Tag: healthy

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Healthy Outside Friendships in Marriage

Dear Jesus,
While husbands and wives often refer to each other as their best friend, we also thank you for the blessings of friendships outside the marriage. When those friends are other couples with whom each spouse gets along, bless those unique friendships with a mutual desire to support and encourage each other in marriage. Let his guy friends be a positive influence on him, serve as godly examples, and speak well of marriage and the opposite sex. Let her girl friends serve as trustworthy sounding boards, sources of edifying conversation, and those with whom to share the joys unique to wives and mothers. Use these healthy outside relationships always and only to bless and complement the friendship between spouses, rather than overshadow or replace it. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Healthy Sex Lives in Marriage

Gracious Savior,
In our sex-crazed society, we have disregarded and despised your design for sex, and we have suffered tremendously because of it. This treasured gift is spoiled when shared between anyone other than a husband and wife, and that widespread abuse has also negatively influenced physical intimacy in otherwise healthy Christian marriages. Sex depicted in movies and media paints an unrealistic picture of expectations and consequences for sex as God intended it. Moreover, too many Christian marriages are sex-starved for sinful reasons. Bring your healing and hope to marriages that have been damaged greatly by pornography or adultery. When drive and desire for sex are mismatched between spouses, let healthy communication be regularly present, and let it be guided by a god-pleasing view of sex where selfless service overshadows selfish insistence. Let your gift of sex be the amazing blessing you intend it to be between faithful, committed, sacrificial spouses. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Those in Support Groups

Gracious Savior,
Struggling with loss, addiction, or other adversities in life can be debilitating for many. Thankfully, there are many support groups that exist for people experiencing these kinds of challenges. Use these groups to be a blessing to all who attend them, if for no other reason than to let them know that others can relate to their struggles. Equip those who facilitate support groups with social awareness, compassion, and empathy, while also granting them the firm resolve to speak what needs to be said to those who need to hear it. Help participants discern when to share and when to simply listen. Use friends and family to keep encouraging those who are reluctant to attend, so they might eventually benefit from being a part of a community of people in a similar season of life. Whenever possible, use these groups – and the believers in them – to lead others to you, so they find unparalleled hope, meaning, and purpose to overcome their adversities.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Appreciate Your Blessings in Moderation

Caring Father,
You have blessed us with so many good things, and for that we will always be grateful. Nevertheless, because our sinful nature is so susceptible to developing unhealthy connections with your blessings, we need your help. Lead me, Lord, to strive for moderation in all things. I can enjoy good food without gorging. I can limit myself to watching one episode at a time. A single new clothing item can bring joy without purchasing a whole new wardrobe. I can do without buying the unnecessary extra thing just to get free shipping. Grant me a content heart and the self-discipline to admire without having to acquire. Make excess the exception and satisfy me with what is sufficient. Help me honor you with a life of moderation.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Honor You With Healthy Diets

Generous Lord,
When it comes to the daily bread with which you feed us, we are tremendously blessed. You provide us with an abundance of food that far surpasses any level of providence in history. While there is so much that caters to our cravings and does more harm than good for our bodies, we also have a wealth of healthy options that you richly provide for our bodily good. Thank you for fresh fruits and vegetables available to us all year long. Thank you for vitamins and supplements, which, in moderation, can help provide essential nutrients for our bodies. Thank you for the wisdom and understanding we have of dietary health and how it can help or harm us. Out of gratitude for all of these blessings, lead us to honor you in how we choose what to put into our bodies. Help us strive to maintain and care for the bodies you have gifted to us so that they enable us to carry out all that you have planned for us in our lives. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Spouses to Pray With and for Each Other

Dear Savior,
You command us to pray, invite us to pray, and promise to bless us as we pray. If these truths all apply to us individually, then surely any marriage will be enriched when spouses enjoy healthy prayer lives. Move husbands and wives to pray with and to pray for each other. Lead them to be open, genuine, and vulnerable with each other, fostering a close connection that allows them to build a powerful prayer life together. Build them up in their faith so that prayer becomes as natural as breathing. Through a healthy prayer life, deepen spouses’ spiritual intimacy with you and with each other, and use their prayers as a dynamic force for good in your church and in their communities. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Trust in Marriages

Loving Lord,
Trust is foundational to any healthy marriage. When husbands and wives trust each other, their relationship thrives. But once that trust is lost or broken, it is not easily restored. Therefore, guide spouses to be thoughtful about how their words and actions create trust. It isn’t built accidentally or automatically, but deliberately. Steer them away from half-truths, questionable or unwise behavior, and a lack of boundaries with the opposite sex. Instill honest communication, transparency, and truth in their relationship. Lead husbands, who often tend to be light on words and communication, to consider how their lack of communication can raise doubt or uncertainty for their wife. Help wives to speak their intentions clearly to their husband and not say one thing while meaning something else, mistakenly assuming their husband can read their minds. Grant husbands and wives the continuous desire to actively pursue each other, so that as their affection and connection grow, so does their trust. And ultimately, Lord, increase their trust in you, which will also deepen their trust in each other. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Love and Care for My Body and Life

Loving Father,
While I acknowledge that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I must confess that I do not always reflect that in how I take care of – or rather neglect – my body. Indeed, if the attention and care I give to my physical health serve to indicate how much I value my body and life, I am embarrassed to admit the conclusion anyone would have to draw. I am sorry. Forgive me.

Thankfully, that is exactly what you do: forgive me. I do not live under shame or guilt, but under grace. You do not delight in finding fault, but in forgiving. The new life you daily call me to live in through my baptism is not merely spiritual, but flows into the blessing of physical as well. Since you redeemed not just my soul, but my body as well, steer me away from viewing it pessimistically or speaking of it pejoratively, and elevate how I view my own body. Whatever size and shape it is, help me to embrace and love it as you do – a gift to be cared for. Instill in me a healthy mindset that celebrates progress over perfection regarding exercise, working out, and anything that seeks to avoid being overly sedentary. Thank you for my body and life, and for the godly desire to treasure and care for them.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For Healthy Drinking Habits

Dear Lord,
Keep me honest when it comes to my relationship with alcohol. Being aware of my susceptibility to self-deception regarding my drinking habits is essential for maintaining control. When I convince myself that addictions or alcoholism are only problems other people have, I’ve already let my guard down and have become vulnerable. Let me be aware of signs of concern, help me establish healthy boundaries and limitations for myself, and give me the courage to permit others to provide additional guardrails of accountability. Through these channels, shield me from ever normalizing excessive drinking, and allow alcohol to remain a blessing in the area of Christian freedom, always enjoyed in moderation. Remind me regularly that even eating and drinking are done to your glory.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Appreciate the Blessing of Food

Providential Father,
Though so easily taken for granted, thank you for the blessing of food. While food is certainly fuel that you provide to nourish and sustain our bodies, it is also a blessing to be enjoyed and appreciated. You paint pictures of banquets and celebrations in Scripture using imagery of delicious food and wine, and such descriptions are relatable to us because of memorable experiences we’ve had that involved food. The variety of tastes and flavors and the science behind how food is prepared and served are fascinating reminders of your generosity and how marvelously blessed we are.

Let our relationship with food be a healthy one, grounded in moderation and avoiding the extremes of malnourishing our bodies or overindulging. Guard us against gluttony. Intervene on behalf of those who are starving and open channels by which they can be fed. Provide wise counsel, support, and real help to those who struggle with eating disorders, and mercifully spare their bodies from long-term damage. Guide our decision-making when it comes to eating so that we embrace food as another blessing by which we can glorify and honor you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.