NOTE: This prayer was written for my father, Seth M. Summerfield. During his long illness I headed in to lie down on my bed for a nap one day when I was particularly exhausted. As I lay there I could not sleep because of praying for Dad and thanking God for all the good things I remembered about him. My mind was so active I could not rest, so I went to my computer to get this prayer down on paper where I could see it with my eyes. The Lord gave me this prayer for Dad. I asked Him to give me the opportunity to be with Dad again and read it to him as a gift, then folded it up and placed it in my purse. On Easter Sunday as I visited Dad in the hospital he was alert. I asked if he would like to hear a prayer I had prayed for him, and he whispered "yes." So I read it to him. The Lord gave me the opportunity, and I'm so grateful.
Now, if you like, you may read my prayer for Dad.
Perhaps it will help you to know him a tiny bit.Dear Loving Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being our Father and our God. Thank you for loving us so much we cannot comprehend it as human beings. Thank you for providing for us and watching over us with your providential care. Thank you for your gift to us of your precious only Son, Jesus, who walked this earth showing us who God is, and teaching us to obey you, to love each other, and to forgive each other.
Now today, Lord, I want to thank you for Dad and ask that you give him special blessings and mercies, and an extra portion of your grace. Lord, you gifted Dad in so many ways, and I thank you for these. Thank you for gifting him to love trees blooming and producing fruit to share with his family and friends. Thank you for gifting him to love tilling the ground, planting seeds and watching plants grow which would produce food for his family and to share with others. Thank you for gifting him to love honey bees, to learn all about them, and keep them to make honey to share with all of us. Thank you for gifting him to love beautiful flowers growing which enhance the beauty of the land, especially yellow and red flowers, his favorites.
Thank you, Lord, for gifting Dad with a love for different types of wood, the ability to identify them, know their qualities and enjoy the beauty of the different grain of each type. Thank you for gifting him with the talent to build houses and trim them beautifully, to build boats and take them out upon the waters fishing, and tonging for oysters. Thank you for gifting him with the talent to build fine furniture and cabinetry. Thank you for gifting him with the ability to build fine musical instruments --violins, guitars, mandolins, banjos, even a dulcimer -- and for having an ear for perfect pitch so that he could build the instruments to make the most beautiful and sweetest sounds. Thank you for allowing Dad's musical instruments to be spread all over this country and in other parts of the world so that music would swell and cause joy in many hearts in so many places.
Thank you, Lord, that Dad loved to play music, and for the memories I have of times in my childhood when I fell asleep in our living room listening to him play the fiddle or the mandolin while Mother played the guitar, and I heard them singing the old, old gospel songs and other beautiful sentimental tunes.
Thank you, Lord, for gifting Dad to be able to sharpen saws so people could use them to do their work and earn a living, and for his special way of sharpening knives and scissors and other things. Lord, you showed Dad how to repair so many things that were broken. Thank you, Lord, that Dad could even fix a cramp in my foot when I was in pain as a little girl and came to him crying "Daddy, can you fix my foot?"
Thank you, Lord, that Dad worked hard to provide what he could for his family. Thank you that he taught all of his children that there is dignity and honor in hard work, passed along his skills to his children and grandchildren, and taught us that hard work would make a person stronger. Thank you for the times he loaded up the whole family in the car, his wife and young children, and took us to the baseball games so we could learn about the game and enjoy a time of recreation. Thank you, Lord, for the times Mother prepared a big dinner and Dad and Mother loaded it and their children in the car and took us for a picnic to the park or museum or the Williamsburg-Yorktown Parkway. Thank you for the times Dad loaded all our family in the car and took us to the drive-in movie.
Thank you, Lord, for the times I heard Dad read the Bible to us as we were growing up and for the times I heard Dad's voice lifted in prayer to you, giving thanks for your provision and care, and asking your blessings on all of us. Thank you, Lord, that Dad and Mother always took us to Sunday School and Church when we were growing up so we could learn to love you and depend on you for our needs. Thank you for Dad's and Mother's example of giving their tithes to the Lord out of their simple means, and for showing us that they gave sacrificially above and beyond the tithe and trusted you for caring for their needs. Thank you for the memory that they always helped others, for many different times relatives who needed a place to live came to our house to live for a while.
Lord, according to your Word, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. I ask that you forgive Dad for all mistakes and sins he has ever had in his life. I ask that you make him feel free of any guilt through the blood of Jesus, his Savior. I thank you that Dad knows Jesus as Lord and Savior. I ask that you heal Dad of the many hurts he has suffered in his life, both physical and emotional, since the time you placed him in this world. I ask you to give him the courage, peace and joy of the Lord at this time to sustain him through the suffering of this illness.
Lord, thank you for making my Dad the special person he is and for loving him so much. Thank you for all he has done to help me in my life. When days were dark and dreary and didn't look promising Dad and Mother did what they could to help me, and they prayed for me and my children. When someone broke into my home, Dad came and fixed the door and put on deadbolt locks so my children and I could feel safe. When my automobile developed problems, Dad worked on it till it would run better. So many times he came to my rescue and did what he could to help me feel safer, better, more hopeful.
Heavenly Father, thank you for my Dad.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
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