‘Responsive ‘Reading “Prayer for Father's” Minister: Heavenly Father, we thank you for and pray for the men in our lives who have answered the calling to be a father, as we recognize that fathering a child is not the same as being a father to a child. Congregation: May you guide them and strengthen them on this challenging journey. Minister: Father, we thank you for and pray for the men who have imparted knowledge of and a love for you to their children and who have modeled your sacrificial love to their families. Congregation: May you continue to bless their ministry, and may they be a light unto the world around them. Minister: Lord, we thank you for and pray for the men who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, children and everything else in this life and have done so with an earnest heart. Congregation: May you help them know peace and may you grant them wisdom, that they might model Your love to their children. Minister: Father, we thank you for and pray for the men in our lives who are not our fathers but love, mentor and guide us just the same. Congregation: May you remind them how vital those relationships are. Minister: Lord, we thank you for and pray for those who are going to be fathers, those to whom you've given the gift of new life. Congregation: May you grant them rest when Sleep is fleeting and peace when patience wears thin. Minister: Father, we thank you and pray for those who have suffered the loss of a father. This wound is like no other, yet we thank you for an eternal hope that the death and destruction of this world is not the end of things. Congregation: May you comfort them and remind them that one day we will all be raised up. Minister: Father God, you are the Father to the fatherless Congregation: May we be obedient children, seeking to follow the path you've laid out for us. (All Together) Father God, you taught us how to love and you showed us that love while we were yet sinners. May we love as you first love us.