FREEDOM 21 DAY 4

DAY 4 – Fatherlessness

 

Today we will focus our prayer and repentance on the issue of fatherlessness.

The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt (and sold). –Job 24:9

Federal statistics show alarming long-term growth in the proportion of children living in fatherless households. The proportion of children under 18 years living with only their mothers as a result of divorce or lack of marriage has risen continuously since 1970.(1) Some 40% of the nation’s children and 60% of African-American children live in homes without their fathers.(2)

And that’s not all. 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.(3) This is of enormous significance to the topic of human trafficking, as 1 in 3 children will be forced into prostitution within only 48 hours of being on the street. This factors heavily into the sad reality that the average age children enter prostitution in the US is 13 years old.(4)

ANOTHER ANGLE

On the surface, family life in Mexico looks more stable. The divorce rate is relatively low – 11.3% as of 2004. The percentage of households without a father is 23.1% – nearly half that of the US.(5)

However, close to half of the births that take place happen out of wedlock. And there are at least 2 million orphans in the entire country. Above all, the statistics do not reflect the large number of families whose fathers are not present, even if temporarily, to seek work out of the country, leaving their children to grow up without their guidance.

FATHERLESSNESS IN TRAFFICKING

Fatherlessness in the United States and Mexico feeds the trafficking pipeline of supply by creating vulnerable and available children. It creates at-risk children looking to fill a void, and conversely, odds are high that someone who sexually exploits in anger was fatherless as well.

In addition to this, a primary way for pimps to lure their victims and keep them is to present some kind of “family” unit and structure. It is not uncommon for female victims to call their pimps “daddy” and refer to other victims who work for their pimp as “family.”

To read the full USRPN article on this issue, please click here.

PERSONAL REPENTANCE

Father God, I ask forgiveness for any way that I have neglected children by putting other pursuits and interests before them and by failing to disciple and protect them. I ask forgiveness for turning a blind eye to those fatherless children in my neighborhood and church who You have called me to come alongside.

CORPORATE REPENTANCE

We stand in the gap for fathers in our two nations and ask forgiveness for those who have been emotionally or physically absent from their children. O Lord, teach us to do what is right, to seek justice, relieve the oppressed, and correct and reprove the ruthless. Forgive us for not defending the fatherless, and fighting for the rights of the widow (Isaiah 1:17).

INTERCESSION

• Lord, we recognize that those without the love of an earthly father are more vulnerable to being snatched up into sex trafficking. We ask You to “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; do justice for the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 82:3, 4)."
   
• Today we ask You to prompt and to equip the men in Your Church to step in and become father figures and mentors to those with absentee or disengaged fathers.
   
• We pray also for the healing of strained and broken relationships between children and their fathers, that old wounds affecting current healthy relationships would be healed.
   
• Lord, we recognize that those without fathers often have no blueprint for becoming a good parent themselves. We pray for healing and restoration of those without fathers, so the cycle of fatherlessness is broken, and the children in our two nations would be protected and loved rather than be exploited through evils such as sex trafficking.

TAKE ACTION

1. One of the greatest ways to combat fatherlessness is to become a legal parent to a child whose mother and father are out of the picture. If you are interested in adopting a child, contact a local adoption agency.

2. Become a mentor to a fatherless child or youth who is in need of godly guidance, wisdom, and relationship.