I was challenged in this chapter by the way this dad prayed for his daughter. On page 177 where he says, "...I prayed that Emily would not love the things of this world..." -- I need to be praying that everyday for Brittanne. That he has prayer cards that he prays specific /systematic things for his child--there is another challenge for me...
The author's daughter Emily describes her relationship with her father and notes that,
"How my dad loved me was an example of God's love for me...this was a small picture of the love that my heavenly Father has for me." (p. 176)
"But what if your human father failed you? Some cringe when they hear the word father. How can you see God as your father if your father was distant, absent, or harsh? The good new is that our heavenly Father trumps the failures of our earthly fathers." (p. 177)
"Because we live in a fallen world, God has to use broken images of himself, such as fathers (and mothers!! added by me). In fact, all the images God gives us of himself in Scripture are flawed...The fact that we know our king or father is flawed means we know what a good father should do. Because we are created in the image of the triune God, we have an instinctive knowledge of how a father should love." (p. 178)
"If we didn't know what a good father was, we couldn't critique our own." (p. 178, credit David Powlison)
I am both challenged and encouraged here. I am challenged to pray more for my children. I am challenged to pray for different things more carefully. And I am encouraged that even though I am flawed and very imperfect, God is really good at using broken things for His purposes. He will not be thwarted.
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