God Give Us Men

A FATHER’S DAY PRAYER

“GOD GIVE US MEN”

By

Jerry Falwell

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none” (Ezek. 22:30).

This verse is usually used with sermons on evangelism and missions, i.e., that God is looking for a man to serve Him. Today, I want to broaden the verse to suggest the kind of man for whom God is looking. Then, I’d like to suggest four prayers we should make on Father’s Day.

I. INTRODUCTION

On the day that God created fathers an angel of the Lord stood in the background and watched. “Lord,” the angel asked, “are You sure you know what You are doing? If children are so close to the ground, why are You making fathers so high up?” God answered, “Fathers will have to kneel down if they ever shoot marbles with their children. They’ll have to lean way over to tuck them into bed at night, and they’ll have to bend far down to kiss them.”

The Heavenly Father said, “Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. If I didn’t make fathers so high, what would children have to look up to?”

Then the Lord made the hands of a father. They were big and sinewy and awkward. The angel asked, “Have You really thought this through? Those fingers are so big and clumsy. How will they be able to handle the pins of a diaper or unbutton a little button? They will never be able to take a rubber band off a ponytail, or remove a splinter from a finger.”

God replied, “Relax, the mother has the small hands to do these jobs. Men have big hands, big enough to hold all the things that a young boy takes out of his pocket at the end of the day, and they’re large enough to cup the face of a child.”

God continued on, making the legs of a father—long and bony and hairy and not very attractive. And then He made broad shoulders. The angel asked, “Lord, do You realize what You have done? You have just made a father without a lap. How is he ever going to be able to hold a child close to him without that child slipping through his legs?”

God answered, “Mothers need laps, fathers need broad shoulders so that they can pull a sled in the wintertime and balance a bicycle in the summertime, and cradle the sleeping head of a child on the way home from church.”

Then, just as God was in the middle of creating two of the biggest feet that you have ever seen, the angel said, “It’s not fair. Do You really believe that those two big feet are going to get up in the middle of the night and respond to a crying child?”

God answered, “They’ll work, you will see. These feet are big enough when a father is pretending to be a horse while his child is riding to an imaginary castle. They’re big enough to wear two shoes that will be a challenge for any child to fill.”

Then God gave the father a voice, strong and authoritative. He gave him eyes that could see everything and yet remain calm and in control. Last of all, God gave the father tears. Then He turned to the angel and asked, “Do you still doubt?” And the angel said no more.

Today, God wants to build you into a man who’s big enough for your child to look up to. God says, “And I sought for a man among them” (Ezekiel 22:30).

Today, I want to give you four prayers for Father’s Day. If we had the answer to these four prayers, the world would be changed.

FIRST PRAYER

GOD GIVE US COURAGEOUS MEN

The conditions of Ezekiel’s day are much like today. A godly nation had grown sinful, a strong nation had become weak. People were flocking after idolatry, and forsaking the worship of God. God knows that “righteousness exalteth a nation” and what does He need to bring righteousness to the nation? God needs courageous men to stand for Him. Do you know the old hymn,

Ye that are men now serve Him,

Against unnumbered foes;

Let courage rise with danger,

And strength to strength oppose.

What kind of man is needed in America more than any other time?

He will build his home on the Bible.

· He will quietly rear his children in honesty and godliness.

· He will pay his debts.

· He will support his family.

· He will stand on his own feet.

· He will be faithful to worship God in church.

· He will serve God in the marketplace.