Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most

 

  Earlier this week, I did a preliminary review of Brooke McGlothlin's newest book, Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most. At the time I had not finished the book but I was excited to read it and now that I have finished it I am excited to put what I have learned into practice!
    As I told you, this book is full "AHA!" moments and common sense. The author even gives you scriptures to pray over your son! I don't know how easier it can get. Before she goes into detail about the topics in which we should pray for, she reminds us that prayer is not something that has to be formal, as a matter of fact prayer should be personal. We should be speaking to God like he is sitting right next to us. He is our Father, He cares for us, He listens to us, He knows us intimately, He knows the desires of our hearts. This is something I struggle with, I have a habit of saying the same prayer over and over again, and I know it annoys me when someone repeats themselves to me! This is the first change I will make in my prayer life.
    The next change I will make, is I will begin to pray scripture. I know most of the time I do not have the words to adequately convey what I want to say to God, how many times should I say to Him, "see the desires of my heart"? (Come to think of it I must be pretty boring to listen too!) In God's love letter to me, He has beautifully said everything that I can not. At any point in my life someone in the Bible has gone through it! I am not alone! I know that Google is about to become my best friend. This is not to say I will only pray scripture, I will pray from my heart as well.
    There have been very few times that I have actually been on my knees praying. This has been only in times of great sadness or extreme distress. I was brought up Catholic so how I fell out of this habit, I do not know but I feel like I am ready to put this aspect of my old prayer life back into action. To me it symbolizes serious devotion. I will be assuming this position once a day, thereby I will be making a set time to spend with God first thing in the morning. I currently pray when the Spirit moves me and I have tried to set a schedule for myself so I am hoping that this will help me stick to it. Again, Ms. McGlothlin's references to wearing out the carpet has inspired this change.
    This book has really changed the way I look at my sons and their salvation and purpose in life. It reminds me that we are not alone raising these precious miracles. God has a vested interest in them as well. It gives me hope that I can do the most loving thing for them, to pray for them at any age. I have clear cut instructions on how to do this. She also reminds me that I can not accept Jesus into their hearts for them, God is the only one who can move them to do so, but I can pray on their behalf that he calls them. It reminds me that I have a great duty to fulfill. I must raise my sons to be men of substance, men of integrity, men of action. They must take the roles that they have been made for seriously and I know that I am blessed that they have a role model like their father. I hope and pray that they are also role models for their future children.
   That being said, later this week I will be giving away a copy of the book! You can pre-order it on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Praying-Boys-Asking-Things-They-ebook/dp/B00DWA69AK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388728353&sr=1-1&keywords=praying+for+boys