DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Those Being Confirmed in Christ

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. This time of year, many young people who have been instructed in the teachings of the Christian faith are being confirmed. Bless them as they confess their faith in Jesus and make their promises to you and to their congregations to remain in their faith and grow in it. Keep them from taking their vows lightly and lead them to a clear understanding of how important they are. Instill in each class of confirmands a camaraderie and sense of spiritual responsibility for each other, so they can encourage each other and hold each other accountable. Guide parents to faithfully carry out their roles of modeling the faith in the home. Lead congregations to embrace their responsibility of continuing to shepherd these young people and prioritize their spiritual health. Draw all confirmands continually closer to their Savior and keep them faithful to the end, so that each may receive the crown of life Christ won for them. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Fix My “Me First”

God of Grace,
Your grace is never without effect! It brought me out of darkness into your wonderful light. It has forever changed how I see myself and my time in this world. We are all born into this world with a “me first” mentality that puts self before everyone else. But your grace turns that “me first” mentality into a mantra for Christian living that is eager to take initiative in serving others.

Rather than looking for reasons I can’t or excuses to get me out of meeting someone else’s needs, I ask “Why not me?” If I can, when I can, lead me to proactively love others, not waiting to be asked or pausing in hopes that others step in first. Infuse me with the gospel and your grace to instill in me the drive to jump in and radically love others. Free me from the selfish “me first” and replace it with a selfless “me first” that finds great joy and fulfillment in loving others – for this is yet one more way I can express my love for you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Evangelically

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. When it comes to loving others, you aren’t merely concerned that we love others, but also why we love them. When we go through the motions and treat our service to others like a checklist that needs to be completed or a deed that needs to get done, we miss the point. I want to lead others evangelically – that is, motivated and empowered by the power of the gospel, the good news of God’s grace that we are saved through faith in you alone.

The gospel filters how I view others – as souls for whom you died, and as individuals loved and treasured by you. When I forget this, loving others takes a back seat to serving self. But when I remember this, how can I do anything but love those loved by you? Help me to remember that my loving service to others may be the first step that eventually results in their experiencing your love through the joy of the gospel. Finally, in order to love others evangelically, create in me the constant hunger to be personally filled up with the gospel regularly, so that it naturally flows through me to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Others Voluntarily

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. While you command us to love others, it isn’t the threat of punishment or the fear of consequence behind that command that drives us, but rather your fierce and freeing love for us that compels us. By your perfect obedience and the outpouring of grace and forgiveness that flows from the cross, we are no longer slaves under the law.

Therefore, in this new life of freedom, I ask that you create in me the genuine desire to voluntarily seek out opportunities to love others. Make my will like yours, seeking to lead others voluntarily in love. Remove from me all reluctance and resentment tied to your command to love others, and replace those sentiments with eagerness and excitement to display your love to others through my loving service. As I voluntarily render this loving service to others, use my example to initiate and inspire waves of love to continue spreading everywhere, so that believers everywhere help make your love become more and more prevalent all over the world.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love Others (more than myself!)

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. When it comes to loving myself, I’m a natural – I was born into this world thinking that I’m the most important person in it! And, as much as I try convince myself that the reason it’s so difficult to love others has more to do with them, the real reason it’s hard is that I simply love myself too much. Forgive me, and turn my love away from self and onto others, just as you did perfectly.

Leading others in love is truly challenging. It’s easy for me to make it more about how I prefer to show or speak love into them than about what they really need. Help me let go of my insistence on loving others on my terms and free me to better love others on theirs. Whether it’s the biological family under my roof, my church family, or my neighborhood and community, opportunities abound to love others. Guide me to manage my time in a way that allows me to love others whenever doors open to do so each day. Grant me the joy of seeing the impact you can make when you use me to lead others with love. Through my Christ-like love for others, let it also be clear to others that I am your disciple.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Lead with Love

Loving Savior,
This week I ask that you help me better see how to LOVE: Lead Others Voluntarily & Evangelically. I thank you for the blessings I have personally received from having gifted leaders in my life. Their leadership has inspired me and spurred me on to grow and develop in different areas of life. You use gifted leaders to build up your church in many ways.

The thought of leading can be intimidating to many. However, when we remember that leadership is essentially influencing others, we can see a number of ways that leading in love can be very impactful. Leading with love means that I take the initiative to serve others and meet needs as they arise, rather than waiting for others to step up. When I love proactively in these ways, I positively influence others, and my love becomes a visible, tangible thing, rather than just a concept or a feeling. Curb any temptation in me to confuse influential leadership with manipulation that would seek to use other people or situations for self-serving purposes. Instead, let me lead with love as Jesus did, and use my example to shape how others view love and put it into practice, too. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Display My Discipleship Through Love

Dear Lord,
The world will know we are your disciples by the way we love one another. How easily we forget this! We slip into thinking that other issues like political views or certain social standards should serve as the giveaways to let others know we are Christians. Keep me from falling into this rut and lead me always to see that love is the better way. As challenging as it can be to love others, you have equipped us well, for your radical love set the standard we strive for. Lead us to love others not primarily as we prefer to express it, but instead, according to their needs. Our desire is for others to see your love extended through us so that ultimately, they might be drawn to you and your incomparable love. Help me to love in this way!

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Anxious Preachers

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Thank you for the many preachers who bring us your Word each week. Because each of us is wonderfully and uniquely made, it is natural that you dispense a variety of gifts and interests to pastors. Some are eager and excited to preach, and doing so energizes them. Other pastors, however, are nervous and even nauseous at times, and preaching drains them. 

Be with those pastors whose anxiety levels rise as the responsibility of preaching nears, no matter how many years they’ve been serving. Calm their fears with the reminder that it is the Message – and not the messenger – which is powerful and effective in preaching. The Holy Spirit does not rely on preachers to make his Word palatable or pleasing; he simply requires proclaimers so that he can work law and gospel into the hearts of his hearers. Steer preachers away from the temptation of trying to be someone or something they’re not when preaching, and fill them instead with a simple confidence in your work through your Word. Take their timidity and transform it into a fearless faith that stirs their heart and their preaching, and bless all those listening to them. Build up your church through bold preachers. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Mothers Who Have Lost Children

Dear Father,
As we honor mothers this week in prayer, I pray today for mothers who have lost a child. Some mothers have endured agonizingly long bouts of sickness in their children, only to see them lose their battle. Others have lost children through sudden and unexpected tragedy. However that loss occurs, it brings with it a unique and painful kind of grief. 

When that pain is raw and recent, reassure those mothers that you grieve with them and that they are never alone. Give them space to mourn, and when the well intentioned words and condolences of others miss the mark, help mothers to receive them with patience and grace. When years have passed and the pain still lingers, begin to shift the recollection of past memories from being a source of pain to becoming treasured keepsakes in the heart. Where possible and as you see fit, dull the sharp sting of death even the slightest bit with the blessing of additional children. Finally, allow the Resurrection to foster a deeper appreciation for the hope mothers have in knowing that death doesn’t have the final say. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Mothers of Teenagers and Adult Children

Dear Father,
As we honor mothers this week in prayer, I pray today for mothers of teenagers and adult children. As our children grow, they become more independent. At times, especially during the teenage years, that independence and general season of life can be turbulent. This often results in added friction in the relationship between teenagers and mothers. A similar tension is not uncommon when children become adults. As they develop additional relationships in these later years, including the establishment of their own families, their dependence on mothers decreases. 

Nevertheless, lead all children, regardless of age, to honor their mothers, in keeping with the Fourth Commandment. While the role of mothers transitions from one season of their child’s life to the next, keep their special connection strong. Help children to always treasure the love and care of their mother. Help mothers to respect the relationship boundaries their children establish with spouses, careful not to overstep them. Grant both mother and child grace and patience, and guide them to navigate their relationship by seeking to understand the other’s perspective. Bless the bond of mother and child, no matter the age. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.