How can children who come from dysfunctional or abusive families begin to embrace the perfect fatherhood of God? Many factors in our lives condition us and influence how we approach God. That is the case today in an email from an international listener to the podcast, a teenager. “Hello, Pastor John! I’m a 14-year-old and a rather new listener to the podcast. I live in Southeast Asia. I have a question about fear — specifically, my fear of becoming close with God in the Bible and through prayer. I find myself longing to be connected with God but constantly feeling repelled away from him too. I don’t get the familial feelings that I should have. I suspect it could be because my relationship with my parents is bad. My mother has been abusive in the past. And I never knew my father until recently. He is unstable. My family is a real mess. How do you think family dysfunctions affect our relationship to God?” Read or listen to this interview at our website: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/hope-for-children-from-dysfunctional-families Find other recent and popular Ask Pastor John episodes: https://www.desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-john