1. All encompassing – “Lord Jesus, all I am and all I have is Yours. I refuse to be a self-made man derived from my human strengths and abilities. I am who I am by the grace of God. You have made me a new self in Christ. I am wonderfully made. Therefore, I glorify You for the great things You have done in me.” (Ro 11:36)
2. Fear not – “Lord, there are times when I have been fearful. I am so glad to know that fear is a normal human response. However, with You there is no fear. You have come to live in me so that I might fear no evil. I am grateful that there is no need to fear because You are here. Thank You, for Your protective presence!” (Is 43:1-3)
3. Total trust – “Lord Jesus Christ, I recognize that the Christian life is Your life, and You alone can live it. Therefore, I give up trying to live the Christian life. I refuse to rely upon my own human understanding. I entrust my life totally to You. I wholeheartedly trust You to live Your life through me.” (Prov 3:5)
4. Divine acknowledgment – “Oh Lord, I acknowledge Your Lordship over every circumstance in my life. I trust You, to enable me and guide me through every difficulty. You are in me, You are with me now, and You will get me through this. Thank You for directing my path. Amen!” Proverbs 3:6
5. God is for you – “Lord, I am so grateful for the ‘grace initiative’ that You took toward me. You came to me and gave me the very best. Thank You, God, for Your unspeakable gift of Jesus Christ! Words cannot describe all that Christ is to me. Praise You that because You are for me, there is no one that can be against me.” (Ro 8:31-32)
6. Discipleship – “…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…” (Mt 28:20). Through believing the Gospel a person comes to salvation in Christ. Intentional discipleship, teaching one to obey biblical truth, will ground a new Christian in his faith. Help others to knows and live by God’s Word.
7. Tolerance – “Bad company corrupts good character” (1Cor 15:33). God loves the sinner, but hates sin. You too can befriend unbelievers without tolerating or agreeing with what is wrong. Be a man who shows kindness and tolerance to the fault of others. At the same time don’t lower your standard, live the Gospel courageously.
8. Spiritual growth – Spiritual growth is a process and includes tempestuous days of rain, as well as days of sunshine. Character and spiritual fruit take time to ripen.
“Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2b). Pray to be a man, that remains and growth in Christ no matter what.
9. Maturity – “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:14). Not age or the amount of information one receives, rather the conscientious training of the mind bring maturity. Pray to be a man who tests everything and holds fast to what is good.
10. Inheritance – “…an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you” (1Pe 1:4). A child of God is a pilgrim on earth. His home is in heaven. His calling is to be a witness for Christ and to live with the perspective of the eternal. Rejoice! The glory of your inheritance far outweighs the lure of this world.
11. Materialism – “…a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Lk 12:15). Contrary to the secular opinion, where the one who accumulates more material things wins; Jesus warns against greed and challenges us to be rich toward God. Pray to value what is eternal and beware of materialism.
12. You receive not – “You do not have because you do not ask, because you ask with wrong motives…” (Jas 4:2b-3). This means in reverse: You would have if you would ask of God with the right motive. Therefore ask for discernment and then according to his will and pleasure.
13. Loving God – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (Mt 22:37). To love is a choice. If I pray, “Lord, I want to love you, please fill me with your Spirit,” my prayer will be answered and my life will be changed.
14. Loving my neighbor – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:39). From the love of God flows the love to our neighbor. I can ask God “Lord please open my eyes to see my neighbor as you see him.” He will answer this prayer and improve relationships.
15. Investing – All our possessions are entrusted to us by Gott for our enjoyment, to praise Him and to use them to do good. If we invest this way, Gott will entrust us with even more. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mt 6:33).
16. Very good – “God saw all He had made and behold; it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Man and woman were created in the image of God. We, as men, can rejoice in our manhood and glorify the Lord through it. We also recognize and honor God’s glory in our wives.
17. Past – When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, he forgives our past and makes us into a new creation. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature…” (2Co 5:17). Memories may still torment us, but there is no longer any accusation. Thank you, Lord, that we can enjoy your forgiveness.
18. Joy – The relationship between husband and wife needs to be constantly nurtured. In Proverbs 5:18 we are reminded that our joy should be together with the woman we marry. We pray that this will be the reality regardless of circumstances.
19. Foundation – The foundation for a successful life is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6.5) Pray that this will be the foundation of your life and your family, forever.
20. Bible – God’s Word, the Bible, is the source that nurtures our love for Jesus. A man’s devotional time, reading, meditating, and praying, results in a heart that is fed and directed by God’s will. Pray that your desire to read the Bible every day will be renewed. (Deut. 6.6)
21. Teaching – The best method of teaching children is by example. So, if God’s word is in our hearts, it will be taught to our children “when sitting at home, walking by the way, when lying down, and when rising up” (Deut. 6.7). Lord, may my children also read Your word through my living.
22. Influence – “In this city lives a man of God who is highly esteemed. Perhaps he can show us the way we should go” (I Samuel 9.6) Let us pray that our lives will testify to the fact that we are God’s children; and that other will seek our guidance for their daily walk.
23. Hopeless – “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov 26:12). Be willing to listen to good advice and if you are tempted to impose your will, pray for God to teach you humility of the heart. An arrogant man is hopeless. He excludes himself from the grace of God.
24. Blessed – “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (Jas 1:25). – Pray for the Lord to grant you the desire and discipline to base your life on His unfailing word. He wants to bless you!
25. Adultery – “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:28). God’s norm is absolute. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Christ stand. Man, pray to live according to God’s standard and resist the temptation of the lust of the flesh.
26. Be reconciled – “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Ps 66:18). God is pure and cannot tolerate wickedness, therefore be ready to confess and asked forgiveness for your sin. Because Christ paid for the sin of the world on the cross, you and I can be forgiven and reconciled with God. Alleluia!
27. Never suppress truth – “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passion…” (Ro 1:18-32). When men are deceived by the evil one, they suppress truth and dishonor God. Temporary ideologies and social behavior give proof of that.
Therefore, be careful to follow Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life.
28. Teaching them – “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…(Mt 28:20). Sexual matters have hardly been discussed at home and ignored in church. Too many men have imitated the world and are victims of lust. Pray for the RTM-CiM initiative, providing the church in Brazil with material to overcome pornography.
