Wednesday – To Become a Father

Luke 15:20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” God very strongly wants to find me, always more than I want to find Him. He does not wait until we return home, until we ask for forgiveness, until be we beg and promise that we will do better next time. It is always He who runs out of the house and offers us His embrace. The return of prodigal sons will be slowed down or even stopped if the family or church is not prepared for their arrival.  The father threw away all social standards and ran towards his son, even though he was still far away. He did this to protect him from the gossip, anger, humiliation and contempt of the whole community. A man of his position in the Middle East never runs. Most likely, the father is again saving his son’s life, who would otherwise never be accepted by the community or by his brother, at least not as a rightful son. Even though he returned as a slave, it matters greatly to the father that his son would return home with all that belongs to him. He shows everyone that to him, his son is alive again. The father kills a calf, so that the whole community would come and see that his son is dressed in his father’s best clothes, that he has the ring with a seal and also so that everyone would share in the father’s joy of his son’s return. Whether we are the younger or older sons, we must realize that we have all been called to be fathers. It is not enough to read this parable as a story about sons or to read it as a lecture to the Pharisees about their relationship toward sinners. Nor are we called to choose which one of the sons we are. We are not here to remain as children. We are called to Agape – God’s fatherly love – which is the goal of discipleship and Christianity as well. We are called to be fathers. Prayer Points

• Ask God the Father to soften our hearts, to resemble his heart. Pray that it would be full of compassion and unconditional love. Profess 1 Corinthians 13:5-8 and ask God, through his love, to teach you to love like this. It is not humanly possible to love this way.
• Ask that our Father would help us to walk out towards our prodigals sons, before they reach home.
• Bless our church leaders, so that they would have the same attitude of acceptance, unconditional love and respect towards others as the father in this parable did.
• Search your heart in quiet contemplation to see if you are willing to identify with the old man who doesn’t have anything to lose because he lost everything and can now only give
• Invite fathers in your church to come before the congregation and pray for them in their fatherly roles. Too much pain stems from a broken relationship between fathers and their children. Pray for fathers and their relationships with their sons.
• Intercede in prayer for our spiritual fathers.
• Ask God for the Spirit of fatherhood to penetrate the structure and culture of our churches.