What Father Are You Listening To?

Pastor Ed challenges fathers to examine what voice they're listening to when parenting their children and how this shapes their fatherhood journey. He shares a personal revelation that transformed his approach to fathering—learning to hear God's loving voice rather than repeating patterns from his own upbringing.

• Breaking cycles of negative parenting requires hearing a different voice
• Our internal dialogue with ourselves often mirrors how we speak to our children
• The parable of the "running father" illustrates God's heart toward His children
• Both sons in the prodigal story misunderstood their father's heart
• How we receive forgiveness determines how we extend it to our children
• Celebrating repentance rather than making children "pay" for mistakes
• Learning to model God's immediate restoration rather than prolonged punishment
• Teaching children through showing, not just telling or shaming

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to The Father Difference
• 7:53 Breaking the Cycle of Hurtful Parenting
• 16:29 The Parable of the Running Father
• 29:12 Understanding Both Sons' Mistakes
• 38:41 Celebrating Repentance Like God Does
• 48:36 Practical Applications and Resources
• 51:48 Closing Prayer for Families

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

What kind of father do you want to be? What kind of man do you want to become for your family and for yourself? If you've ever wondered how to step into the fullness of your role as a father, husband, and man of God, then you're in the right place. Here at the Father Difference, our mission is to inspire and equip men to be the best fathers they can be. It's a powerful mission. And today, we're going to explore exactly how you can take steps toward that calling. Whether you're a father, a son, a husband, grandfather, single dad, stepfather, or just looking to grow, I believe God has something powerful for you in today's message. Whether you're tuning in live or watching this later, we are so excited to have you here. If this is what you're looking for, then subscribe so you can tune in each week to the Father Difference Live. You can sign up below. And now your host, a husband, father, grandfather, author, and former NFL player, Pastor Ed McGlass.

SPEAKER_01: 7:31

Here we go. How's that? How's that? I see. Is that me? Do you hear me there? Okay, I think we're back. So we I don't know how in the world happened, but okay, we're back. Okay, there's a little echo there. Okay, so we're back. If you are watching my mouth move and nothing coming out, I'm gonna start all over. How many of you in your life made a promise as a dad that you wouldn't do some of the same hurtful things that was done to you? Anyone? Raise your hands. Well, that was my story. And my son Edward did something that was really, you know, really made me mad. And I went in the room there and just kind of nuked him. And the title of our message today is What Father Are You Listening to? And the reason I have that title is that you know there are times when we're kind of operating just from the things that we've learned to receive from our own dads. And in some of those interactions, they can be really broken things. And then there's those interactions when we learn how to hear from God the Father in our life, that can change everything. And so I'm I was one of those zealous dads who was more about the performance of my kids in those days than I was about learning how to love them and support them. I loved them, but I the only model fathering that I had was to push my kids to become better, better, better, better. Anyone else get there in their life? Well, that was me. And so I we had one of those days where my son did something, it made me mad, and I just tore into him in the other room. And I came back in my study here, and I was really disgusted with myself. How many can relate? How many of you done some things where you you said things that were really hurtful and and you really hurt your kids? And I was I was really disgusted with myself and came in here to try to figure out how I could do something different. And so I went to the Lord and I just and I just you know I just confessed. I said, God, I mean, I'm I'm broken. Matter of fact, David, I wrote these words down to share with you uh from my book, the The Father You've Always Wanted, which we're we're going through and reading together, you know, on these times on Tuesday night. And we're reading the same book in a different place with gals on Thursday at 12 o'clock. And and so anyway, I asked God, God, why did I do that? You know that I love my son with all my heart. I know there's a lot of you who love your kids, and you you wish you could you could take some of those things back. Tears formed in my eyes as the presence of the Lord filled my room, and and then the loving voice of the Father spoke to me and said, and boy, it just nailed me and blew me away. He said, You you spoke that way because it's the same way you speak to yourself when you're wrong. Boy, that was just so true. And he went on and said, See, Ed, you've learned to hear my voice through the broken voice of your stepfather to you when he was angry. But that's now not the way I speak. When you learn to hear the voice, the father's voice over you, my loving voice, it will make you the kind of father who makes a difference. And beloved men, my whole world got rocked. You know, I began to understand in those moments, when you have those moments with God, it's that have you ever had that moment where he reveals to you that you've made so much of your story in your life just about you, about you arriving, about you being a man, or you being a father or a dad, or maybe your stepdad or a stepfather. You get with your kids, you're trying to make those perfect moments with them, and it just it just goes bad. Because one of the principles that I learned that you know, one of the ways that we change as men and fathers towards our children is when we learn to listen to the right father. Because there are things that your dad did that were good things, and there's no totally evil father, though there's probably some you might name and put on the list because our dads are all broken because a lot of their fathers didn't know how to be in their stories, but everything's redeemable, everything can everything can be fixed. I I can tell you, I've ministered to men for you know 30 some years all over the world, and I've I've watched some of the most broken men get a brand new beginning. And it wasn't just that they were forgiven, learned to receive God's forgiveness for the broken way, it's that they learned how to hear God's voice, the way he speaks through scripture, the way he spoke to his son Jesus. And when that happens in your life, it transforms you as a man, or if you're a gal watching, it transforms you in the way you use your voice to speak to your children. And I got to tell you, is that it's one of the most powerful and transformative things that can happen to you in your life is when you learn how to hear the voice of the Father through the Word of God, the way Jesus did. And in those days when He speaks to you, that that voice, and I'm not talking about an audible voice, as much as this internal revelation of his word to you. And it just might as well be audible, but it hits you in such a profound way that it changes you forever. When he spoke that that line to me, you know, when you learn to hear the voice of the father's voice over you, my loving voice, it would make you kind of father make the difference. He gave me incredible hope that I I didn't have to stay broken. Because I I wanted to hear my father's voice. I never got to hear my dad's voice. My father was killed in action. I heard my stepfather's voice, and there were some great affirming times, and we had some great times as a kid. But uh on the parenting side of the coin, he's he struggled for a few years and in the midst of that. But he, you know, he was heroic in that he he took on the role of being my my stepdad, but he never treated me like a stepdad, he treated me like a father, and he gave he gave me all that he had. As a matter of fact, your dads, for the most part, have given you all that they have. The problem is that many of us have been hurt by the way we've been fathered, or we misunderstand, and and then we we end up you know being in that place where we break that promise of never treating our kids in a bad way, and we do the very same things. anybody ever do that? And I'd love to hear from you in the chat or your comments or questions that you might have on one of the social media platforms, and we'd love to answer those today. And so, how does that God change that internal voice? And so, what I want to do with you is it I want to take you through a story, one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and it's it's known as the pro the the parable of the prodigal son, it was something that Jesus taught. I've renamed it, which I think is a more the I think is a better description of the story, because the names of the stories aren't actually scripture, they're the ones the editors put in. I I call this the the parable of the running father. And it's in Luke 15, it says, he said, There was a man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the inheritance of property that is coming to me. You know, it's uh which what's so shocking about this story, and to the ears of the people that were were listening to this, is that for a son to come to you before you die and say, give me my inheritance early. He's basically saying, I basically want you dead to me. I I don't want you in my life, I just want the money, I just want the inheritance. That's all I want. I mean, it's I mean, we have these battles today with inheritance and with people, and and their their only identity that they have because of the way their fathers dealt with them is the money from the trust or the money from the inheritance. And the kids measure their worth based on how much money they get. And so this taps right into all those things, and you can imagine having one of your children come into you and saying, Dad, I wish you were dead. I want my inheritance early. And so the father he divided up his property between them, and not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had, took on a journey to a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent all everything, a severe famine arose in that country and enterbine. You know, people think, well, if I can just win the lottery, then boy, I can change my life. I mean, you know, they did a uh a research paper years ago about the 71 original lottery winners in the state of California, where they were 10 years after they won the lottery. And as no surprise, the majority of them, and I I probably have the statistics just a little off, but it was more than 90% of them were back in the same financial state they were before they won all the money. Like this kid, he gets his inheritance early, he spends it all. He's thinking his identity is in his stuff. And so he spends it all. And and now he's now he's in need. You know, the the Bible says that at the same time that he spends everything, and it's just how God's timing is, right? A severe famine arose in that country and began to be in need. So not only did he spend all of his money, they're having a recession. He can't get a job, probably can't pay his debtors. The Bible goes on and says, and so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of the country who sent him into the fields to feed pigs. So the only job he could get, he went from a son with a big inheritance to a son who was in need and he was starving, and so he worked for a pig farmer. That's a bad day. And he longed, and and as he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. He's just starving, he just has no hope. I I meet people that feel like they've run so far from God that there's no hope for them. There's there's no way to come back from this. They've made the ultimate mistake. So Jesus, you know, telling this story, they they all understood what this meant. And the shock of it, that a son would would take you the inheritance that you had for him and and squander it and and and party hardy and then come into incredible need. I I've met a number of fathers and coached them. Matter of fact, I talked to one, I think, two or three months ago. We're just building a strategy to continue to reach out to a son that he lost to drugs and who now lives full-time on the street as a drug user. Came from a great family. And he wanted out, he didn't want the restrictions, he just wanted to live his own life, just like this guy in the story. And then it says that he he uh came to himself, and it kind of like wake, maybe he's waking up from a stupor and he and he comes up with this question. He goes, How many of my father's hard servants have more than enough bread and I perish with hunger? I know I'm gonna rise and go to my father, and I'm gonna say to him. He gets he gets out the perfect prayer. He he's got he's thinking, how can I get back in the graces of my dad? I know what I'm gonna say, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you. This is a church kid. He's uh he's got the perfect prayer down. And because he wants to go make it. He, I mean, he's starving. I mean, he's in incredible need. And, you know, he's you know, he wants food. I don't think that he's he totally understands what's going on in his heart. I think God's drawing him back in the story, and he and he and he just turns home. And the Bible says that, and he he adds on to it, I'm no longer worthy to be called your sons. Treat me as one of your hired servants. Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting how we can get into places of sin where we completely lose our sonship and who God has made us to be as men and and uh and women if you're joining us as a gal, because of the shame and the guilt, the cloak of sin, where you lose the value of who you are. That's why the enemy wants to you know get you to believe that you can be too far away from God's love. He'll never he'll never receive you again. And here's this kid thinking, I'll just go back and just at least the hired help gets food, I'll just go back and serve and be one of the hired help of my dad's farm. And so this story goes on. And he rose and he and he comes to his father, and but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him. You know, one of the great pictures of, you know, in my own mind is God the Father sitting on the rocking chair waiting for his son to come across that horizon. He's out there every day praying. He's out there every day hoping. I have a number of men in our coaching groups who they're waiting for the day of restoration with their children. And it's one of the one of the great hopes of this parable is that this is more than just a story that Jesus tells. This becomes reality for those of us who trust in his word more than the hurt or the separation or the craziness of our families. We need a lot of healing too, don't we, in our families? There are some who have taken on an identity that's you know about the politics of the day. Politics has become an identity instead of them just being your son. This being your daughter, they've they've they've cut you off, they separated you out. It's incredibly painful for a mom or a dad. Imagine this father in this porch who sees his son, and as he sees him long way off, he felt compassion. Well, when the Bible talks about compassion, it's not this empathy, but it's just this, it's really a gift that God has in him. He's a compassionate guy slow to anger, the Bible says. And the the the what compassion really means is when it hits you as a man towards somebody else, it's more than, boy, I'm so sorry he's in this place. It's you're connecting to the heart that God the Father has for him, and it causes you to do just what this father does in this story. It says when he was still a long way off, he sees him, he feels compassion, and he runs towards them, embraces him, and he kisses him. Isn't that the way you met Christ? That's the way I met him. He didn't stay away from me, away from me to run to him. Like there's bumper stickers years ago that goes, Well, I found I found Christ. No, you didn't find him, he found you. He's been looking for you. And all that in that moment, in all that that son did, and him winning his dad dead, and him, you know, spending his this whole inheritance, you know, half of the family money, and and then to see his dad running at him, what was that like? That was like us when we met Christ. I mean, one of the things that was so extraordinary about that moment that I met Jesus, and I know is you as well, is that he ran towards us by carrying the cross in our place, just dying in our place for the sin he didn't commit, but the sin that we did and and will do. And he he run towards his son. And the son's got this rehearsed prayer in him. He's he's he's saying, you know, Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. He's trying to get out his repentance speech. And the father, right in a moment, but he's it's like he doesn't even hear it, because he knows that the ultimate offense when our children sin is not necessarily against us. Those are things that they do, but they've they've sinned against heaven and earth and the Lord and this father in the midst of his son. It's like he's saying, hush, child. You know, it's kind of like you know, he when he saw him coming home. He knew that the only way to restore him was to show a compassion that he had been given. And here's the here's the rest of the story here. And he says, bring the the best robe and put it on him. You know, his son was dirty. Put a ring back on his hand. Get that family ring he let go of before he left. And choose on his feet. And bring that that fatten, fattened calf. You know, the one that that his brother's been feeding for his own coming out party and kill it. And let's eat and celebrate. For my son was dead and he's alive again. He was lost and he's found. And they began to celebrate. And really, you know, embracing that moment of what it's like in heaven when one sinner turns. The Bible says that all of heaven, you know, celebrates. When when one sinner turns and repents, it's because in heaven, that's the miracle that makes all heaven shout. And sometimes, as dads, the miracle that we want is our sons to be mature and to get it together and to finally change. But heaven's celebration is repentance, that true repentance when you're lost and you have nowhere to go and you turn home. Because heaven knows, and the Father knows in heaven, that just one step back towards me, just one step, not your whole plan on how you're going to repent for the next 15 years and make up for anything, but just one step towards me, I'm going to run towards you, and my presence is going to enable you to do and be who you could never be without me. See, that's the miracle of forgiveness. That not only does God forgive us, but his spirit, through his word, comes upon us, and it makes up and for all of our attempts at trying to be good, he restores us, he puts on a robe, he puts on a ring, he adds us to his family, and he throws a banquet because we were lost and now we're found. And it seems like we spent so much time working on trying to get our kids in that place. But the ultimate, the ultimate sign of the work of the Lord in us and in our children is when they come to their senses in real life. They sinned against heaven. They've sinned against the Lord and they've sinned against you and they turn towards you. How do you treat them? You throw party? Or do you just hold back to see if it's true? Well, think about how Jesus treated you when you said, Father, forgive me. Did he do it with a condition? Or did he throw a party and fill you with joy and his presence and wrap his arms around you? That's what our children need today, more than anything. Hey, my friend Emmett King, one of the greatest running backs you'll ever play football with. Great friend, played football at Youngstown State, great preacher, great man of God. Welcome. But that's the way forgiveness works. And he goes on, not only that, but he he goes on and he and and he they're celebrating. And the the older brother now hears. And he's out in the field proving himself. So he got two brothers, one who thought the father couldn't ever love him again because he stole his inheritance and ran away. So I'm out. And the older brother, who is just in much of trouble in that he thought, I've earned it, and I've earned this inheritance because I've been the faithful son. Both of the sons in that story missed who God the Father was. And both of them didn't understand the depth and the love of who Christ in that parable was communicating who God the Father was. And that if you do it all, you can't get in if you do it all right, and you can't lose it if you do it all wrong. And so God's in this in this incredible story of the prodigal son, because his older son finds out, he finds out what all these things have meant. And the Bible says that, and he said to him, Your brother's come and your father's killed that fattened, you know, the fattened calf, the one that you like, you know, the one you even named that you were going to have at your birthday party, you know that one? Because he received it back safe and sound, and he was angry. He was angry, not because he lost the calf. And he refused to go in. He refused to go in. And his father came out to him and entreated him. But he answered his father, look, all these many years I've served you, I've never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours, you can almost hear it, came, who devoured your property with prostitute, you killed the fatty calf for him. But what a heart. How many times have we uh done it right and somebody else gets promoted above us? And we go, how in the world can this possibly be? I did it right, Lord. See, part of the the the issue for both these sons in the story is they didn't understand that the heart that God the Father has. And so he then lines out to the older son what he had missed all these years in trying to prove himself. And it was right here. And he said, and he said that the father says to his older son, son, you've always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. See the issue for the older son was he never asked for it. He never turned towards his dad and was desperate. He thought he earned it. Isn't it fitting to celebrate and be glad for this brother was dead and is alive and he's lost and he's found? Gosh, I love this story. So think about how that just applies to you and your own story with God. Is that the way you receive his forgiveness? Is that the way you treat yourself if you've been overlooked or think that you've earned something and not gotten it? Because see, part of our job as a father is to is to model what forgiveness and restoration should look like in our families. When our children blow it, what do we do? Do we just forgive them or do we celebrate when we see that God's truly touched their life? We throw them a party. But what if they misuse the inheritance again? It's like Jesus is saying, My father can't help it. That's how much he loves us. Because, see, every bit of his anger and disappointment in us was poured out on his son on the cross of Calvary, so that when we go to him and say, Father, forgive me for I've sinned against you, he not only forgives us, he restores it, because all of all of the judgment Romans talked about that we deserve was poured out on Jesus on the cross. We are completely forgiven. So, how do you treat your own heart when you blow it with God? Are you starting trying to work your way back home by doing good so that you get back in his graces, or are you really good at learning to receive forgiveness? Because the fathers that I know that are really good at receiving forgiveness for themselves are incredibly generous with their children. But God doesn't forgive us that way. Because he knows God knows that in himself, when we turn towards him, his capacity to turn a broken life into an extraordinary life is in his hands, not ours. Because if it was in our hands, then we'd take credit for it and sell it for$19.95 instead of understanding that all of those things that God has given us are absolute gifts to us. So a couple of applications tonight to think about how do you receive God's forgiveness when you've totally blown it? How long do you make yourself pay for what you did wrong? Second thing. Do you treat your children the same way you treat yourself when you blow it? Do you make them pay for it for a while? I m I remember in the early days of being a dad, I would get angry at my children and and just kind of pull away from them to let them know how disappointed I was in them. And how disappointed I was in them. Like I was rubbing their nose in it. I don't know where I came up with this, that if a dog one of my dogs messed in the house or went to the bathroom in the house, we'd stick his nose in it and smack him.

SPEAKER_02: 42:08

And I kid you not. I had a Labrador named Brutus. He was a puppy and he messed up in the house. And I smacked him and he looked at me. It was like his look said, So what do you want me to do, Edith? He didn't get the discipline. He knew that he was bad, but I had I had to teach him how to go outside. He was just a little puppy, he was a little dog. I I thought he should he should know better. This is a house.

SPEAKER_01: 42:41

You don't do this in there. And yet, in those early days, and and even fathering my kids, I had this idea that my kids should know better because they just should. I didn't I didn't know. I I remember one time, you know, Lucas.

SPEAKER_02: 42:57

I'd go into his room and it was just like stuff just everywhere, just everywhere. And and I would yell at him, and I remember one time I I went in and I went, son, this is a pig style and he looked at me like what's a what's a pig style? And I and I said, Well, you know, it just like where pigs live.

SPEAKER_01: 43:25

And I went back and he was just upset, he was angry, he felt ashamed by me. I remember the Lord just this, you know, I'm so walking back to my room.

SPEAKER_02: 43:40

He said, You've never shown him how to clean his room.

SPEAKER_01: 43:49

So I I walked into his room and and he was on, you know, he said, Look, he's like he's waiting for me to just make him feel bad again. And uh I said, son, do you know how to clean you know what a clean how to clean your room? And he looks at me. He just love Luke. He just looks at me and he goes, Well, you just don't want to see anything on the floor, so I just stuff everything under the bed.

SPEAKER_02: 44:25

And I just went, I've not been a good dad here, and so I went over and I said, okay, let's do that.

SPEAKER_01: 44:32

And we pulled out, I can't tell you how much laundry was underneath there. Toys and laundry and baseballs he's been looking for, and footballs and equipment and stuff, and we took it all out of there, cleaned it up, we put it into a shelf and put in his drawers and organized his closet. And I said, There we go. Now that you understand, he goes, Yeah, that's just thanks, Dad. And I mean to tell you, I mean, just one of those just you know, golden moments of of being a father, where God intervenes and he showed me how to move from disciplining him and rejecting his actions to embracing him the way that father did in that prodigal son story. That's why I call it the parable of the running father, because he ran towards the son who was broken. And the reason we can run is because God has all the power he needs to turn their hearts. Because when your kids are turning home, they're they're wanting to know for a lot of the kids that I coach, and I and I coach a bunch of kids with families, and they want to know how long they're gonna be in trouble. How long you know they're gonna be reminded about how broken they are. And they're not really open to the new tools of in their life many times because they just feel like they're in trouble. Or their mom's and mad at them. And how long is that going on? Well, she's been mad for a couple weeks because of something I did. And you know, the problem is treating our children that way doesn't actually change their behavior, nor does it change our behavior when it was done to us. In that the quicker we learn how to restore them and give them whole new ways of doing things and seeing themselves is the whole point of the of the parable of a running father. Both sons missed it. One tried to work his way to his inheritance, and the other thought he could he didn't value himself, he could, he, he could lose it, and his dad will completely reject him. Both sons were in trouble. And it's like a picture of the world, right? The picture of the church. You have the church that's trying to prove themselves to God to get God to move, and you got the church that's so lost and broken they don't think they can ever be restored. And and the issue for all of us is that there is no sin that's too big that God can't heal. And there's a way for us as fathers and moms, if we're watching, and the way we treat our children when they're really broken. And so, when's the last time you threw a party for a son or daughter who came and confessed something to you and just blessed them? You know, I um I'm not all the time, but a few times being a dad, I when my son had a really bad day or a daughter had a really bad day, I would uh say, Hey, Josh, I'm so grateful you told me that. And I and you're completely forgiven. Remember that thing that you've been praying to get at Christmas? Come on, let's go buy it. And I remember one time one of my sons go, but dad, I don't deserve it. I go, No, you don't. You don't. But see, while we were still yes sinners, Christ died for us, son. And so God's been teaching me how to celebrate you as you're as you turn towards home as much as celebrating you when you're doing it right. And that's the heart of God for us today. So think about that with your family. Think about that with your kids. And so how do you model forgiveness for them? How do you forgive them? What does that look like for them? And could it be that some of the ways that we've built those models have caused our kids to run away from the church because they feel shamed all the time. They feel talked about. We use those little passive aggressive innuendos to somehow make them really feel bad for disappointing mom or dad. Well, I've I've learned one thing over and over again that this just doesn't work. What works is when they ultimately come before you and repent and go to the Father, and his love and grace touches them and makes them into a different kind of young man or young woman. And that's what we want. So let me pray for you before we get off tonight. A couple of things. If you've been hanging around us for any amount of time, we have some resources for you. Welcome. A number of people on Instagram have joined us tonight and and TikTok and and welcome, and just so great to see some of my friends. Thanks for hanging out with me. If you don't get our daily devotional, we have a devotional that I write every day and send out, and it's kind of a it's kind of a a word for you every single day. We can go here on this link, if you go to our website at the fatherdifference.com and see and hit the button for devotional, you can get that free devotional. And it's right there at our website, and uh love to give that to you as well. Maybe you're in a place and you're you're in need of some coaching. And if you'll go to our website at thefatherdifference.com, or you can also email me at candy at blessing of the father.com. I'll send you a link and give you kind of an introductory uh coaching session to help you with your children. Because there's a lot of families right now that are are kind of separated, and the holidays are around the corner, and you want to have the best holiday ever. And that's our prayer for you. And so if you if you send me an email and say, Ed, I could use some help, I'll send you a link and give you a time slide. I mean you can get together absolutely free and talk about what you would really like to work on and to get your family into a new place. If that's something you're interested in, I'd love for you to be there. So before we get off this, let's pray. And if you got a prayer request and you send it right now on the chat, you can uh chat it to me or send it in a comment. You can do a private chat if it's personal, we'll get those as well, and we'll pray for you. But we would be honored to to serve you tonight. So, Father, I pray for my friends that are that are watching. And uh I'm so grateful, Lord, uh, that they've given time tonight to to hang with me as we talk about uh you and the power of forgiveness and family. And and uh God, I'm just so blown away by your word and uh how you forgave that son and that story so quickly, and make me kind of father that celebrates and starts running towards my kids when they take a step towards home. That I'm not waiting for them to get it all together. I'm I am just um with all that I have celebrating the step towards home, not the complete forgiveness or the complete confession. Lord, teach us how to run towards our children for their sake and our grandchildren's sake. Repair relationships. I pray for families that have been separated through hurt and pain. I pray for families right now that have been separated through politics. Father, I pray you would restore families in the name of Jesus. I pray that you would bless my brothers and sisters to get their family members back and that they would go to those houses over Thanksgiving and Christmas and bring a blessing in their heart to bless them with, and an expectation of restoring relationship. And I just especially pray for grandmas and grandpas right now who are watching, whose uh children because of hurt have who are keeping their grandkids away from them. Well, Lord, that that's just a devastating thing. And I pray, Lord, that you would heal that relationship with their children. And maybe, maybe it's the child who married your child, the new in-law who has decided not to build their life around you. I pray you would do extraordinary miracles this Christmas season, Lord. In the name of Jesus. I pray for those kids that have run far away that they turn home. I pray for one mom who's lost her son and doesn't know where he is. You're watching right now. I pray, Lord, that you would restore her to her son, that he'd come home. He'd call her in the next two weeks, Lord. I pray for that grandpa that's been waiting to see their grandkids, and it's been a long time, incredible pain. I pray you'd restore them right now and do whatever you need to do to turn on that family celebration again. And I ask you to bless my friends that are watching, and to bless their families, and bless these dads. Father, you truly would would stoop down, your word says, to make them great again. Make them great fathers and grandfathers and lovers of their wives, and even lovers of their exes, Lord, if they're divorced, that they would be great friends at minimum so that their children can heal from the effects of divorce. Lord, bless them, Lord, use them, Lord, protect them, Lord. And all God's people praying in the name of Jesus said, Amen. Amen. Bless you. Thank you for being with me here at the Father Difference Live. You can follow us on Facebook. Would you go to Facebook and like that video if you see us there or Instagram? We'd like us and follow us. And if you're in a place of support, we're we're we're building a brand new fatherhood academy that's going to be launched here real soon. And we we need some donors and supporters who want to partner with us to really make a difference for the sake of men who are broken and separated from their families and who really need to be equipped. So if you want to help support us, go to my website at thefatherdifference.com and donate. And uh appreciate anything that you can do looking for monthly partners or end-of-the-year gifts that helped us reach our goal. And our goal, we got a big goal, but God can do anything. We we're still in need of raising 100,000 by the end of the year. It's actually a little less than that. But uh, what that'll do is really help us get our tools in place for this new launch of the Fatherhood Academy. If you want to be a founding member there, uh go to the website and support us. We'd be so grateful for that. And remember, my friends, it is never too late for God to come in and do a miracle in your life, in your story. So grateful for you. Thanks for showing up tonight and can't wait to see you online. Make sure you like us on the social media platforms. And would you share with your friends and say, hey, you need to check out this crazy football player, dude. God's even using a guy like that. Hallelujah. Anyway, blessings to you. I'm so grateful that you're here praying for you, Pastor Ed.