A Prayer for Men
Scripture Reading:
Exodus 15:2-18, II Kings 18:1-7
Reflections of the Heart:
God loves men and He wired them for success. The enemy has been disrupting God’s preferred plans for our men through a strategy to steal, kill and destroy them. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams noted, “Life is not fair; we only get what we are willing to fight for!” By praying for our men, boys and families we are positioned to “Fight to Win!” God used a man to redeem humankind and He continues to empower men to lead and conquer.
Scriptural Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Your majestic Name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. May Your glorious Name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise! You are great and most worthy of praise! No one can measure Your greatness. Thank You, Father, for our men. Lord, we thank You for equipping our men to take their rightful place in You. Thank You for the men and boys who will join the body of Christ and glorify Your Name. Thank You, God, for restoration, reconciliation and healing in our families and communities. Thank You, for giving us everything we need to live a godly life.
Father, let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in the lives of our men on earth as it is in heaven. By faith, we call our men saved, sanctified, and filled with Your Spirit. Your Word instructs that faithwithout works is dead and useless, so we confess that our men will work to develop and demonstrate their Christian faith, daily. We declare that they will be priestly providers and protectors of their families. We confess that as they submit to Your Word, they will be transformed into new people by changing the way they think. Lord, we decree that their belief systems and behavior patterns will reflect Your righteousness in their personal and professional lives. We declare that the light of Jesus will be reflected by their actions. As they fellowshipwith one another; others will see their good works and praise You, our Father in heaven. Lord, we confess that Your favorsurrounds them like a shield. We confess that they will earn, save, spend and invest money in obedience to Your perfect plan for their lives and families. We declare that their finances are blessed and they are lenders, not borrowers. Lord, because we realize that the food we put in our bodies can impact our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual capabilities, we declare that our men will practice healthy eating practices. Above all, we confess that they are victorious in everything they do, because Your future for them is filled with hope, good and not evil.
Lord, we ask that You touch the hearts of our congregation to pray for the men and boys of this local assembly. Holy Spirit, please empower us all to stand against society’s systems and structures that result in ten percent of all pre-school boys being suspended. Holy Spirit, studies show that ninety percent of all “behavioral problems” in public schools are linked to boys. Please touch the hearts of fathers (and mothers) to teach their children Your godly principles.
Father, forgive our men for sins of disobedience, selfishness, lying, pornography, fornication, adultery and for not accepting the responsibility for leadership within their families and the church. Forgive our boys for rebellion, selfishness and for accepting the negative labels placed on them by the world. Forgive our wives and mothers for being complacent. Lord, please help the men, women, boys and girls in our congregation to forgive past hurts caused by family members and loved ones. Father, heal emotional wounds caused by these hurts. Lord, remind all of us to forgive others and help us to forgive.
Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one.
Lord, we praise Your Name. Your Name is very great; Your glory towers over the earth and heaven. You are worthy, Lord, to receive glory, honor and power. You created all things and they exist because You created what You pleased. You are Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Scripture References for the Written Text: Psalm 8:1, Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 145:3, II Peter 1:3, Matthew 6:10, Hebrews 11:1, James 2:17, Romans 12:2, Matthew 5:16, Psalm 5:12, Deuteronomy 28:12, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 6:13, Psalm 148:13, Revelation 4:11, Isaiah 9:6
Today, I will trust God to:
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A Prayer for Hard Days
By Christina Fox
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
We all have hard days. Challenging days. Days that stretch us, sometimes beyond what we can bear. Sometimes these days appear as a series of little irritating events that build up to one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Other days we wake up to find one huge unexpected event that lands like a bomb in our life.
Sometimes those hard days find us busy and distracted as we try to fix everything that has gone wrong. Or we get so caught up in our thoughts and feelings about our circumstances that it consumes us. Or perhaps we attempt to hide away from struggle of the day in the hopes that if we don’t think about it, maybe it will all go just away.
Instead of such responses, hard days are opportunities for us to draw near to God. They are opportunities for us to rely on him, depend on him, and receive more of his grace. Such days remind us how desperate we are and how much we need our Savior.
A Prayer for Hard Days
Father in Heaven,
Help me! I am so weary and worn down by this day. So many things are happening all at once and I don’t know what to do. I am overwhelmed. It feels like I am standing in a fierce wind that is whipping and swirling around me. I can’t move; the force is so strong. It may just knock me down flat. And worse of all, what if I can’t get back up again?
Father, I can barely lift my eyes to you. It’s all I can do to cry out for help. Please extend your grace to me this day. Help me to see that you are in this and that you are with me. Help me to remember that you are not surprised or taken off guard by the events of this day.
As I dwell and meditate on who you are, I am amazed and filled with wonder that you would love and care for me. No other religion in all the world has a God that loves his people. No other religion has a God that listens and cares about the cries of the human heart. No other religion has a God that would humble himself and take on frail human flesh and live in this sin-stained world. No other religion has a God that would lay down his life for his people.
But you are that God. You are God alone. Your word tells me that before time began you chose me to be yours through your Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4). You set your love on me and made me yours. Ephesians also says that through Christ, I have “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (1:7).
Forgive me for my fears about this day. Forgive me for how I have complained and muttered about how hard this day has been. Forgive me for forgetting that you are with me. Forgive me for forgetting who I am because of what your Son, Jesus Christ, has done. Forgive me for failing to remember the glorious truths and riches I have because of the gospel.
It is these truths that I am focusing my heart on in the midst of this hard day. I pray the words of Paul and claim them as my own that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give me the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of my hearts enlightened, that I may know what is the hope to which he has called me, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:17-19).
Father, hear my prayer. Grant me gospel hope in the midst of this hard day. Help me to cling to your grace, your wisdom, and your strength.
Through Jesus and because of Jesus and in his name I pray, Amen.
This devotional was taken from A Prayer for Hard Days by Christina Fox. To read the full version, go here.
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Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.
Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
Prayer of Saint Chrysotom
Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise, that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their requests; Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting.
Amen.
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next.
Amen.
The Great Prayer of Archimandrite Sophronios
O Lord Eternal and Creator of all things,
Who of Thy inscrutable goodness called me to this life;
Who bestowed on me the grace of Baptism and the Seal of the Holy Spirit;
Who imbued me with the desire to seek Thee, the one true God: hear my prayer.
I have no life, no light, no joy or wisdom; no strength except in Thee, O God.
Because of my unrighteousness I dare not raise my eyes to Thee.
But Thou said to Thy disciples, ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive.’
and ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do.’
Wherefore I dare to invoke Thee.
Purify me from all taint of flesh and spirit.
Teach me to pray aright.
Bless this day which Thee give unto me, Thy unworthy servant.
By the power of Thy blessing enable me at all times to speak and act to Thy glory with a pure spirit, with humility, patience, love, gentleness, peace, courage and wisdom: aware always of Thy presence.
Of Thy immense goodness, O Lord God, show me the path of Thy will,
and grant me to walk in Thy sight without sin.
O Lord, unto Whom all hearts be open,
Thee know what things I have need of.
Thee are acquainted with my blindness and my ignorance,
Thee know my infirmity and my soul’s corruption;
but neither are my pain and anguish hid from Thee.
Wherefore I beseech Thee, hear my prayer and by Thy Holy Spirit
teach me the way wherein I should walk;
and when my perverted will would lead me down other paths
spare me not O Lord, but force me back to Thee.
By the power of Thy love, grant me to hold fast to that which is good.
Preserve me from every word or deed that corrupts the soul;
from every impulse unpleasing in Thy sight and hurtful to my brother-man.
Teach me what I should say and how I should speak.
If it be Thy will that I make no answer,
inspire me to keep silent in a spirit of peace
that causes neither sorrow nor hurt to my fellow man.
Establish me in the path of Thy commandments
and to my last breath let me not stray from the light of Thy ordinances,
that Thy commandments may become the sole law
of my being on this earth and all eternity.
Yea, Lord, I pray to Thee, have pity on me.
Spare me in my affliction and my misery
and hide not the way of salvation from me.
In my foolishness, O God, I plead with Thee for many and great things.
Yet am I ever mindful of my wickedness, my baseness, my vileness.
Have mercy upon me.
Cast me not away from your presence because of my presumption.
Do Thee rather increase in me this presumption,
and grant unto me, the worst of men,
to love Thee as Thee have commanded, with all my heart, and with all my soul,
and with all my mind, and with all my strength:
with my whole being.
Yea, O Lord, by Thy Holy Spirit, teach me good judgment and knowledge.
Grant me to know Thy truth before I go down into the grave.
Maintain my life in this world until I may offer unto Thee worthy repentance.
Take me not away in the midst of my days, nor while my mind is still blind.
When Thee shall be pleased to bring my life to an end,
forewarn me that I may prepare my soul to come before Thee.
Be with me, O Lord, at that dread hour and grant me the joy of salvation.
Cleanse me from secret faults, from all iniquity that is hidden in me;
and give me a right answer before Thy judgment-seat.
Yea, Lord, of Thy great mercy and immeasurable love for mankind.
Amen.
dailyprayer.us
Pure Eyes: A Men’s Guide to Sexual Integrity
Chapter 7 – Grab Your Shovel
“Daily Prayer”
As you understand the true nature of Scripture, your prayers will have much deeper meaning to both you and God. In following God’s scriptural expectations for you, you will have the confidence and certainty of heart to ask God openly for the blessings he promises his followers. Conversely, when you have failed to meet God’s expectations as revealed through Scripture (and you will!), you can boldly come before God in prayer to accept the forgiveness he so generously provides.
So how does all of this play out in practice? Many men feel as if they have lost so much ground with God that they have no right to pray to him. Sometimes they feel they don’t know how to pray “correctly” or “fervently enough,” and it inhibits their connection with God.
Please don’t put so much pressure on yourself! God wants to meet you right where you are. He wants to talk with you, he wants to show you his love, and he wants to listen to you. Like the lover in Song of Songs 2:14, God wants to “hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.” Isaiah 30:18–19 reads: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you.”
If you don’t know how to approach God in prayer, simply come to him as your loving and caring Father and thank him for all he has done and ask him for what you need. You can pray something like this: “Lord, thank you for being my Father. Thank you for being a good God who cares for me and loves me. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross so that I could be made free. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for my sins. Lord, I give you everything I am—my talents and my sins. I freely submit to you and ask that you give me strength today to make the most of what you have given me and resist and overcome temptation. In Jesus’s name I pray, Amen.”
Your goal in prayer is not to pray perfectly or correctly (because there’s no right way), it is just to acknowledge that God is your Father and that you are after his will. Open yourself to his leading by the Holy Spirit and remind yourself that God is in control of your life, not you. And most of all, ask God for his direction and deliverance—he wants so much more for you than you want for yourself. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need” (Heb. 4:16).
Be sure to pray daily, and you may want to pray many times a day to keep you aware of the fact that God is near and is
ready to help you
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