Lord of Love, Married men face unique challenges. In marriage, they have committed to living sacrificially for their wives, multiplying their obligations. Marriage also means setting aside or compromising many of their own personal preferences and interests. When you bless them to be fathers, their responsibilities increase even more. Keep them from becoming overwhelmed in their vocations as husbands and fathers, while also guarding them from securing their identities through these roles. When they envy single men, hold out before them the rich blessings you extend to them through their families. Keep them faithful to their wives and families. Let every husband’s passion and desire be directed to his wife alone, and bless that devotion with sexual satisfaction and fulfillment in her alone. Equip husbands by your Spirit to be the spiritual leaders in their homes. Raise up their wives to fill them with love and support, so that they are able to carry out their God-given roles, bringing glory to you as they serve their families.
Lord God, Single men face unique challenges. When they feel the social pressure to be dating or in pursuit of a girlfriend, relieve that pressure by granting them a spirit of contentment with their current station in life. Assure them that they are not somehow incomplete or inferior in comparison to others who are married or dating. If they struggle with insecurities, direct their attention away from themselves to you, where they truly find all that they need. Diminish the urges of temptation in their lives by creating in them the godly desire to pursue your righteousness and deepen their faith. Fulfill them in their vocations and satisfy them with work faithfully and well done. Let them know their contributions at work, in your church, and in their communities are appreciated. Bless them with hobbies and interests that provide rejuvenation and relaxation. Remind them that because of Christ, their lives have meaning and that they matter greatly to you.
For the Influence of God-Fearing Men on Younger Generations
Lord God, Our society is seeing a real need for mentorship for young men. They need strong male role models who provide an alternative to counter the narrative of toxic masculinity. Raise up solid mentors who welcome the opportunity to positively influence the younger generation. Make them first men of THE Word, and second, men of their word. Let them model godliness in every area of life, leading with humility, integrity, drive, self-discipline, compassion, and grace. Direct young men to see these examples in other men and seek to emulate them. Move godly women to praise and celebrate these relationships whenever they are evident, realizing that the influence of God-fearing men on young males will bear desirable fruit in families, relationships, and society in general.
Faithful Father, You call us to grow in grace. That growth cannot happen apart from your Word. While we have unlimited resources available to us to be in that Word on our own, you never intended for us only to be in your Word alone. You call us to gather with other believers and brothers in the faith. When men confess the Christian faith, but neglect meeting together with other Christians for worship, Bible study, or even fellowship, we are right to be concerned. Satan knows there is strength in numbers within the body of Christ, so he is much more likely to ambush and attack men who insist on going it alone.
Give me the godly courage to express my concern to them with the confidence that your design for growing together is more suitable than their insistence that they are just fine on their own. Move them to see the strength found in the support, encouragement, and accountability of community with brothers in Christ. Call them out of isolation and into the transformation that the Holy Spirit works as your Word pours into us and through us together, shaping us into the men of God we want to be and you call us to be.
Lord God, Raise up believing men everywhere to take seriously your charge to be spiritual leaders. Some are lukewarm, lazy or apathetic. Others are insecure, lack confidence, or don’t know the first step. Still others are too comfortable passing off their God-given responsibility to their wives and other women. Work repentance and renewal in the hearts of Christian men everywhere and empower them with your Holy Spirit.
Eliminate their indifference. Replace their timidity with trust. Guide them with your Word. Place other spiritually mature men in their lives to model and mentor what godly leadership looks like when men step into the roles you created them to fill. Let their impact be felt in marriages, families, congregations, and even whole communities as you stir up in them a spiritual fervor to hold high the banner of your gospel. Bless them and produce abundant fruit through their efforts in tending to your kingdom.
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.
Dear Jesus, I am grateful that you haven’t called me to follow in your footsteps alone, but have always brought brothers in the Christian faith to walk alongside me. While fellowshipping and staying connected with fellow Christians in general is a blessing, there is a unique friendship shared between men of faith. That relationship is even more impactful when guys share a particularly tight bond. David had Jonathan. Jesus had his inner circle of disciples. We have those who know us well enough to call us out and correct us when we need a rebuke or admonishment. But those same individuals are also right there to celebrate when they notice the spiritual progress that you work in us.
These connections nurture accountability and help foster a growth mindset. Guys are better when we grow together, rather than allowing ourselves to go it alone and fall into isolation. Thank you for the men you have put in my life who care about my soul and spiritual health enough to call me out, take me under their wing, or whatever other good you may work in my life through them. Continue to bless Christian men everywhere with other Christian men nearby to walk with you and live for you together.
So is being the one in the position of having to even consider having such a procedure carried out on her own body, as well as the tiny body given life in her womb. My heart goes out to every expectant mother ever having to wrestle with such a gut-wrenching decision when two lives are at stake.
In this era of “toxic masculinity,” however, I will refrain from telling women what they should do with “their own bodies” (the ones which in reality belong to the gracious God who formed and redeemed them…). Instead, let me steer the conversation in a little different direction and focus on what too often has been too little a part of the discussion: Me.
Men.
After all, lest we forgot how the whole process works and how children are conceived in the first place – men, I think we have a role to play here. Think about that. Men, if we played our part the way we ought to, instead of treating women like scorecards and God’s gift of sex like an itch to scratch, it’s not likely we’d be where we are today, giving so much attention to such an atrocity as abortion. In case I’m not being clear enough, let me put it bluntly: we’re a REALLY big part of the problem. We’ve failed to live up to our noble role of husband-to-wife, head-to-helper, simply because we cannot control ourselves enough to reserve our passions for one woman for life. We’ve allowed the blessing of marriage to become marginalized. We’ve debased, devalued, and degraded sex by tearing it away from the marriage boundary for the purpose of self-gratification, instead of protecting it as the most selfless expression of love by which a spouse is served.
But, there is hope, for what we have been in the past does not need to be who we are today or who we will be in the future.
“Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor… adulterers… will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
(1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NIV)
“Washed.” “Sanctified.” “Justified.” Men, those are powerful realities in Jesus! They are the kind of realities that change a man! They are the kind of realities that free men from being tied to the world’s cluelessly distorted definition of manhood and marriage. They are the kind of realities that free men to embrace and strive for their God-designed role in marriage to sacrificially “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25).
Tell me our society wouldn’t be better for it if every man would “leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). Tell me marriages wouldn’t be better for it if they actually lasted “till death do us part” and husbands committed to strengthening their oneness bond with their wife. Tell me women wouldn’t be better for it if they had the security of a committed husband in their marriage. Tell me children wouldn’t be better for it with committed husbands doubling as dedicated E64 fathers to serve as loving, protective superheroes for their kids.
Tell me unborn children wouldn’t be better off if the only thing we ever aborted… was any discussion of abortion in the first place.
Men, we have more power to actually make that a reality than we realize. Let’s do more to own up to our role in this matter and realize that we need to be a bigger part of the conversation. Unborn lives depend on it.
