Tag: guys

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love My Brothers in Christ

Lord Jesus,
In a world that is all too happy to tear down, use me to build others up. I know many brothers in the faith are struggling silently. While they may not be willing to speak up, give me the courage to check in on them by being willing to go deeper than just surface-level exchanges. Prompt me to ask thoughtful questions that open doors to more meaningful conversations. Let my words and body language clearly communicate that I am not seeking to judge or belittle them, but to listen, support, and encourage in any way I can.

So many battles are lost because of isolation and loneliness. Give me the social awareness to be able to identify when my brothers in Christ might be at risk. Make me bold to take the lead in normalizing this behavior, so that others may follow my example and such care and concern among brothers can become a much more common blessing. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Learn to Relax

Dear Rest-Giver,
In a culture that prides itself in productivity, busyness, and putting the pedal to the metal non-stop, some of us lack the ability to relax. We have hard-wired ourselves to either be on the go or on our phones, so that our stress and anxiety levels actually rise when we are faced with unscheduled time and/or detached from a screen. This behavior is not sustainable physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Help me break away!

You won rest for us, a real rest from the stress and worry of our wrongs and failed righteousness. Your gracious forgiveness calms us with a peace that cannot be found anywhere else. Let that peace flow into my daily routine and schedule, so that I can learn to relax in the rest I have in you. I don’t need to – nor can I! – control everything around me. Keep me from getting sucked back into the endlessly spinning hamster wheel of life, and lead me to lean into your rest and both embrace and excel in the art of regular relaxation.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Blessing of Companionship

Dear God,
When you created Adam, you led him to the realization that something was missing. Then you created Eve, his perfect companion. For a brief time, their companionship was perfect. Then, everything came crashing down as a result of sin. Now our motives for companionship are often self-serving and sinful. Companionship itself, even in best-case scenarios, is a far cry from your ideal.

Nevertheless, companionship is a good and pleasing gift from you, and desired by many. Bless those who have someone with whom to share experiences – both the joys and the griefs. Lead them to appreciate and treasure what they have. Give to those without companions either a spirit of contentment and satisfaction with their lot in life, or a willingness to continue the pursuit with persistence until they find someone. Finally, help us all to appreciate the enduring companionship we have with you now and for eternity. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Avoid Allowing Doubt to Linger

Faith-sustaining Spirit,
We all deal with doubt, and not all doubt is necessarily bad. In scenarios that involve uncertainty, doubts cause us to pause and consider the possible risks and dangerous outcomes of our actions. Those kinds of doubts can keep us from making a poor decision. 

But doubt can also cripple us, causing us to freeze up with fear and fail to move forward. Too much doubt can stifle progress and limit us in life. Doubt, especially long-term, long-held doubt, can damage our relationship with Jesus and slowly allow our faith to erode. 

But we have something to counter and crush that doubt: the Resurrection! There is no doubt about it, and because he lives, whenever doubts arise, we can confidently address them and let you dispel them through the power of your Word. Take any of my doubts about you or your promises and transform them into an immovable trust, anchored in the certainty of the Resurrection.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Work Repentance in the Impenitent

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Your desire is to serve believers with your grace and forgiveness that flows from Word and Sacrament when we gather for worship. For that reason, we rejoice over everyone who shows up in your house. 

But each one of us brings our own unique baggage and burdens with us. This morning I pray for those who are carrying the weight of unconfessed sin. Let your law expose their impenitence today. No matter the reason behind it, whether they are in the realm of shame and despair over their sin, or closer to hardened indifference, work in them contrition over their sin that prompts repentant confession. Then, when they humbly and penitently lay their sin at your cross, direct the eyes of their faith to your empty tomb, to assure them that your Resurrection guarantees them grace and forgiveness. Renew their hearts and lift up their spirits with the joy of salvation and the gratitude-fueled desire to put their sin behind them and walk with you.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Success… as You Define It

Gracious God,
People sacrifice countless hours and spend endless amounts of energy chasing after success, however they define it. While success is, for the most part, a good and positive thing, becoming consumed with the pursuit of it is not. When we demand it at all costs and refuse to settle for anything less, success has become our idol, our first love. 

As I ask you for success in my life, I do so submitting myself to your definition of it. Grant me success as you define it and as you determine is best for me and for my neighbor. Protect my heart from an unhealthy drive to achieve success that would compromise my morals or disregard how I treat others. No success is worth going against the framework of my faith. When you do grant me success, ensure that it is followed up with plenty of gratitude, fully acknowledging it as a gift from you. Use this thanksgiving to keep me humble, so that I do not allow my pride to get its foot in the door and demand recognition for your gift of success. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Your Gift of Time and Managing It Well

Loving Lord,
Your gift of time is a tremendous blessing. Along with this blessing comes the great responsibility of managing it. It can be a challenge just to stay on top of the daily routine and schedule. Give me the discipline and discernment to prioritize and accomplish whatever needs to get done ahead of whatever I might prefer to do. 

When you allow unscheduled free time in my days, help me to manage my use of it, starting with how I view it. When I see it selfishly as my own, to be spent as I choose, then I tend to defend it against all else and resent others who “steal” it from me. But, when I see it as a gift from you that can also be a blessing to others, it broadens my perspective and frees me from selfishness.

Guide me to strike a balance between productivity and pleasure in my free time, and generate genuine excitement in me to consider the ways I might use those extra gifts of time to bless and impact others. Finally, as I strive to maximize my use of the time of grace you give me for as long as I have left, let my days, whatever their number may be, be filled with honoring you in my use of your gift of time. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Gift of Competition

Victorious Lord,
While each and every one of us is uniquely and wonderfully made, we also appreciate certain generalizations that appear to apply to each sex. The blessing of competition, for example, is certainly enjoyed by women as well, but generally to a different degree than men. We tend to be sports fanatics, not only going overboard at times in cheering for our teams, but also in our parenting when we push our children too hard athletically or even academically or artistically. When we lose control as fans or when we allow our children’s sports or extracurriculars to shape our schedules, we’ve taken the gift of competition too far. When we must win at all costs, we have crossed the line. Forgive us.

But under control, competition can certainly enrich our lives. Even little things, like turning daily and menial tasks into our own personal competitions, can keep us interested and engaged. The desire to win in competition often leads to self-improvement and better physical health. Those who excel at the highest levels of competition can inspire us as we appreciate their drive and dedication to be the best. Help me to show my appreciation and gratitude for the gift of competition in how I approach and manage it at every level, whether as a participant or a spectator. In all respects, let competition be for me yet another way to honor you.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Conversion of Others

Dear Redeemer,
I am grateful for the many believers you have placed in my life to support and encourage me in my faith. But not everyone in my circles believes, and I boldly ask for you to change that. Whether it is through my relationship with them and my efforts to lead them to faith in you, or by any other means, I humbly ask that you lead them to know and believe in you as their Savior. Let your law convince them of the inescapable reality of their sin, the undeniable truth that they can never attain the perfection you require of them, and the conclusion that they can do nothing to save themselves. 

Then, reach into their despair and hopelessness with the good news of your gospel. Show them that you alone are the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that no one is saved apart from you, but that all can be saved through faith in you. Open the eyes of their heart to see your perfection as theirs, and your payment for their sin as complete. Grant them the joy of salvation and the hope of eternal life. 

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.