Renewing the Spirit | My Dad Taught me how to Pray

article by Reverend RB Moore

Bring the month of June, we recognize our fathers. But of course, not everyone has only pleasant memories about their dad, me included. For instance, when I was 15, the hairstyle for teen-aged boys was to have long hair. But one Saturday morning my dad took me and my brother to get regular haircuts.  

The next Monday, a school day, my best friend didn’t even recognize me as he walked right past me! He laughed when he saw my “whitewalls!” That is, the hair on the sides and the back of my head had disappeared! Imagine the embarrassment of going to school and hearing my friends wondering out loud, “What happened to youuuu?!” 

Of course, I can laugh now. But it took me a while before I could accept my dad’s behavior as an act of love. Still, let me share a couple of vignettes from my dad’s life which touch my heart to this day.  

On a serious note, a number of years before the regular haircut episode, my dad was injured in an Army helicopter crash. While being transported to the hospital, he passed out from shock. When he awoke, he prayed, “Lord, let me live. My family needs me.” Then he passed out from the pain again.  

Looking back on his prayer, I see a husband and father praying for God to allow him to still provide for the needs of his family. His prayer was answered. He blessed our family in countless ways, for almost 53 years after that prayer. My dad taught me there’s often power in our prayers when we approach God with a desire to care for those we love.  

But there’s more. My dad also taught me, one way to care for those you love is to pray for those you love. Perhaps he was inspired to follow the example of Jesus as Christ prayed for his disciples in John 17. Along this line of thought, the night of my Ordination to the Gospel Ministry, my dad shared a prayer during the ceremony, which was first penned by General Douglas MacArthur. Here’s what my dad prayed that night. 

“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, brave enough to face himself when he is afraid. One who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. 

Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know (you); and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.  

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail. 

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other(s); one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. 

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.  

Then, I, his father will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’” 

In summary, my dad teaches us two of the fundamentals in an effective prayer life. He teaches us to pray to be in a position to care for those we love. Maybe, like my dad, we will be able to love our loved ones for over half a century. 

Plus, to love those we love, be sure to offer prayers on their behalf. Hopefully, God will answer our prayers, and we will see the many blessings our loved ones bring to the world. Then we will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.” 

Thanks be to God for all the Spirit filled fathers (and mothers) who love their families! Amen.