DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For Students Preparing for Public Ministry

Holy Spirit,
Be with the many young people at the high school, college, and seminary level of education who are studying and training to serve in the public ministry as pastors and teachers. Thank you for the encouragement and support they received to lead them down this important path. When they are discouraged or frustrated by their workload or requirements, keep in front of them the future joys that accompany the splendid privilege of bringing Jesus to others. Provide them with a variety of positive ministry experiences to spur them on and to guide them in discovering their unique gifts and preferences for ministry. When they are feeling the burden of the cost of this path of education, use your church to meet their needs, and in doing so, endear them even more to ministry. Keep them faithful and focused in their studies, so that they take the same faithful focus with them into ministry.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For Congregations and Schools During a Vacancy

Lord of the Church,
You provide pastors and teachers to preach, teach, train, and equip your people for works of service. Thank you for the blessing they provide to our congregations and classrooms. Let their service to your people – as well as the service and support of your people to them – be a blessing and mutually edify each other.

Be with those ministries experiencing a pastoral or teaching vacancy. Provide temporary solutions for ministry to continue as they wait patiently on your timing for any called worker(s). Turn the challenges of a vacancy into opportunities for blessing. In the absence of a pastor or teacher, make your people more aware of and appreciative of the service rendered by called workers. Lead gifted laypeople to step in and use their gifts wherever possible so that the ministry doesn’t suffer greatly. Intervene in ways that reassure them that you are the Lord of the Church who continues to guide and direct ministry even during a vacancy.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For Worship to Spur on Ministry

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Use your Word and worship today to equip your people to carry out the mission of your church. Let worship serve to remind believers about the unique role the church serves in both growing and going. As we carry out our calling together, we use the same gospel to grow in our faith and to go bring others to faith. While your Holy Spirit does all the heavy lifting of converting souls and nurturing spiritual growth, he does that important work through us.

Since you send pastors and teachers to help prioritize that work and equip and train believers for it, lead many more to choose the path of public ministry so that our congregations and classrooms are not lacking in manpower. Raise up around them zealous disciples who are eager to work together in ministry and give focused attention to your mission of growing and going. Spur on your people all over the world to embrace the joyful privilege of ministry, to be faithful and diligent in carrying it out, and to fully trust in you for the results. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For the Salvation of Many More Souls

Savior God,
Your grace and forgiveness have etched the names of countless souls into the Book of Life. So many have been delivered from darkness into your eternal light as the Holy Spirit has created faith in their hearts through your powerful Word. There is no treasure on earth worth comparing to your gift of faith and the salvation it secures.

Yet there are still more. So many more souls remain lost and condemned. So many souls remain in the darkness and death of unbelief. So many souls wander aimlessly, blindly stumbling toward a final destination of permanent separation and suffering.

There is still so much work to do – so many souls in need of your salvation. Rekindle in your churches and in your people the desire and zeal to prioritize the work of evangelism. Fill the hearts of believers with your Spirit’s fire and create in us all a sense of urgency that refuses to stand by idly or ignorantly as souls are lost daily. Cause your gospel to go viral and spread like nothing else ever has, so that heaven becomes home to multitudes more. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For Freedoms in Country and in Christ

Sacrificial Savior,
On the Fourth of July in the USA, freedom is on our minds. When things like protesting and boycotting are so commonplace, it can be easy for us to forget that so many in the world don’t even have those freedoms. We are able to come and go and design our days and calendars in just about any way we wish because of our freedom. Thank you, Lord – may we never take such freedoms for granted, and always be grateful for the sacrifices made throughout our nation’s history to establish and maintain freedom. 

Yet, as blessed as we are to have the freedoms we do as citizens, your blessings abound even more in light of the freedom we have as Christians. In Christ, we have freedom from the accusations of Satan, from slavery to sin, and from the fear of death. These are by far our greatest freedoms! 

Nevertheless, help us take full advantage of both blessings, using the freedom in country that we have to also express our freedom in Christ. Keep us from allowing our freedom in Christ to turn into freedom from Christ. Our freedom in Christ means we can love and live and breathe Jesus in everything we do. Thank you!

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Listen First and Listen Well

Gracious Father,
You promise us that you hear (and answer!) every prayer offered through faith in the name of Jesus. This assurance means so much to us in a world with so much noise! That you, the Creator of and Ruler over all things, take the time to listen to the countless prayers of your people, both defies our comprehension and delivers us comfort.

Open my heart and my ears to listen to others as you do. We are quick to speak words and share opinions, but ought to be slow to speak and quick to listen instead. It starts with valuing other people and what they have to say. Forgive me for the times I’ve thought so little of others that I didn’t feel they were worth listening to. Just as I appreciate being heard, so also help me to be willing to bend my ear for others. And when I am listening, let me also be aware of my body language, so that I am not conveying disinterest or distraction to others while they speak. In a world of talkers-first, let me be a listener-first.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For a Right Relationship with Food

Dear Lord,
Food is not just a necessity for our bodies, but a gift you give for us to enjoy. Thank you for the variety of flavors, tastes, and textures we find in our food. Thank you for spices and seasonings and different styles of food preparation. You frequently use banquets and food in Scripture to paint so many spiritual pictures for us, all of which help us delight in your promises all the more.

However, we sometimes struggle in our relationship with food. Even though eating disorders may be more frequently associated with women, guys are not immune to them. Keep us from a relationship with food that goes to any extreme. It isn’t merely fuel, but eating can be an experience to be enjoyed. Neither is food merely for pleasure or an escape when we overindulge, but it is nourishment for our bodies. Food itself is neither moral nor amoral; it is rather our relationship with it that determines how we manage it as a blessing. Let us not be ruled or enslaved by it, but always be in control, and see our diet and eating habits as yet another way to honor you as we care for our bodies. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For a Deeper Commitment to You

Committed Savior,
When I consider the level of determination and commitment you demonstrated in carrying out my salvation, not only am I stunned and amazed, but it also causes gratitude to well up inside me. I simply will never be able to grasp the measure of your undeserved love, that you should go to such great lengths for me!

Reflecting on your commitment to me also has another positive effect: it drives me to want to increase my commitment to you in return. Help me to do exactly what you encourage in your Word as I run my race and throw off everything that hinders and entangles me. Those things don’t just slow me down – they are also vying for my focus and attention. Such distractions then also end up watering down my commitment to you, because I am spread too thin with all my concerns. Grant me singular focus, so that my commitment to you diminishes other distractions, and I follow in your footsteps more closely in all areas of my life.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Manage My Anger

Lord Jesus,
When you saw your house being utilized as a marketplace for conducting business and carrying out transactions, rather than a place of prayer and coming into the Father’s presence, your righteous anger flared up. Such anger is truly only justified coming from you alone, as you alone are truly righteous. Therefore, your actions were not carried out in sin.

We can’t say the same. When our anger leads to sinful actions, we cannot claim any righteous anger or moral superiority. Sadly, more often than not, whenever my anger leads to sinful behavior, there’s very little room for any sort of excuse anyway (no matter how hard I might try!).

Remind me that I am the one responsible for my emotions and how I handle them. My rage isn’t permissible simply because someone else set me off. My temper isn’t anyone else’s fault but mine. Help me to control and manage my anger, to recognize when it is setting in, and to be cautious and thoughtful before allowing it to manifest into sinful words or actions. You, who had every right to direct your righteous anger toward every single sinner, chose grace and forgiveness instead. Help me choose the same.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Let Your Forgiveness Flow in Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Worship is valuable for so many reasons, but there is nothing believers long to receive more than the assurance of forgiveness. You distribute your gracious gift of forgiveness to so many in so many different ways. May it provide peace to those who are struggling with shame. Use it to uplift those who never feel like they are enough. Let it ease consciences burdened by guilt. Wherever and by whomever your forgiveness is needed, lavish it richly. Let it ring loudly through songs and hymns of worship. Let preachers proclaim it. Let the readings of Scripture declare it. Let the Supper serve it. Pour out your forgiveness Lord, and through it, build up and equip your church. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.