Warrior Prayers: Day Seven "Servant's Heart"

"The greatest among you shall be your servant." ~Matthew 23:11

Encouragement from Brooke

My husband has a servant's heart. It's his gifting. When he sees a need, he serves. When he doesn't know what else to do, he serves. During the first trimester of both of my pregnancies, when I was so sick that I couldn't keep up with the house, he did it all for me. He never asked what I needed. He never complained or whined. He just did what needed to be done. I often joke with people and say that he had no idea what to do with me, so he just took care of everything else!

Jesus led by serving.

I don't know if we can say that Jesus' gifting was to serve, after all, He was God. He didn't have to serve anyone. Neither do we. We don't have to serve others. But Jesus did. And He said that if we want to be first, we'll need to be last. He said that loving others, serving them, was serving Him--loving Him.

Goal for today:

1. Commit to praying the ten prayers in the servant's heart chapter during day seven.
2. Try finding ways to serve with your family. Take meals to families in your church who need help, participate in a Walk for Life for your local Pregnancy Center so they can meet the needs of women in unplanned pregnancies, or help serve soup to those less fortunate than you in a local Soup Kitchen. Find ways to teach your sons the value of serving others.

Servant’s Heart

 

May  __________ be a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1).

May__________follow Christ; and where He is, may__________be also. If anyone serves Christ, the
Father will honor him (John 12:26).

May__________be like Moses, faithful in all God’s house as a servant (Hebrews 3:5).

As the Lord’s servant, may__________not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently

enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness (2 Timothy 2:24-25).

May__________not use his freedom to satisfy his sinful nature. Instead, may he use his freedom to serve others in love (Galatians 5:13).

May__________use his spiritual gifts to serve others, as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1 Peter

4:10).

May__________serve wholeheartedly, as if he were serving the Lord, not men (Ephesians 6:7).

Let__________be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and let him offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe (Hebrews 12:28).

May__________be a servant, for the greatest among us shall be servants (Matthew 23:11).

May__________fear the LORD his God and serve him only (Deuteronomy 6:13).

Warrior Prayers: Day 6 "Purity"

"And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure"

1 John 3:3

Things have changed in the world since I was little. You can hardly go down the street or freeway without having a totally inappropriate picture on a billboard right there to be a stumbling block for men and boys.  It seems like we can see what Paul warned us of in 2 Tim 3:1-7 happening right before our eyes.  Purity is so important in all our lives, but is so difficult for men in the area of purity, because pictures and messages are EVERYWHERE.  Each day, we should be lifting up our boys and our husbands, because they need the shield of protection to keep them from the firey darts of the enemy in this area.  If he can destroy the leaders in our homes, he is better able to bring down the whole house. 

 

 Encouragement from Hal & Melanie Young

The past ten years have brought a brutal assault on the purity of young men. Where it used to be that a young man had to happen upon a stash of wickedness in an uncle's footlocker for a few stolen moments or risk his reputation to go buy something in person at a store, now the evil comes looking for him. The average age of porn exposure is now 11 years old!

So how do we prepare our guys for this huge battle that is about to face them? How do we help them be strong and stay pure, so that one day they'll be knights in shining armor for their brides? We've got to get there first and be "the first with the most," as General Nathan Bedford Forest, the Civil War cavalry commander used to say. We need to be open and honest with our boys starting while Mama still gives them their bath and continuing through graduation and beyond--explaining and answering their questions, but especially putting it all in to the context of God's gift for marriage alone. Establishing that frankness and communication from the very start will really pay off when they enter the testosterone years.

Understanding what's going on is not nearly enough for our boys, though, especially as they become teens. We need to prepare them to look for the snares our enemy lays for them, give them tools to help them fight temptation, and make sure they have accountability that helps them stand firm. Too many mothers we talk to are in denial that their sons are old enough or sinful enough (hint: we all are) to face these temptations. That's sad, because their sons need their help!

We can help them, too, by praying for them. We need to pray for protection for them and pray they'll be strong enough to flee temptation - and pray for the princesses they will one day claim!

*Want to find out more about this topic? Hal and Melanie talk about these things in the "Love and War" chapter of Raising Real Men and in their new workshop CD: "Shining Armor: Your Son's Battle For Purity."

Goal for today:

1. Commit to praying the ten prayers in the purity chapter for each son.
2. Commit to praying for your husband in this are as well, and consider praying it regularly.

Purity

May__________have love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Timothy 1:5).

May__________hope in God and thus purify himself (1 John 3:3).

May__________have religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unstained from the world (James 1:27).

May__________think on whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, may he think about these things (Philippians 4:8).

May__________be like the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

May there be no violence in__________'s hands, and his prayer be pure (Job 16:17).

May__________be pure, because even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright (Proverbs 20:11).

May__________'s love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that he may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ (Philippians 1:9-10).

How can__________keep his way pure? By guarding it according to God’s Word
(Psalm 119:9).

May__________be blameless and innocent, a child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation (Philippians 2:15).

Warrior Prayers: Day 5 "Pride"

"A mans pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor"

Prov. 29:23

The other day I was with my 5 year old and he did something that he marlveled over and then proceeded to say "I'm so good at that".  I cringed at the pride he had just displayed by boasting in himself.  I proceeded to stop him and told him that it was great that he was able to do what he did, but I told him you can say "I did it", but let's not be boastful and say "I'm so good at that".  As he does continually through the day, he said "why".  I told him that we boast in the Lord and what he has done, but we don't speak about how wonderful we are, because that is boasting.  I'm not sure if he understands that at his age, but I hope he will eventually get it.  Hopefully we can teach our boys humility and to be proud of their accomplishments in a balanced and biblical way.

Encouragement from Melissa Smallwood

 (creator of Multitaksing Mama)

 

Praying for my boys has changed as they have gotten older. Watching their personalities, talents and spiritual gifts emerge provides the opportunity to pray specifically for the men they are becoming. My mama heart used to pray, “God, help me be the kind of mom they need,” but as they have moved into the tween/teen years that prayer has changed. “God, help them become the men you created them to be” is what I utter now.

That man may not always be what I pictured in my mind, when they were toddling around and getting into everything. None of my three boys are anything alike and none of them are what I pictured they would be when they were still small enough to sit on my lap or welcome my kisses. And that is OK.

Proverbs 22:6 reminds us to “Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Amplified Bible). Prayers for our sons must be individual to that child, and sensitive to the one of a kind man God has designed each of them to be. Whether my boys grow to be doctors, pastors, or drive a milk truck, as long as they are living their lives for God’s glory, my mama heart should be pleased and satisfied.

All three of them are uniquely and wonderfully created. Praying for God to shape their hearts, trusting the master Potter He is, has allowed me to relinquish control of the outcome and cherish my role in the process of learning who they will become.

As they grow, up and away – as is God’s plan – my heart’s cry to Him is that they will lead lives pleasing to their Creator {and that they will visit their mama frequently}.

Goal for today:

1. Commit to praying the ten prayers in the pride chapter during day five.
2. Consider the any single moms in your life and add them to your prayers. Pray that God will bring a godly man into her son's life to show him what a holy laying down of pride looks like.
3. If you are following along, I would love to have you comment below and let us know how you are doing.

Pride

May_________not have a haughty spirit, for pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a

fall (Proverbs 16:18).

May_________be lowly in spirit and obtain honor, for one’s pride will bring him low, but he who is

lowly in spirit will obtain honor (Proverbs 29:23).

Lord, make__________turn from doing wrong and keep him from pride (Job 33:17).

Lord, please break__________‘s proud spirit (Leviticus 26:19).

May__________take advice and gain wisdom, for with insolence comes nothing but strife

(Proverbs 13:10).

May_________not be a “Scoffer” the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride

(Proverbs 21:24).

Lord, give us the pleasure of taking great pride in_________, being filled with comfort

 (2 Corinthians 7:4).

Let_________test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his

neighbor (Galatians 6:4).

Let not the foot of arrogance come upon__________, nor the hand of the wicked drive him away

(Psalm 36:11).

Let_________talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from his mouth; for the LORD is a

God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed (1 Samuel 2:3).

Warrior Prayers: Day 4- Avoiding Foolishness

"A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother."

Prov 10:1

Boy, isn't that the truth: "a foolish son is the grief of his mother".  I'm sure you have been in a store or out at a restaurant and had your son do something utterly foolish and you wished you could just become invisible or act like you have never seen this child in your life.  Well,  I know it has happened to me many times.  Now that my oldest is in Jr. High, people tend to excuse the behavior and say "Oh that explains it".  Many parents and authority figures seem to allow behavior, because they believe it is a "phase" and "all kids this age act this way". I'm not sure that I buy that argument.  I have seen teenagers who don't behave this way and are much more mature than their peers and are serving the Lord with all their heart.  I'd much rather have my son like the latter.

God calls us to be "set apart".  This means we should be different...right?  As I look at the life of Daniel, I see a young man who didn't act foolish, and stood for what was right, even when his life was threatened.  Wow, what a testimony for us to share with our boys!   Daniel chose to obey God even in the face of great danger.  Would my son do the same?  Would yours?

Having a child with special challenges, and knowing that he is more prone to be more easily led away into foolishness or sin, I have "insulated" him from many situations  until we were able to be confident that we had given him the right biblical foundation to help him make right choices.  My husband and I have used scripture in teaching him right from wrong, because we knew that was the most important thing, for him to know what the Lord requires of His children.  It has proven to be very effective over the years, and we have seen him do the "right" things many times. 

Lately, we have noticed a change, and are working to find ways to help him as he enters this new stage of development.  One thing that Brooke had suggested in the Leaders Guide, was to do a study with our sons on the "foolish" man vs. the "wise" man.  I thought, that is a GREAT idea.  So this week, I'm planning to spend time during our bible time to search the concordance for the word fool, foolish, foolishness, and wise or maybe even righteous man.  Maybe we can even make a game out of it to help them remember it better.  'llI keep you posted on how it goes and post pictures as we go through it. 

I am praying for all who are following along here and looking forward to what God is doing in our sons lives.  How are you doing?  Any praises or prayer requests?  Please comment and let me know how things have been going over the last 4 days.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Goal for today

1. Pray the 10 prayers on "Avoiding Foolishness" (p.22) over each of your boys throughout the day. 
2. Consider doing a study with your boys on what the scripture says about the foolish man vs. the wise man. 

Avoiding Foolishness

May __________ avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless (Titus 3:9).

May __________ have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; for they breed quarrels (2Timothy 2:23).

May __________ not participate in filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:4).

May __________ hear these words of Yours, act on them, and avoid being like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matthew 7:26).

May __________ be more like a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take advice (Ecclesiastes 4:13).

May __________ not be foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures (Titus 3:3).

May __________ leave the presence of a fool, for there he will not meet words of knowledge (Proverbs14:7).

May __________ not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17).

May our sons be like a poor person who walks in his integrity rather than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool (Proverbs 19:1).

May __________ have a wise man’s heart inclining him to the right, and not a fool’s heart inclining to the left (Ecclesiastes 10:2).

Warrior Prayers- Day 3 "Integrity"

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove

the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my

Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

~Ezekiel 36:26-27

I was so encouraged in the ebook when Brooke stated "You can not change the heart of your boys. You can't. Period."  Only the Lord can change their heart.  It is my job to keep them before the Lord and train them up as He instructs in His Word.  Many days, I become weary and overwhelmed with thoughts of "What will they become?", and it was a great reminder that God is in CONTROL!  There is a plan for each of our boys!

Encouragement from Brooke

Integrity can be defined as firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values or the quality or state of being complete or undivided.

Someone who stands up for what is right no matter who is around.

I have a feeling that integrity is probably caught rather than bought. As our sons see us in situations that demand a choice to walk in integrity, we can create natural, life-giving conversations explaining to them why we chose the way we did. Life is full of opportunities to choose the easy way instead of the way of integrity, but a man of integrity “ponders the way that is blameless” (Psalm 101:2). Pausing to help our sons understand why we chose the way of integrity over what might have seemed to be a better or easier way trains their minds to ponder the blameless way.

“He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life … ” Proverbs 11:19

Goal for today:

1. Pray the prayers on page 19 titled "Integrity" one at a time throughout the day (inserting your sons name).
2. Did you know that we can’t give our sons something we don’t have? Look back over the last week or month of your life. One of the BEST things we can do for our sons is to admit when we’ve sinned and ask them to forgive us for it. Show your sons the power of humility and use every opportunity, even your failures, to teach them to walk in the truth. What a wonderful God we serve, who allows even our sin to draw our sons closer to Him!

 Integrity

May__________walk before You, as David his father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that God has commanded him, and keeping His statutes and His rules (1 Kings 9:4).

Till he dies, may__________never put away his integrity (Job 27:5).

May__________ponder the way that is blameless and walk with integrity of heart within God’s house

(Psalm 101:2).

May__________show himself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in his teaching show integrity, dignity (Titus 2:7).

Like Joseph, may__________hear the word of the Lord and obey (from Luke 1:27).

Like Daniel, may__________resolve not to defile himself (from Daniel 1:8).

Like Paul, may__________learn to be content in any situation (Philippians 4:11).

Like Timothy, may__________set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity (1 Timothy 4:12).

Like David with Goliath, may__________stand up for the living God (1 Samuel 17).

Like Abraham, may__________obey God in faith (Genesis 12).

Molly Digest-Review

Have you heard of Molly at Econobusters?  If you haven't, you need to check out her website.  Molly publishes a monthly digest called the Molly's Money Saving Digest.  Each issue focuses on a different theme and is filled with frugal ways to live and save.  The June Digest is all about the Kitchen.   

The June issue features a kitchen remodel where a kitchen was updated using a whole set of cabinets they purchased off craigslist.  I was a little sceptical at how it would look at first, and then I saw the pictures, and was amazed!  The article guides you in how they went about the remodel and gives you tips to help you the next time you are working on a remodeling project.

My favorite part of the issue was something as simple as an Emergency Recipe Substitutions lists.  Have you ever been cooking and realized you are missing a key ingredient?  I have many times. Now I have the list in a sheet protector in my recipe binder, however I'm thinking about posting one on the inside of one of my cupboards for easy reference. 

There is so much more in the issue; how to make your own convenience foods, health remedies straight out of your pantry, saving on pet care,  how to organize your recipes and how to create a family heirloom by personalizing those "family" recipes with pictures and putting them together in a 3 ring binder.  What a great gift this would be for a new bride!. The digest always includes a meal of the month, recipes, calendars, forms, crafts, projects and even a section for kids called Tightwad Training Camp.  It is well worth the price of $4.95 per issue or you can sign up for a Molly Membership for only $3.95 a month and you get the digest along with other specials for  "membership only".

*I was not paid for this review, but I was given a Molly Membership in exchange for my honest review.  I have loved Econobusters long before I was given the opportunity to write reviews for the Molly Money Saving Digest.

Warrior Prayers: Day 2 "Submission to Authority"

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Well, day one was rough at our house, and after hearing that Brooke (The author of Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys in the Areas They Need It Most.) was in a car accident (everyone is o.k.), and that others also experienced warfare, I was reminded of the scripture in 1 Peter 5:8. This is a battle and the enemy wants to destroy!  We can't take this journey lightly, as just another program, this is serious eternal business we are doing here. I will continue to ask the Lord to protect us and our families during this time and that He would put a hedge of protection around us. 

Now, today we are praying for our boys in the area of Submitting to Authorities.  What an important area that will affect them throughout their life, not just when they are children.  Brooke shares a testimony below that illustrates the internal battle of doing what we want rather than what the "authority" of our life has instructed us to do or not to do.

Encouragement from Brooke

Today's topic flows nicely from day one’s topic, doesn’t it?

All of their lives, our sons will find themselves needing to submit to someone. From parents, to teachers, to bosses, to government officials, and even to God Himself, they will always have someone in a position of authority over them.

The other day my son fell off of an old metal merry-go-round and was nearly hit in the head by the spinning giant. I nearly had heart failure. His little blond head seemed less than an inch away from certain death … or at least a serious head injury. So, in typical mama bear fashion, I forbaide him to get on it again. Later, an older friend of his showed up and got on the merry-go-round, all the while doing his best to coax my son on with him. I watched the exchange from a bench nearby, careful to stay out of sight, and allow my son to make his ownchoice. He wanted to get on. His little legs twitched, inching close and stepping back, inching close andstepping back … his own internal merry-go-round of decision--obey mom or have fun?

I don’t want you to think my son always chooses to submit to my authority, but this particular day, he did. As his friend whirled around gleefully I heard his precious little voice say, “My mommy says I can’t get on.” He hung his head, turned around, and saw that I had been watching the whole thing. When our eyes met he saw rejoicing in mine … and I held up my arms in victory and watched him run to me to celebrate.

 “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” ~Acts 5:29

Goal for today:

1. Pray the prayers on page 16 titled "Submission to Authority" one at a time throughout the day (inserting your sons name).
2. If you haven't introduced yourself yet, please do in the comments after this blog entry.