Pray, Daddy, Pray!

There have been a few surprises in the results of our teen questionnaire, but I believe this week's question surprised me the most. Taking into consideration that we polled Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) Church's young people, I found the following quite surprising:

How many times have you heard your father pray at home?
A. Never 30%
B. Every day 52%
C. Occasionally 18%

I figured the "every day" to be a little higher, the "occasionally" to be much higher, and the "never" to be almost 'o'. To my surprise, 30% of our IFB teens have NEVER heard their daddy pray at home.
Now for certain, there will be some teens whose fathers are not saved and this would be understandable, but in light of other answers and the types of homes that were surveyed, this is an unbelievable statistic!
I believe this is a result of the demasculizing of men and the loss of understanding what true Biblical manhood is.
I heard a preacher this week define modern manhood as being defined by our culture as the 'three B's': Ballfield, Bedroom, and Billfold. Today's man is defined by those three in the world, and sadly in most Christian homes. How a man performs and how wealthy he is seem to be the epitome of what a man is today. In the Bible this is NOT SO!
A Biblical man is one who does the following:
1. Teaches His children the Word and Principles of God (Deut 6:1-8)
2. Loves His Wife (Eph. 5:33)
3. Works Hard (Luke 13:14)
4. Is a Godly testimony (Titus 2:2)
5. Does not provoke his children to wrath(Eph. 6:4)
6. Admonishes or encourages his children (Eph. 6:4)
7. Nurtures his family (Eph. 6:4) The word 'nurture' found in this verse means proper discipline and training of mind, moral, and soul. These are what a Biblical Father does! A man cannot accomplish any of these without a consistent prayer life!
It is no wonder that so many of our young people see their mothers as the leaders in the home (32%) when men are not taking their responsibility seriously! It is the father that should lead in family devotions, the father that should lead in prayer in times of great need, the father that prays around the supper table, and the father that is seen consistently on his knees in personal prayer. We need praying fathers!
Now, please don't misunderstand me; I believe a mother should be seen and heard praying as well; but it ought to be understood that daddy is the "prayer leader" of the home.
We are losing a generation of young people to the world, and a sure fire weapon to battle this trend is a father who intercedes and prays with and for his family.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job 1:1-5