Abba Father,

We thank you for being our loving, close-by Father, compassionate and kind, always present to lift us up.

We thank you that whatever we are facing today, whether we are celebrating or hurting, we can call you ‘Abba, Father’, as our brother Jesus did. We thank you that you call us your dear children and that you delight in us.

Thank you that you are the Father to the fatherless, and the God of all comfort.

This Father’s Day, we thank you for the wonderful gift of fathers of all kinds and the joy they bring. We thank you for biological fathers, adopted fathers, spiritual fathers, and father figures. We celebrate them and honour all that they bring today.

We lift to you the mixed emotions many of us will be feeling on this day and those who are facing difficult family situations.

We pray for those who feel a sense of lack or loss today, that you will minister to and provide for them, that you will raise up father figures among your church to inspire future generations, and that as Christians, we will strengthen and lift one another up as we journey together in your family.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen

Prayer by Helen Locke