DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Seek First Your Kingdom and Your Righteousness

Lord God,
You promise me that when I seek your kingdom and your righteousness first, I don’t need to worry about the necessities, for you will provide for all of them. Nevertheless, even when my priorities are out of order, and I allow your kingdom and righteousness to drop down on my priority list, you still provide for me no matter what. How good you are to me! Let your goodness inspire my devotion and my dedication to you and to the labor that impacts and builds up your kingdom. Let spiritual concerns be on the receiving end of my best efforts. Empower me with your Spirit through your Word, so that I am equipped to effectively carry out my callings in and for your kingdom.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Prioritize Prayer

Caring Father,
You invite me to bring everything to you in prayer. Nevertheless, prayer too often remains the last resort in my mind. I calculate and ruminate on the weighty matters going on in my life, then I try to address them in the way I think is best. When things don’t go as planned, I troubleshoot and try again, only to end up disappointed once more. After I’ve exhausted my own solutions and failed attempts at fixing things, then I finally think to bring it to you in prayer.

Turn that around for me, Lord. Let prayer be the priority and first step in my life – not just when things go wrong, but at all times, in praise and thanksgiving as well. A healthy prayer life reinforces my trust in you by training me to depend on you for all things and to hold you to your promises with humble confidence. Use prayer also to drive me to your Word regularly to seek your kingdom and righteousness. Sharpen the focus of my eyes of faith so that I also see more clearly the many ways you graciously answer my prayers, leading me to rejoice all the more. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Become a Man of Prayer

Ever-Present Father,
You are always willing to bend your ear to our prayers. But your willingness to hear our prayers fails to be matched by our willingness to offer them. Too often prayer is a last resort. Too frequently we mindlessly mumble words of prayer while our minds are elsewhere. Too many times our prayers are not offered up to you with the mountain-moving trust that you deserve.

So it is with good reason that we routinely begin our prayers with repentance, confessing that our prayer lives themselves are not worthy of your time or attention. Forgive me and hear my prayers not for my own sake, but for Jesus’ sake. And since there are so many ways I can grow in my prayer life, I simply ask you to bless me with progress and growth in any one of them. As I focus my attention on the privilege of prayer this week, make me more and more a man of prayer.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

To Bless My Downtime

Selfless Savior,
Bless my downtime. I look forward to open time on my calendar when nothing is scheduled, but I can also mismanage it if I don’t have any ideas in mind about how I plan to use that time. Then, in contrast to the eager anticipation of looking forward to that time, I look back and regret it if I feel like it was wasted.  

Using your Word as my guide, help me to establish priorities and values that can help me feel as if my downtime is managed well. Let me be OK with simply doing nothing on occasion, and allowing my mind and body to recharge and reset. This is a blessing from you! At the same time, give me the discipline to manage affairs and responsibilities so that I don’t neglect them when I have extra time to take care of things. Activities and hobbies can bring fulfillment, too, as well as simply spending unscheduled time with friends and family members. Guard me from being too rigid when managing downtime, but let my use of it honor you, bless others, and be a blessing to me.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

For Fathers to Prioritize Time with Their Children

Perfect Father,
Rarely can it be said that fathers and their children spend enough time together. Help fathers to prioritize spending quality time with their kids. When obligations, responsibilities, and deadlines are looming, free fathers from the stress of things left undone, and help them to realize that neglecting time with their children has potentially even greater consequences than incomplete to-do lists. 

Lead fathers to seek a balance between structured, scheduled activities and free time that is not marked for anything other than just being present together with their kids. Both uses of time are valuable and are a tremendous blessing to children as well as fathers. With this time together, let fathers have not only a positive influence on their children in general, but especially a godly influence. Use fathers to model what the Christian faith looks like, not in theory, but when put into practice in real life. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.