Father’s Day is an annual Sunday holiday that occurs each year in June. It was created to celebrate the men who lead our families. The Lord God designed humanity’s family structure to be led by the father, and Father’s Day reflects how we honor our heavenly Father by honoring our earthly fathers. The fifth commandment tells us to honor our father and mother (Exodus 20:12); therefore, it is right and fitting to honor our earthly fathers as commanded by our Father in heaven.
What Is the Origin and History of Father’s Day?
Even though fathers don’t traditionally garner the same sentimental excitement as mothers, a holiday celebrating them began relatively soon after the introduction of Mother's Day.
Father’s Day originated in West Virginia in 1908 as a one-time commemoration of 362 men who perished in a 1907 coal mine explosion. The following year, in Spokane, Washington, Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, sought to establish an official day for fathers after her pastor’s Mother’s Day sermon. She canvassed all the local charities and government offices to gather support for her idea. As a result, Washington celebrated the first statewide Father’s Day on June 19, 1910. The Spokane Ministerial Alliance eagerly embraced her idea, and that first Father’s Day was supported and celebrated by Spokane churches.
The holiday gained slow but eager momentum, and, in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson gave credence to the holiday with a remote unfurling of a flag in Spokane. Afterward, in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge advocated for the holiday and recommended state governments observe Father’s Day, but it wasn’t until 1972 that Father’s Day became an official U.S. holiday. Today we celebrate Father’s Day every third Sunday of June.
Though Father’s Day originated as a sentimental yet secular holiday, the Christian ideals behind it are prominent. Like many others of our holidays, writer Dan Graves tells us, “Father’s Day, too, is linked to Christianity in that it was founded to celebrate the ideals of fatherhood set forth in Scripture…William Jackson Smart's self-sacrificing love for his children led to a national day of recognition for all fathers. We have a grateful daughter to thank for that.”
Of course, appreciation for our fathers is commanded in Scripture, but modern celebrations of our earthly fathers, however, have roots in the Roman Catholic church. Since the Middle Ages, they have celebrated fatherhood on St. Joseph’s Day each March 19.
While originally targeting fathers, Father’s Day has grown to include all paternal figures, including grandfathers, stepfathers, fathers-in-law, husbands, etc. This inclusion highlights our varied family dynamics and honors fathers who actively nurture their children.
How Christians Can Celebrate Father’s Day
Early in the Bible, the Lord God gave us the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Honoring our father and mother is the fifth commandment, and the first to address our horizontal relationships (The first four are vertical in the respect that they are about how we are to worship and honor God). This, the fifth commandment, speaks of the importance of family relationships. God is a relational Being; He has been in communion with the other members of the Trinity from eternity past and future (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).
How can we honor our fathers on Father’s Day in a way that glorifies the Lord? Here are a few suggestions:
- Gather as a family and pray for your father. A wonderful posture would be to encircle him as you pray. Have one child read Dad’s favorite verse aloud and pray through it, too.
- Give him a special card for his day. Better yet, give him a handmade card, and don’t worry about your creative skills; it’s the heart and love behind it that matters.
- Attend a church service together as a family. Your family is a living picture of Christ’s kingdom on earth (Ephesians 4:15-16).
- Enjoy fellowship with other families from your church; they are our forever families.
- Take time for a day away with your dad to enjoy each other’s company and so you can have time to tell him what he means to you.
- Gifts are wonderful, yes, but not necessary.
- For everyone’s amusement, you can have a “fun and games” day where those who are physically able can engage in silly races (sack races, egg tosses, and other outdoor games).
- Have a BBQ where your father can sit back and enjoy watching his children and grandchildren play with each other. He might even like being a referee.
- Make a special album filled with pictures of growing up with your father. Include some family stories you remember that inspired and/or changed you.
- Your church can host a Father’s Day event for their members and for fathers from the community. It’s a great fellowship and outreach opportunity.
- Your church can also host a Father’s Day scavenger hunt at a local park where the finder keeps what he locates. All items can be biblically centered.
Father’s Day Prayers
We all have varied histories with our fathers. Some children have been raised by strong Christian men. Others have a history with their fathers that speaks of negligence and abuse. Some don’t even know their father, while others have been raised by a man they think is good but holds no salvation in Christ.
No matter what your history, you can honor either your father or another father who has made an impact on your life. Pray for the father figure the Lord has placed in your life, and thank God He is our Father. Some prayers for inspiration can be found here, and more prayers that honor your father are located here. Or feel free to use the following prayers as you celebrate and honor the fathers in your life this Father's Day:
Father God, thank You that I can come before You not only as my Savior and Lord, but as my Father. You are the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and You created me! I praise You this and every day for Who You are. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to save me and bring me into a right relationship with You. And thank You for Your Holy Spirit who dwells within me and gives me guidance every day into Your Word and into this life You’ve given me.
In Jesus’ mighty name I pray.
Amen
Lord God-heavenly Father, on this day as our earthly fathers are remembered and honored, I honor You as Lord and King. Thank You for being my Father and inviting me into Your glorious kingdom. Thank You for giving me rest in Christ. I pray this for my earthly father, too.
In Jesus’ matchless name I pray,
Amen.
Father, how wonderful it is to be married to a man who loves You as Lord and can call You Father!. I pray for Your blessing on him as he nurtures our children and teaches them about You. I pray for his patience, love, and adherence to Your Word as he and I grow our children up in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus. May he always know my love and respect for him as a man who loves You above all else.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.
My Father, I lift my father to you in praise and thanksgiving. He has done what he can to raise me with love and with a strong conviction that Jesus is Lord to Your glory. He provided for our family because he first loves You and loves us with our good and Your glory as his goal. I thank You he knows You as Lord and he shared your good news with us from when we were little ones. Bless him, Father, as only You can.
In Jesus’ glorious name I pray,
Amen.
Lord God, I admit that apart from Jesus Christ, I would recoil in fear at the very thought of coming to a God so sacred, righteous, and just. But Your Word tells me I need not fear because I have been adopted and when I am in need, I can cry out, “Abba! Father!” How very glorious and kind You are! Thank You for Jesus, who led me to know You are my heavenly Father.
In Jesus’ righteous name I pray,
Amen
Father, thank You for all the young and old fathers, stepfathers, soon-to-be fathers, and grandfathers. I praise You and thank You for their sacrifices for their children and for their prayers to reflect You to their children. Keep them close to you in reflection of the privilege and responsibility of fatherhood. I pray they will follow Your Word’s admonition to not provoke their children to anger, but to nurture them in Your grace-filled discipline and teaching. Fill the fathers who are tired with newfound strength and endurance by the power of Your Spirit.
In Jesus’ strong name I pray,
Amen
Lord God and Father, for all who don’t have a good relationship with their father or for those who have bad memories. First I pray for their salvation if they don’t already know and love You as Lord. I pray You will strengthen them with the love and peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding. May they come to You for understanding, grace, and mercy. And may they feel You pour it our lavishly upon them.
In Jesus’ gracious name I pray,
Amen
Bible Verses for Father’s Day
Scripture abounds with words about and for fathers (514 verses include the word “father.” Thank God He is our Father and that He has given us earthly fathers. The following are some verses to help encourage fathers.
- Love: “See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are." (1 John 3:1a)
- Adoption: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15).
- Mentor: “For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15).
- Teacher: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart” (Colossians 3:21).
A host of other passages for Father’s Day may be found here and here.
Personal Reflections and Christian Lessons
When I think of my father, I tend to chuckle. He wasn’t the smartest person, but he was the hardest worker I’ve ever known. He had a soft heart and wanted the best for his family, even though he wasn’t a believer in Christ. He was stubborn, though, and countered me many times when I shared the gospel with him. He shouted at me and hung up on me often, but I persisted because I love the Lord and wanted my dad to also. I learned much about God’s faithfulness and His timing when my dad approached the end of his earthly life. How could I honor him in a way that glorified God?
Anecdotes about fathers abound; this is one of mine. Dad was in a nursing facility, and as I drove there to meet my pastor and another close friend, I prayed, “Lord, I know I cannot save my father, but You can (Mark 10:27). I trust You for only what You can do.” By then, Dad alternated between rationality and nonsense, and I prayed the Lord would give him clarity that day. We prayed before entering his room, and when we did, we found Dad clear and lucid. A half hour later, we welcomed my father into Christ’s kingdom. He came to know who God is and who he was, a sinner in need of God’s grace. Less than two weeks later, the Lord took Dad home to heaven.
My lessons can be yours, too. Trust God’s faithfulness and His timing. Trust the sufficiency of Christ for salvation because we can do nothing to merit His favor. It’s all Jesus’ work on the cross that saves us.
Honor your father in ways that align with your faith in Christ. As you reflect on your father’s legacy, reflect on God our heavenly Father’s provision of everything we need to live a life of godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
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