationships, or other destructive behaviors to numb the pains of fatherlessness.

The absence of their father is not an isolated risk factor, but it can affect children’s development. It’s important to consider, as many would argue, that one parental role is more significant than the other. That is not true.

According to Psychology Today, researchers have found these narratives to be true. The effects of a father’s absence on children are incredibly negative:

Diminished Self-Concept and Security: When fathers are uninvolved, children report feeling abandoned, struggling with their emotions, and experiencing self-loathing.
Behavioral Problems: Fatherless children have more difficulties with social adjustment, are more likely to report problems with friendships, and manifest behavior problems. Many develop a swaggering, intimidating persona to hide underlying fears, resentments, anxieties, and unhappiness.
Poor Academic Performance: Fatherless children struggle academically, scoring poorly on reading, mathematics, and thinking skills tests. They are more likely to skip school, be excluded, leave early, and less likely to attain academic and professional qualifications in adulthood.
Delinquency and Youth Crime: 85% of imprisoned youth have an absent father. Fatherless children are more likely to offend and go to jail as adults.
Promiscuity and Teen Pregnancy: Fatherless children are more likely to experience problems with sexual health issues, including a greater likelihood of having intercourse before the age of 16, foregoing contraception during first intercourse, becoming teenage parents, and contracting sexually transmitted infections. Girls manifest an object hunger for male attention and, feeling the emotional absence of their fathers as a personal rejection, become vulnerable to exploitation by adult men.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse: Fatherless children are more likely to smoke, drink, and abuse drugs in childhood and adulthood.
Homelessness: 90% of runaway children have an absent father.
Exploitation and Abuse: Fatherless children are at greater risk of suffering physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. They’re five times more likely to experience physical abuse and emotional maltreatment, with a 100 times higher risk of fatal abuse. Preschoolers not living with both biological parents are 40 times more likely to be sexually abused.
Physical Health Problems: Fatherless children report significantly more psychosomatic health symptoms and illnesses like acute and chronic pain, asthma, headaches, and stomach aches.
Mental Health Disorders: Children without fathers are consistently overrepresented in a wide range of mental health problems, especially anxiety, depression, and suicide.
Life Chances: As adults, fatherless children are more likely to face unemployment, low incomes, remain on social assistance, and experience homelessness.
Future Relationships: Children who grow up without a father tend to enter partnerships earlier, are more likely to divorce or dissolve their cohabiting unions, and are more likely to have children outside marriage or partnerships.
Mortality: Fatherless children are more likely to die as children and live four years less on average.

Tips for Dads

Dads! It’s vital to be actively involved in your child’s life – whether you live together or not. Here are great ways to create healthy, positive engagement with your children (adapted from the Modern Dad Dilemma):

1. Speak Positively to and About Their Mother: It is essential to be on the same page as their mother about your role. Be clear and respectful, emphasizing your desire to be an involved father. Speak positively about her in front of your children to show respect and maintain a healthy relationship.

2. Create a Vision for Fatherhood Engagement: Think about what you hope your children will say about you as a father in the future. This will help you clarify your purpose and guide your decisions.

3. Be the Bridge Between Your Father and Your Children: Reflect on your relationship with your father and decide what positive aspects to pass on to your children and what negative aspects to avoid.

4. Establish Ritual Dad Time: Spend regular one-on-one time with your children doing activities you both enjoy. Make sure to talk and build a strong connection.

5. Know Your Children: Be interested in their lives, know their friends, and understand their stressors. Show they’re worthy of your time and attention.

6. Be Known by Your Children: Share stories about your childhood and experiences to humanize yourself and initiate meaningful dialogue.

What should you do to have the faithful Father, the Everlasting Father to be faithful to you?

(i) Become a friend of God. Be born again, become a child of God by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and savior.

(ii) Be a bible student by reading and studying your Bible

(iii) Be obedient to God’s words

(iv) Be prayerful – to maintain your relationship with our heavenly Father

(v) Take care of your family – you are a member of God’s family and God is taking care of His family. Take care of yours as well.

May God give you the wisdom, strength and wherewithal to take care of your family without blame, loss and regrets in the name of Jesus.

6. God and society expects the man to provide for His family.

1 Timothy 5:8 - If anyone fails to provide for his own, and especially for those of his own family, he has denied the faith [by disregarding its precepts] and is worse than an unbeliever [who fulfills his obligation in these matters].

Men really need prayers and God’s help here.

Many are constantly worried and thinking about the needs of every member of the family that they sometimes forget their own needs and requirements.

This may be why men generally die before their spouses.

They are usually survived by their wives and children.

May God help all men, father’s and dads in Jesus’ name.

7. God has given the authority and power to confer spiritual, physical and financial blessings to the father.

Hence, do not despise your father, he has the ability and capacity to bless you, especially if he is a child of God.

Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph – Manasseh (God has made me to forget the pain of my father’s house) and Ephraim (I will prosper in the land of my affliction) in Genesis 48:17-19

May the pains of your father’s house be wiped away from your life, family and destiny by the power in the blood of Jesus.

May you prosper where you had been afflicted, may the affliction melt away and be replaced by joy, peace and fulfilment, by the power in the blood of Jesus.

Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau

Jacob/Isreal blessed his 12 sons in Genesis 49

Moses blessed the children of Isreal in Deuteronomy 33

You will not miss your requisite blessing in the name of Jesus.

Peradventure you have already missed it, may the God of heaven shower you with the blessings you need in the name of Jesus.

Prayer

Father, guide, heal, and bless our fathers in the name of Jesus.

Announcements, Offering, Song

Prayers

1. Give thanks

2. Be born again

3. Lord, save as many of our men, husband, fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews and friends who are yet to be saved in Jesus’ name.

4. Powers hindering the peace and joy of men, expire in the name of Jesus.

5. Failure at the edge of breakthrough will no longer be the portion of our men, fathers, brothers, uncles, nephews and friends in the name of Jesus.

6. Lord, provide for our fathers, meet them at the point of their needs and bless them greatly in Jesus’ name.

7. Personal Prayer points

8. Give thanks

I pray for you as I pray for myself:

You will not be disappointed in life in the name of Jesus.

You will fulfill your destiny in the name of Jesus.

You will get to your God ordained place of glory, honor and fulfilment in the name of Jesus.

You will not lack good things of life, you will not lack what you need to cater for your family in the name of Jesus.

May God move you to greatness and abundance in the name of Jesus!

May the God of heaven, be your help and support all your days in the name of Jesus.