Tag: hear

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Listen Attentively to Others

Gracious Lord,
You are never too busy to listen to my prayers. No matter how distant or persistent I may be, your ears are always open. You hear my requests and answer them in the way that is best for me. I pray you never turn your ear or your face away from me.

Let your willingness to listen to me spur on my willingness to listen to others. No matter how busy I may be, keep me always willing to listen attentively to others. So many wish to talk, but so few can patiently and properly listen, too. Use me as a sounding board for others to share and open up, and as I actively listen, make me aware of opportunities to love and serve my neighbor in their need. When so many in today’s world are hurried and rushed, let me stand out by slowing down and listening to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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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

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To Enrich My Prayer Life

Dear Jesus,
Teach me to pray. When I listen to your voice, I am comforted and reassured by your promises and I hear the encouragement and direction I need to faithfully walk in your footsteps. And, when I listen to your voice, it compels me to speak back to you in prayer. But so often I feel as if my prayers are shallow shells when compared to the bold, robust prayers of the faithful believers recorded in your Word. My prayers tend to focus on the physical rather than the spiritual. They are more about me than about others. I frequently struggle even trying to think of what to pray for at all. And, don’t get me started on all of the broken prayer promises I’ve made to others who’ve requested my prayers!

Enrich my prayer life and let your will and your words permeate my prayers, so that my requests and intercessions mirror what you want for others and for me. Help me to balance the physical and the spiritual in my prayers, so that my heart and mind are not preoccupied with what is temporal and worldly. Direct me to pray more often, so that it becomes more and more natural for me and so that my prayer life is enhanced in every good and pleasing way. Bless me with your Word, so that your words may shape more of my own in prayer. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be a Better Listener

Gracious Father,
Good communication involves a variety of different elements, many of which are often ignored or overlooked. In a society that celebrates things like expressing oneself, speaking up, and activism, being a good listener at times seems to be a dying art. Help me to prioritize listening to others rather than focusing on making sure that others hear me. We feel valued when someone takes the time to listen to us, and I want others to sense that when I am communicating with them.

Keep me from listening only long enough to get in the next word. Guard me from being distracted or drifting as I listen, even when the topic or matter of discussion is of little or no interest to me, because the individual does matter to me. Give me discernment to know when others need to me to listen simply because they want to be heard or when they are looking for advice or a solution. Finally, provide me with plenty of practice listening in the best way possible, by hearing you speak to me daily through your Word. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love and Listen to Your Teaching

Patient Teacher,
While the Bible doesn’t reveal with certainty the details of your day on this day, Wednesday of Holy Week, we do know that yesterday, on Tuesday of Holy Week, you enlightened and taught others. When challenged by religious leaders, you seized the opportunity to correct and instruct. When you used parables to teach, you both convicted those who rejected you and comforted those who follow you in faith. 

Like Mary, busy Martha’s sister, lead me to spend more time at your feet, listening to your instruction and guidance in your Word. So often I allow myself to be too busy to learn from you and be blessed by your words. But your Word is life! Not only does the instruction from your Word provide the direction and wisdom I need for this life, but it also feeds my faith for eternal life. May a steady diet of law and gospel continue to sustain and sanctify me daily as you teach me through your Word. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.