Joseph’s Way: The Call to Fatherly Greatness; Prayer of a King

The fourth foundational Pillar of authentic fatherhood, the Prayer of a King, is the prayer of a father to commission his child to build the temple of the Holy Spirit in the child's person. The three components of the Prayer of a King are: first, a father's aspiration to build the temple and a sharing of this divine desire with one's own child; second, teaching or giving the child the 'materials' to build the temple of the Holy Spirit in the child's person, and third, the commissioning and blessing of the child by the father to go forth and build the temple. The confusion amongst the children of the world, the ever-increasing worship of the self-made temple, and the scattering of the flock rather than the unification of mankind in God, could be healed, to a great extent if fathers would aspire to assist their child in the project of building the temple of the Holy Spirit by teaching and blessing. The Prayer of a King demands a father to receive and accept responsibility for his role as teacher, which begins with discipline marked by self-giving love, expressed primarily in the discipline of work within the context of the family. By comparing and contrasting the fatherhood of King David with the fatherhood of the underground King Joseph, fathers will be encouraged to fulfill the dream of empowering their children in the project of building the holy temple of God.