FATHERLESSNESS
Jesus made prayer a part of His daily life. He also set an example for others concerning the importance of prayer. Jesus modeled prayer so effectively that His disciples asked that He would teach them how to pray. Prayer is one of the basic disciplines that must be learned and practiced if one is to become mature in the faith. Prayer was important to the Father as well. Also, it seems that prayer was commonplace in the heavenly realm. Jesus responded to His disciples with these words: “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
Jesus began with the words “Our Father.” Everyone must know that we have a Heavenly Father. So many individuals today struggle with the whole father concept. Many who battle with this concept of father do so because they have never had, or don’t have an example of what a father is in their own experience. Also, many men have no mature concept of what a father is supposed to be. As a result, they grow up without any sense of awareness of what fatherhood really means. According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, “there is a father absence crisis in America. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, 19.7 million children, more than 1 in 4, live without a father in the home. Consequently, there is a father factor in nearly all social ills facing America today.” This problem continues to expand as more and more generations of men grow up without fathers in their lives.
One of the greatest responsibilities of a father is to provide covering. The word, cover, has many definitions. One of the primary definitions “is to guard against attack.” Wives and children suffer attacks from many external forces because there is no father to protect them. Children suffer through pain and agony because they remain exposed. Jesus makes it absolutely clear that we all have a father. Even if there is no earthly father in one’s life, there is a spiritual father. The challenge with this point is that children may become confused because there is no tangible way they can explain this reality. However, Jesus’ response is deeper than initially realized. Fathers represent the source—who you are. The absence of fathers not only creates a void in the hearts of children because they struggle to comprehend their source—where they have come from but also frustrates them in their attempt to know who they are. One of the greatest challenges of today’s culture is that of identity.
Jesus addresses this need by reminding His disciples that they have a Heavenly Father. Jesus also becomes the example of a father to the disciples. He attempts to create a pattern of what a father is. He intends to help them understand what a true father is like because they will become spiritual fathers to many in their futures. Paul, the Apostle, reminds us that “we don’t have many spiritual fathers.” (1 Cor. 4:15. Spiritual fathers are important and necessary because they become an example to many who are without earthly fathers. God never intended for any of us to be without a father.
Furthermore, Jesus begins the pattern of developing spiritual fathers. What difference would it make in our culture if we had spiritual fathers? Boys and girls would have an authentic example of fatherhood and experience for themselves the protection that comes from a father. Let us commit to make every effort in reaching men and training them to be fathers. Be reminded that in every boy there is a man, and in every man, there is a father. May our Heavenly Father help us to reach boys so they will recognize the man they were born to be, and the responsibilities of fatherhood before they become fathers.