God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

            you have gathered us as your own family,

                          happy to act as our father

                                     and to have us call you father,

            providing us with all we need

                          to live and thrive on earth.

This day we thank you for the blessing of fathers,

            for all our own fathers have done for us

                        to rear us to take care of ourselves

                                     and our world,

                        to guide us into the paths of peace

                                     and righteousness,

                        to show us how to be both strong and gentle.

We pray for those men who are fathers

            who find themselves unable or unwilling

                          to fulfill their roles as dad for their children.

We pray for new fathers,

            learning to care for and enjoy their little ones,

            experienced fathers who are learning

                            to let go of their children,

            and for fathers whose unseen presence

                           still guides their adult children.

Bless, we ask, the memory of fathers

             who have passed into your presence,

guide and sustain those whose fatherly work

              is not yet done,

and give us all the grace we need to build up

            the children of generations who will come after us.

Copyright © 2006 by Brummhart Publishing Company.  All rights reserved.