1. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Pray that husbands will approach this new year with a heart of forgiveness and grace toward their wives. (1 Cor. 13:5)
2. Children can be challenging and wearisome at times. Pray that fathers will model patience and kindness for their children. (1 Cor. 13:1)
3. In Western society, January is one of the top months for divorce filings. However, love always hopes and always perseveres. Pray that husbands will not succumb to pride and bitterness but instead humbly love their wives. (1 Cor. 13:7)
4. Love is not easily angered. Pray that husbands and fathers with anger issues will resolve to act to correct this sinful behavior and spare their families the emotional trauma that anger can inflict. (1 Cor. 13:5)
5. Love always protects. Pray that husbands and fathers will protect their families’ finances by being good stewards of God’s provision and giving up any sinful use of their families’ funds. (1 Cor. 13:7)
6. Thank God for all his promises in the Bible. Pray today that he will use you as a tool in his almighty hands to bring in the harvest. (Ps. 2:8)
7. Making disciples for Jesus involves baptizing and teaching. The first part is fairly easy on our part. Teaching believers to obey Jesus and helping them to become mature followers of Christ is more difficult. And it takes a lot of time. Pray that God will use you as a good counselor for other believers. (Matt. 28:19-20)
8. If you wonder why you are alive, read Isaiah 61:1. The main purpose of your life is to share the good news with others so that they may have eternal life. Thank God that he sent Jesus to die in your place and that he is now using you to pass on the good news to other people.
9. Pray that God will guide your steps today and let you become a blessing for other people. Pray that you will be a good ambassador for Jesus. (2 Cor. 5:20)
10. Whenever you enter a spiritual battle, make sure to first put on God’s armor (Eph. 6:10-18). If you challenge evil forces using your own strength, you will surely fail. Thank God that he is always ready to give you whatever you need to win the battle. (Ps. 7:1-2)
11. A deep sense of God’s peace seems to be lacking in the lives of many men. Pray for men to be intentional about cultivating daily peace with God through the biblically meditative disciplines of prayer, solitude and Scripture memorization. (Rom. 14:17)
12. Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Pray for men to seek the fullness of God’s Spirit to manifest his peace as it flows in and through their lives. (Phil. 4:6-7)
13. Our world offers many reasons for fear and anxiety. Jesus offers us his peace, which transcends this world. Pray for men to absorb more of the Lord’s peace and radiate this to a world in turmoil. (John 16:33)
14. “Men of peace” are rare these days. So many men struggle with outbursts of anger and turbulent spirits. Pray for men to allow the “peace of Christ to rule their hearts” by surrendering their self-life to him, accepting their co-crucifixion with Christ and abiding in his life of peace. (Col. 3:15)
15. As we trust God with our daily battles, he gives us his peace (Rom. 15:13). Pray for men to speak their heartaches and challenges to God in prayer, leaving those burdens in his sovereign care and walking in his peace in every circumstance.
16. Men strive for accomplishments and action. A man is a doer, and it is natural for him to lead and take charge of practical matters. Pray that you will allow for the Lord to teach and direct you in such a way that in “whatever you do in word or deed, you do it in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17).
17. Mostly, when something is wrong in this world, it is because men didn’t “man up” and stand for what is true and right. Like after the fall, when God called Adam, today he is calling you to return to him and surrender your self-will and independent spirit. Pray for him to use you to save others. (Ezek. 22:30)
18. Jesus promised to give you abundant life. If you are not experiencing his joy and peace and instead are beset by frustration and confusion, know that the enemy has broken in and stolen your first love. Pray today that the Lord will restore to you the joy of his salvation. (Jer. 29:11-13)
19. When we take our identity from what we know, do or have, we will never find the inner stability and assurance God wants to give us. What really matters is who you are in him! Thank the Lord that he has made you a new creation in Christ and that you are a child of God, safe and secure for eternity. (John 10:27-30)
20. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Too many Christian men have been victims of Satan’s schemes. They have lost their focus, joy and purpose in life. Ask the Lord to grant you faith to believe that he is sufficient for you and able to transform you into an overflowing vessel of his spirit. (John 7:37)
21. Our prayer life should balance praise with petition. Each day will bring new opportunities for thanksgiving and intercession. “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your loving-kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night” (Ps. 92:1.2).
22. When our spiritual enemies trip us up, we should not stay down. In his holiness and love, God calls us to repent and embrace his grace. “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Joel 2:12-13).
23. The miraculous cursing of the fig tree was a symbol of the devastation that would befall Jerusalem. “So Jesus answered and said to them [the disciples], ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive’” (Matt. 21:21-22). God calls us to pray in faith and trust his sovereignty to remove obstacles to his will.
24. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2). As we believe in God’s amazing love for us and appreciate our new identity in Christ, prayer is cultivated as personal relationship.
25. The Lord is attentive to the outcry of your heart. There is nothing complicated about the relationship of our loving heavenly Father and you, as his beloved son. “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger” (Ps. 8:2).
26. Never lose the wonder of God’s greatness and adore him in truth and in spirit. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what are we that you are mindful of us, human beings that you care for us” (Ps. 8:3-4)?
27. To think of yourself as better than you are, leads to pride. But to think of yourself as less than what God has created you for leads to discouragement. “You have made us a little lower than the angels and crowned us with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:5).
28. Thank the Lord today for the privilege to be a steward of his creation. “You made us rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under our feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas” (Ps. 8:6-8).
29. The Bible predicts that the last days will be terrible times (2 Tim. 3:1-9). There will be men of depraved minds who reject the faith and are brutal with no self-control. Pray for steadfastness and courage when you experience all kinds of persecution. Remember that the Lord reigns and the reward is coming. (2 Tim. 3:12)
30. Men are willing to invest in what appears to be of worth and interest. Pray for a new vision and understanding of the values of God’s kingdom. Be a disciple of Jesus and start investing with your time, resources and, yes, your whole life in what has eternal worth. (Luke 9:23-24)
31. TWR’s men’s Bible study Every Man A Warrior (everymanawarrior.com) is creating a deep and positive impact in those who are willing to obey the first commandment (Matt. 22:37). Pray that you, too, will be a man who confronts life’s challenges based on that solid foundation.
