“Give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my life, to know and follow hard after You” (Passion).
I heard that song for the first time when I was just 23 years old. Single, working in my first full time ministry job, and spending a couple hours a day in the Word of God, I was filled to the brim with a desire to know and follow hard after God.
Even back then, I knew I wanted to raise boys, and so as I sang … as I worshipped and belted out those lyrics with all my heart and at the top of my lungs … I asked God to make it so, and to help me raise boys with the same magnificent obsession.
Now, 16 years later (yikes!) it’s still my prayer. But as it turns out, keeping one pure and holy passion is harder than I thought it would be. Making it my highest ambition to know and follow hard after God is easier to say but much harder to do. If I find it hard as a 39 year-old woman, I know my boys will find it even harder as they grow up in a world filled with so many distractions.
I worry about them trying to fit in, comparing themselves to other men, being too focused on their careers, or thinking their names have to be in lights to have value.
4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son Be a Man of Purpose
We hear a lot about the pressures women face to “have it all,” “be it all,” and “keep it all together,” but I believe men face equal pressure from the world today to be the best athlete, excel in school, get a good job, provide for their families, etc, etc. With all the tasks the world says they need to achieve swirling around them, I pray they’ll be men of true purpose, with one pure and holy passion…
1. Lord, let (your son’s name) truly, and deeply love you.
“And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).
2. Lord, may (your son’s name) be a man after (pursuing it with reckless abandon) your own heart.
“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will’” (Acts 13:22).
3. Lord, may (your son’s name) seek to abide (remain) in you.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).
4. Lord, may (your son’s name) be led by you.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
This week, add these verses to your prayer time each day. Ask the Lord if you’re modeling a pure and holy passion and magnificent obsession for your son in your own life. If you’re not, make the change.
EXTRA VERSES TO PRAY
See my post on praying for your sons in the other three categories above: Men of God, Servant Leaders, and Men of Integrity.
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Thank you so much! Not just for helping me on such a sticky topic….friends for my daughter but also for me