Hi everyone. I’m taking a brief break from blogging the story of my wife and me falling in love. This is going to be (at least) a monthly post.
I know that people who are not Christians might read my blog. However, no matter what faith you are, I hope that you hear my heart in these prayers and will benefit from my words.
One of my main fears in becoming a father is knowing that I will fail to be the best man and example that I ought to be for my son. I can only pray and trust God that He will 
make up for my insufficiency, as He has in the past.
My prayer here echoes that of Ephesians 1:17-19 (Voice Bible).
Give them minds ready to receive wisdom and revelation so they will truly know You. Open the eyes of their hearts, and let the light of Your truth flood in. Shine your light on the hope You are calling them to embrace. Reveal to them the glorious riches You are preparing as their inheritance. Let them see the full extent of Your power that is at work in those of us who believe, and may it be done according to Your might and power.
With that in mind, here is my prayer for my son, Isaac:
Father,
Before everything, I want to thank you for all the innumerable blessings which you give me on a daily basis. Without your mercy, I would not even be able to draw breath each day. I owe every good thing in my life to you. Thank you for giving me everything I could ever need. Thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus, who took on the punishment of my sin and died on the cross. Thank you for his resurrection from the dead, defeating sin and death once and for all. Thereby opening my way to know and be known by You, Lord. You know my faults, failures, and sins even better than I do. Yet, as I ask forgiveness, You forget them as thoroughly as if they were consumed in a fire. I do not deserve to call on You, to pray to You, much less ask You for anything. But, You said in Your word that I should come boldly before Your throne of grace, so here I am.
I lift my son up to you, Lord. I ask that, even now, before he can talk or stand or anything else, that you would open the eyes of his heart and mind to who you are. I pray that You would send Your Holy Spirit upon him and make his heart sensitive to Your will.
Jesus, draw him to Yourself. May You, and You alone, be Isaac’s chief joy for his life. Mold him and shape him as a potter does the clay. I do not ask for riches, or power, or health, or even blessing in his life. I only ask that he would put You and Your Kingdom first. Be his singular, primary, and overwhelming love. May his passion for You eclipse every other relationship and desire. Not only that, give him all he needs to see and understand the world around him as You do. I know that, if this love is in place, all other parts of his life will fall as they need to. Your plan is the best thing possible and the only way to truly follow it is to love you more than all else.
Lord Jesus, I pray that you would overshadow my inevitable failures as a father to him. I know that I am insufficient for the task. My faults are many, obvious, and without your grace and forgiveness, damning. I thank you for the mere fact that his life, development, and faith are not solely in the hands of my wife and me. All his days have been mapped out by you. Even with that, do not let me be complacent in my pursuit of You or in my duties as a husband and a father. Teach me your heart for my son, my wife, my job, and for all other aspects of my life so that I might be an Earthly example of who You are to my son, however imperfect.
Thank You for my son, Isaac, my ‘son of laughter’. I thank You for the joy that he is to my wife and me and for the joy he will bring to others throughout his life. Mark him for Your service and equip him for the road ahead. Protect him and guide him, all the days of his life.
Thank You, Lord. You are a God who is not far off. You are with me, even now. You hear my prayer and You are faithful to answer it.
In the Holy name of Jesus,
Amen.
Luke David 