10 Things Men Should Always Be Praying For
In I Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul writes to us that we are to, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, [and] give thanks in all circumstances…” While each of these three directives would require much more than a single blog post to fully explore, I’m interested here with the middle part.
For men, often times prayer can seem like a nebulous, mysterious concept. Just what should we be talking to God about? What should we be ceaselessly praying for?
Now, bear in mind that “pray without ceasing” is in no way some kind of command toward an ascetic or monastic religious practice. Paul did not have in mind the idea that we are to sequester ourselves away somewhere to spend every moment of our lives in constant meditative contact with God.
But there is an element of a Christian’s prayer life that ought to be unending. Both within designated prayer times as well as whenever life may randomly prompt us, formal and informal, a man of faith should seek to always be in contact with the Lord throughout his day about matters large, small, and all things in-between.
So what follows is not meant to be any kind of exhaustive list, but rather a helpful guide in both reminding and encouraging Christian men to be diligent and serious about their prayers. Talking with Almighty God with an expectation of being heard is an unfathomable privilege, so it is something we should take very seriously.
With that in mind, here are ten things that you should regularly consider interacting with God about during prayer.
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1. Wisdom
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” – James 1:5
None of us are naturally wise people. Wisdom is not an innate talent or something that comes easily to anyone. Wisdom must be sought after and it must be sought after from the proper source. God promises to bestow it on all who would ask Him, but we must remember that the experience of growing in His wisdom isn’t so much like flipping a light switch, where at one point we are foolish and then made instantly wise through the speaking of a prayer. It’s more like being trained at a gym: the Lord will make us wise, but we must continually show up, day after day. Consequently, though we may seek wisdom for one area of our lives and receive it, we must continue to seek it as we go on.
Growth in wisdom is a lifelong dedication, and thinking we’ve arrived is nothing more than an indication that we haven’t learned anything at all.
2. Growth/Fruit
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
Similar to wisdom, growth in the Christian life must be built into us by somebody else. (A very specific somebody else.) If a man would see the fruit of Christlikeness in his life, he should remember these words of Christ Himself. To be in any way effective for the cause of the Kingdom or to become in any way more like Jesus, we must remember that our own efforts will profit us nothing in either regard. We must recognize, as Paul did, that though our work is necessary and important, it is God who gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6-8).
3. Productivity & Strength
“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” – Psalm 90:17
“…I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.” – Colossians 1:29
Life in this world is simply too complicated and chaotic to rightly conclude that we are in control of any of it. Just when we think we’ve got something nailed down, some unforeseen curve ball comes our way to knock us off balance. A humble spirit dictates that we trust the sovereign power over and above life’s circumstances to grant His blessing to our efforts. And because we see both that God values work and that we have tendencies towards laziness, corner cutting, and distraction, prayer for the strength to work in a way that is both efficient and pleasing to Him is warranted. As we’ll see, praying for success in our ventures is right, as well. But before we even get to success, we should acknowledge our need for the strength just to do the work itself.
4. Freedom
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’” – John 8:31-32, 34-36
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1
Christ came to “destroy the works of the devil,” (I John 3:8) and to give His people abundant life (John 10:10). We are born as slaves to sin (Romans 6:20) and seek from our Lord and Savior deliverance from our innate evil (Romans 7:21-25). Make no mistake: part of the purpose of the Christian life is to be set free from the sinful attitudes, inclinations, and behaviors that serve only to keep us from becoming the people we were created and redeemed to be. Sin is the enemy and Christ the victor. He has defeated death (the ultimate end of all sin) and is the only one with the power to remove it from your life. To love Christ is to hate sin. To hate sin is to trust Christ for your freedom from it.
5. Success
“The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” – Proverbs 21:31
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” – Psalm 127:1
It is not wrong to seek success in your ventures. It is wrong to not acknowledge that success can only come from the sovereign God who rules the universe. James 4:13-16 goes as far as to tell us that not only is it wrong to refuse to acknowledge the sovereignty of God over the plans of your life, it is arrogant and sinful. So with regards to your plans, dreams, desires, ventures, and desires, remember to ask for their success from the one person that can actually provide it. If the Lord is with you, you will not fail. If He is against you, you will never succeed. But always remember: never pursue your own success at the expense of His good pleasure and glory: “Thy will be done.” Always ask the Lord to check your heart before giving you what you think that you want (James 4:3).
6. Provision
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:19
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:31-33
It is a source of pride for many men that they see themselves as the chief provider for themselves and their families. But given that we have already addressed that all our attempts at success are in the hands of God (including getting a job and earning a paycheck), we must then rightly acknowledge that He is the One that meets our needs and provides for us - not ourselves. Christ taught that when we pray we are to ask God to give us our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), showing that even our day-to-day necessities are given to us, not procured by us. Remembering and acknowledging that everything we have is a gift is vital to maintaining a humble and honest perspective as we navigate life.
7. Grace
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” – I Corinthians 15:10
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” – II Peter 3:18
The unmerited favor of God is the lifeblood of all Christian people. Without it, we are nothing. With it, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) over everything life may throw at us. The Christian man must understand and acknowledge that all that he is is a product of the grace of God. Everything good in our life comes from Him (James 1:17), and He is under no obligation whatsoever to supply any of it. God loves us because He loves us, and we must continue to find our identity and seek our goals through the lens of His unending grace towards us. In all your requests, recognize that it is grace will either give them or keep them from you.
8. Glory
“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” – Revelation 22:20
“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” – Romans 8:23-25
A properly biblical perspective is one that operates with eternity in mind. Praying for the quick return of Christ and the redemption and glorification of our bodies is time well spent. It has become fashionable lately to complain that those who look towards Heaven too often undercut the work of the Kingdom here on earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Peter instructed us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15), and to give a reason we must first have a hope. The longing for Heaven is a longing to be with Christ and to be set free from all sin. Such a thing is a desire worth having and a focus worth cultivating. In order to live rightly for those here on earth, we must live with the glory that awaits us prominently in mind.
9. Endurance
“But the one who endures to the end shall be saved.” – Matthew 24:13
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23
It is not a given for any man that he will see his faith through to the end. Just as we were dependent on God to brings us into the Kingdom (Romans 9:15-16), we are dependent on Him to keep us faithful until the end. Our endurance may be a foregone conclusion within our theology, but we simply do not know what the future will hold. We have no idea what circumstances await us in the future. We have no idea what our capacities or limitations are. We must trust the Christ who called us (John 10:27-28) to never let us go (John 10:28-30). It is not that we can gain salvation and then lose it. It is that we cannot know for certain if we have it until Christ actually gets us there. Therefore, do not rely on your own strength, good intentions, or perceived level of faithfulness to be enough. Rely on Christ.
10. Repentance
“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” – Romans 7:19-25
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16
The Christian life is one besieged with sin (James 3:2). And while we seek ever-deepening freedom in Christ, we understand that our imperfect and rebellious selves war against our own desires to be holy. When we sin, we must not treat it as a small, inevitable, or unimportant thing. We must make war on it by the power of the Holy Spirit. A crucial part of this fight against the evil that dwells within us is to constantly acknowledge our need to repent before God. We are saved in the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. We are born again. But we are still afflicted. And we must always seek to keep short accounts of our misdeeds with our King. Sin that goes unacknowledged and uncontested can only lead to places we’d rather not go (James 1:15). And so the battle rages. We fight it by continually turning from ourselves, our inclinations, and our behaviors back towards the One who gave Himself to make us whole. Never stop repenting.
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