Tag: guys

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Overcome My Impatience

Patient Lord,
I ask you to forgive my impatience, which often translates into rash responses. Moreover, it reveals a double standard on my part, as I appreciate and even expect your patience with me, yet fail to demonstrate that same patience with others.

Remind me that I am not the one in control. I do not govern time or dictate how others perceive or manage it either. Instead, give me the grace to wait patiently. Open my eyes to see when it is my own lack of planning or preparation that is part of the problem, and help me to give more attention to such details initially so that they don’t pave the way for my impatience later on. As I wait on progress or growth from others, and I don’t perceive it to be happening as quickly as I would like, help me instead to appreciate the variety and uniqueness with which you have created every human being.

When I feel my impatience growing, slow my speedy expectations and replace them with the joyful appreciation of time to wait, reflect, and simply enjoy the blessings of being present in those moments. Thank you, Lord, for your patience with me.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Not Withhold Forgiveness

Forgiving Father,
Help me forgive others. While forgiveness is central to the Christian faith, there are times I struggle to forgive others. There are some sins, some hurts, some wrongs, that are just difficult to move past, whether directed at me or others. Other times the issue is that I manufacture my own ideas of behavior or words that I demand to see from others so that I can determine if they are remorseful enough to deserve my forgiveness. 

But that isn’t how forgiveness works when you extend it to me. Neither should I allow it to be my approach when forgiving others. Help me to let go of anything I might harbor in my heart that would hinder me from freely forgiving others. When my own self-righteousness, bitterness, or resentment interfere with my forgiving of others, sweep such sin out of my heart. Instead, let my forgiveness be full and swift, no matter the wrong committed or the individual who committed it. In that way let my forgiveness toward others imitate your forgiveness toward me.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Reformation Blessings

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Today and this week, as many congregations highlight the Reformation in their worship and joint services, use the celebration of the revealed and restored gospel to fill many hearts with great joy. Thank you for those who have gone before us and stood firmly in the face of opposition and false teaching to contend for the truth of your Word. Because of their tremendous sacrifices, guided always by your Holy Spirit, the Bible remains unchained and Jesus is boldly proclaimed. As we gather for worship to hear it, speak it, and sing it, renew our appreciation for the freedom we have to make your Word central to our worship. May we always be ready and willing to reform anything that would compromise, confuse, or hinder your gospel, so that for generations to come, it may continue to refresh weary souls and breath life into the lost.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Those Dealing with Depression

Faithful Father,
Lift up all who are struggling in the throes of depression. Intervene and keep them from being dragged down deeper into the depths. Whether or not they have been clinically diagnosed, your peace provides real power for those who struggle with any measure of depression. Your presence and your ever-present promises are a life-line to those who feel sunk or are sinking. Deflect their thinking away from negative thoughts that tear down or discourage. Instead, fix their thoughts on what is good, positive, and pure. Allow them to dwell on all you have done for them in the past, present, and future, always keeping your Word and always acting on behalf of your people. Counter any lies they are believing with the truths of Scripture. Where medication has shown promise or has been helpful, grant the doctors who prescribe it the wisdom to administer it properly and continue to bless its effectiveness. In whatever way you see fit, bring them out of the darkness into your wonderful light, restoring for them the hope we all can have in you.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the People You’ve Placed in My Life

Triune God,
When I think of all the people you have placed in my life, I am grateful. Over time, so many others have left their mark in my life. Still today, so many surround me with encouragement, support, and direction, as well as correction and rebuke when necessary. When I consider the impact others have had in my life and the roles they have played, it is quite clear that your intent was never for our walk of faith to be one lived and carried out in isolation. I thank you for those who bless and challenge me in so many ways, and I ask you to bless them in return.

Bless my biological family and my church family. Bless my friends in general, both far-away and nearby, and especially those with whom I share tighter bonds and closer connections. Bless my neighbors and coworkers. Bless my online connections, and bless those right now whom you plan to bring into my life at some point in the future. Continue to weave your blessings into my life and into the lives of many through all of these interconnected relationships.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Respond to Enemies With Love

God of Love,
There is no greater example in history of what it looks like to love your enemy than the example Jesus set for us. It wasn’t only at his death that he faced the hatred of enemies in word and actions, but also during his life. Yet we hear no lashing out from his lips, no hate-fueled words spewed out in anger. His response to those who hated him was to love them back.

Give me that heart for those who hate me or wish evil on me or who mistreat me. Do not allow me to waste even a second of my time entertaining possible malicious actions in response. Keep me from trying to mentally justify any potentially vicious verbal comebacks. Instead, let my words and actions toward the bad people in my life model the loving grace you have shown me. The world celebrates the quick-witted put-down or snappy insult against those who mistreat us. Let me, though, model the godly picture of character and strength in how I choose instead to love others, including those who don’t care for me or even hate me.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be a Man of My Word

Dedicated Savior,
The more I become a man of your Word, the more I desire also to become a man of my word. I confess that hasn’t always been the case. At times I have nonchalantly agreed to this or that with no real intention of following through. I have also had good intentions of keeping my word, only to absent-mindedly forget later on. 

I want to be known as someone who follows through and does what he says he is going to do. You tell us to let our yes be yes and our no be no. When I make a commitment, therefore, I want to keep it. That requires me to carefully consider any potential commitments before agreeing to them. Then, when I do say yes to something, grant me the necessary organizational skills to keep track of my obligations, and the focus to follow through with them. Lead others to see me as someone who can be counted on to do what he says he will do. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be a Man of Your Word

Righteous Savior,
Help me to be a man of your Word. Anything I aspire to be or do as a Christian man comes down to the work the Holy Spirit must accomplish in me. Since the Bible is his tool of choice to shape and develop me into the godly man I want to be and you call me to be, considerable time in the Word must be a non-negotiable for me. Through your Spirit, free me from any other unnecessary attractions or addictions that have for too long robbed me of potentially precious time in your Word. Expose any weak excuses or lies that I have told myself to justify my neglect of your Word. 

Let your grace and forgiveness wash over me and renew me. Create in me a yearning desire for time in your Word. Satisfy me with your powerful promises and through them build me into a bold, confident Christian soldier, well-equipped to carry out your will and to face the enemy. Daily refresh and rejuvenate my spirit with your Word and let me find great joy and delight in every moment I share with you through it.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For a Healthy Appreciation of Sports

Gracious God,
There are so many good things you give us in life that provide added and undeserved joys. Included among those good things is the gift of sports. Being able to be engaged in competition as either a participant or a spectator can be a uniquely exhilarating experience. Cheering on and supporting our favorite team(s), whether we’re celebrating championships, lamenting down seasons, or stirring up rivalries, are all ways we bond together with others, too.

As with so many of your good gifts, they can be taken too far. Keep sports from taking an idolatrous shape in my heart and creeping into that spot of my first and greatest love. Help me to enjoy them in moderation, and not get too emotionally attached to wins or losses. Let me be willing to see the necessary situations in which I need to make sacrifices regarding my love of sports in order to give attention to more important matters. Permit healthy boundaries to exist so that sports are allowed their place without encroaching or overshadowing other areas of life. Let them remain a source of joy rather than something that robs joy from other areas of life.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Those Who Serve on Sundays

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. While many of us are focused on the typical Sunday morning routine of waking up, getting dressed, and arriving at church on time, there are others for whom Sunday worship is an opportunity to serve. Thank you for the many who not only get your house ready for worship, but who also serve before, during, and after worship so that we can be fed the Bread of Life. Fill those serving with a godly pride as they embrace the privilege of serving you in these ways. Give them meaning and purpose as they carry out their work faithfully, and grant them the satisfaction of a job well done in your name. May their service to you be a blessing for them as well as other worshippers.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.