Praying “Our Father” and Being a Father The Lord’s Prayer as a Tool for Transformation

2021·0.86 MB·English

by  STEPHEN MARSHALL WISE

PRAYING “OUR FATHER” AND BEING A FATHER

THE LORD’S PRAYER AS A TOOL FOR TRANSFORMATION

A THESIS-PROJECT
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

BY

STEPHEN MARSHALL WISE
MAY 2021
Copyright © 2020 by Stephen Marshall Wise. All Rights Reserved.
To the congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church
and
to the young men and friends who are becoming fathers.

To my wife, Becky, for the encouragement she has always been and the joy she always brings to
my life. She has helped make me a better father.
To my children, Banks and Rebecca, any good things I have done as a father come directly from
what the Father taught me through years of studying the Lord’s Prayer.
I love you.
That we may love what You love, Father, because You love us so much.
That we may love like You love, Father, because You love us so well.
CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x
ABSTRACT xi

Chapters

1. FATHERHOOD AND SPIRITUAL FORMATION 1
Introduction 1
The Problem 1
Ministry Context 2
The Project 3

2. BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS 5
Introduction 5
God as Father 6
Old Testament 6
New Testament 8
Creeds and Confessions 12
Fathers in Scripture 14
Old Testament 14
New Testament 19

Spiritual Formation in Fathering 20
Old Testament 20
New Testament 22
Conclusion 25
3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 27
The Importance of Fathers 27
The Necessary Father 27
The Essential Father 32
The At-Least-Important Father 33
Conclusion 40
The Impact of Fathers and Children on One Another 41
Fathers on Children 41
Children on Fathers 43
Generative Fatherwork 44
Effective Fathers 46
Being Fathered by the Father 49
Spiritual Formation 53
Conclusion 62
4. RESEARCH METHODS 63
Introduction 63
Project Overview 63
Part One: Training and Developing the Tool 63
The Participants 63
The Training 64
Part Two: Post-Training Survey 64
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The Curriculum 65
Week 1 – Fatherhood & Spiritual Formation 66
Week 2 – Father: Relationship and Identity 69
Week 3 – Kingdom Come: Priorities 74
Week 4 – Daily Bread – Provision in the Present 80
Week 5 – Forgiveness and Forgiving – Pardon in the Past 84
Week 6 – Temptation and Deliverance – Protection in the Future 90
Conclusions 96
5. DATA ANALYSIS 97
Introduction 97
Post Class Survey 97
6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 108
Assessing the Benefits 108
An Interesting Finding 109
Recommendations for Improvement 109
Appendix
A. POST-CLASS SURVEY 112
BIBLIOGRAPHY 118
Works Cited 118
Works Consulted 122
VITA 125
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ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures

Figure 1. Urgent and Important Matrix. 80

Figure 2. The Lord’s Prayer as an Altar 81

Figure 3. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, has your understanding about
God (Particularly God the Father) changed at all? 98

Figure 4. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, has your understanding of your
role as father changed at all? 99

Figure 5. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, has your understanding of the
importance of spiritual formation changed at all? 100

Figure 6. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, has your understanding of the
spiritual practice of prayer (particularly the Lord’s prayer changed at all? 101

Figure 7. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, has your relationship towards
God the Father changed at all? 102

Figure 8. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, do you feel more confident in
how to practice the spiritual discipline of prayer? 103

Figure 9. Post-class survey – After participating in this training, do you feel more confident in
how to nurture your own spiritual formation? 104

Figure 10. Post-class survey – Do you anticipate this training will impact your own
relationship with God in the near future? 105

Figure 11. Post-class survey – Do you anticipate this training will impact your use of the
Lord’s Prayer as a guide to spiritual formation in the near future? 106

Figure 12. Post-class survey – Do you anticipate this training will impact how you approach your
children’s spiritual formation in the near future? 107

Tables

Table 1. Dollahite and Hawkins Conceptual Ethic of Generative Fathering 45

Table 2. Dollahite and Hawkins Conceptual Ethic of Generative Fathering adapted. 78

Table 3. Prayer Exercise of Confession and Forgiveness 89

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Table 4. 8 Deadly Thoughts vs. 8 Healthy Thoughts 94
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ACKNOWLDEDGEMENTS

Thanks to my own father, Pop, who passed a heritage of spiritual faithfulness, an inquisitive
nature, some of his intellectual capacity, and did his best to love me to the Father.

Thanks to my wife, Becky, who makes me a better man and father every day!

Thanks to my children who have taught me about being loved and learning how to
love. I love you and I am incredibly and profoundly proud of you in more ways than I
could ever express or you could ever know. Thank you for teaching me about
forgiveness by forgiving my short-comings.

Thanks to my brother, David, for leading me to Christ and being a spiritual father
to me.

Thanks to the many men and women I have had the privilege of doing ministry
together and to the many students and alumni I am honored to call friends.

Thanks to Westminster Presbyterian Church and its leadership who encouraged me to
pursue this doctoral ministry program.

Thanks to the men who participated in this project. I enjoyed every moment and
appreciated thoughtful responses and times spent in conversation with you.

Thanks to the Ministry of Emerging Generations Cohort and facilitators. The three
residencies we shared – both inside and outside the classroom – have shaped and formed
me into a better person, follower of Jesus, and minister of the Gospel. And, we had a lot
of FUN!
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