A Prayer For A Son To Walk The Way Of Jesus

A Prayer for a Son to Walk the Way of Jesus

What is it, Lord, to be a man?

What is it to raise one?

In a context where men

Can be almost anything,

We pray for stamina

To raise a son

Who values gentleness

Over strength,

Who values peace

Over power.

Liberate us, Lord,

From the binds

Of toxic masculinity

In our home

And in our hearts.

Rescue us, O God,

From the trappings

Of celebrated violence

In our words

And in our wonderings.

Make us parents

Who welcome emotion

And tenderness.

Remind us that our child

And indeed we ourselves

Are created in Your very image.

Help us fathers

To model self-awareness,

Self-control,

And self-compassion.

For our son is watching

A world where men

Are encouraged to run

The other way.

Help us mothers

To model self-respect,

Self-empowerment,

And self-compassion.

For our son is watching

In a world where women

Are encouraged to shrink away.

We pray for our son as he grows,

Shooting up like a dandelion

After a summer rain,

His legs leaner,

His heart fertile ground.

Help us tend to his soul.

Cultivate in us a sense of awe

For Your creation.

O Creator,

For his developing brain

And body,

We ask for discernment.

Surround him with

Friends and family

Who model lives

That honor themselves

And each other.

As we peek out the window

At the oranges and pinks of a glorious sunset,

Help us point to You,

And help our son see the holy artist

Within himself.

Let us create with him

So he becomes a cocreator with You.

As we walk along the wooded path

Under the canopy of great oaks

Dropping acorns underfoot,

Help us point to You

And help him see the holy protector

Within himself.

Let us nurture him

So he becomes a nurturer like You.

As we take our seats on the hard plastic

Of the crowded subway,

Packed with grandmothers

And babies and college students,

Help us point to You,

And help him see the holy unity

Within Your family.

As we sit upon the shore,

Skipping a smooth stone on the resting water,

Help us point to You,

And help him see the holy grace

You have planted within him.

Show us how to raise

Artists and adventurers,

Thinkers and teachers,

Nurturers and navigators.

Let them run with abandon

The race set out for them.

Give them grace; give them grit,

For they’re inheriting a world

That says strength means

Bigger, faster, louder;

That says winning is

Conquering, collecting, conquesting.

But perhaps we can lead them

To a Kingdom

That flips upside down

Our notions of

Power and of victory,

That points them to

The tenderness of a Shepherd,

The benevolence of a King,

The outstretched arms of a Father.

Help us listen to our son

So he will learn to listen first and speak slowly.

Help us cry with him

So he will learn tears are holy indicators,

Of what it is to be human.

Help us embrace him

With open arms

After foolishness

And wayward wanderings,

For You model parental mercy.

We pray for our son,

That he would be empowered

While divesting his power,

That he would honor himself

While honoring his most marginalized neighbor,

That he would have courage

To turn away

From the temptation of excess,

From the delight of more.

God, we are greedy in our prayers,

And still we ask for more:

For joy in our son,

For delight and for celebration,

For the holy sound of

Giggles and hearty laughs

To emanate from his

Very soul.

Our culture has not modeled well

What it is to raise a son,

What it is to be a man.

But we have hope

Because we have a heavenly Father

And a compassionate Son

And a Holy Spirit who will never leave us.

It is in the name of the triune God

That we raise our boy

And that we pray these things.

Amen.

Genesis 33; Titus 3:2; Matthew 6:33; James 1:22; Ephesians 6:11-12