A Prayer of a Father for the Fatherless Child

"The father of a righteous man has great joy;
he who has a wise son delights in him" (Proverbs 23:24, NIV).

Fatherless. I am fatherless. No biological father to wish to; no physical father to hug, and no actual father to follow. But having Christ as my Lord and Savior, and my faithful Friend and who is the precious Son of God – Lord of lords, King of kings – says to me over and over again through the Scripture by the Holy Spirit, “Richard, if you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!”. Yes, through the Son, I do know now that God is My Father and I will see Him face-to-face in heaven. I have a Father in heaven. I am not fatherless after all.

But let’s pretend that my earthly father is perfect and he is here with me today. Assume that he cares and loves me so much. Let’s suppose I can hear him pray… this is what I probably heard (and I wish every good father would pray):

“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak… and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid. One who will be proud and unbending in defeat… but humble and gentle in victory… a son who will know that to know himself… is the foundation stone of all true knowledge. Rear him… I pray… not in the paths of ease and comfort… but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenges. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm… here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men. Build me a son whose heart will be clean… whose goal will be high. One who will learn to laugh… yet never forget how to weep. One who will reach into the future… and yet never forget the past. And after all, these are his… add… I pray… enough of a sense of humor so that he may always be serious… yet never take himself too seriously… a touch of humility, so that he will always remember the simplicity of true greatness… the open mind of true wisdom… the meekness of true strength. Then… I… his father… will dare in the sacred recesses of my own heart… to whisper… “I have not lived in vain!” [This prayer is quoted from The Speaker’s Quote Book by Roy B. Zuck. Published by Kregel Publications, 1997, 2009. Page 191]

Happy Father’s Day!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Father's Day - A Day to Remember

“A good father is a little bit of a mother.” (Lee Salk)

“Listen to your father, who gave you life…” (Proverbs 23:22)

 I love this quote very much, “My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” It’s true for my father. He loves to talk but never a long whining preaching. He gives advice only if necessary. He lived a simple life and watch him doing it makes the word ‘simplicity’ simple. Nothing is more precious a father could give than to give his children space to make mistakes and enduring failures. When I make mistakes or surrounded by failures, father always be the last person to say anything but always be the first person to utter words of encouragement.

I remember when I failed my English paper for UPSR trial exam (You got to understand that in our family circle, failing English paper is not a big deal – it is expected!) his responded very wisely. That evening after work, he started his Yamaha motorcycle put on a cute little helmet on my big head and rides us to nearby mall. What he does after that was quite amazing – we climbed to 3^rd floor and alas, a big signboard highlights the place for us; “Popular Bookstore” and behold he brought me a big red Malay-English dictionary as a ‘present’ for my failure. I’ll never forget that moment. Instead of punishment, he gives encouragement. Instead of criticism, he gives none. Instead of telling me what I should have done, he just told me what I should do about it.

Well, father is not always being a good husband and role model all the time. Occasionally, they do make mistakes. Sometimes, they can be irresponsible. My father is not far from that fact of life. He is now gone. But deep down inside every father’s heart (as far as I know), they love you very much. When I was hanging around with a group of drunken adults, I listened carefully what they were talking about. (Tip: Almost always men will tell the truth when they get drunk.) One of them, a construction worker telling us that he loves his children very much, “I may not have much money for my children, I may not have car to send them to school and I maybe too stupid to teach them anything but with all I have; I give it to them. I love my children very much.” Now stop judging him for being drunk... the point is- he is willing 'with all I have, I give it to them." What more can a wise father wish for his children?

Fathers, we want to wish you a very happy father’s day.

We love you very much.

Thank you for "giving us life".

Related topic:
1. Knowing God as a Father (Click HERE to read)
2. Dad... by Priscilla (Click HERE to read)