I noticed something different as soon as Andrew walked in the door. One evening, not so long ago, my 16-year old came home from working-out at the Y and told me a custodian had stopped him in the hallway and said he “looked like a champion” after working out. Andrew said he felt like giving the guy a hug because it made him feel good someone noticed his hard work lifting weights. Then he felt kind of awkard so he just told him “thanks” and kept walking.
But, when he got to the exit door, Andrew decided to drop his bag and run back to thank the guy for encouraging him.
The next morning as we were heading out the door for school, Andrew was still thinking about what had happened. He said he was tired of thinking about himself all the time and he’d decided any time he gets a sense in his heart that he needs to encourage someone, he’s going to follow through.
I did everything I could to hold back the tears. And with his permission I want to share why.
We have been on a hard part of Andrew’s journey this past year. A journey filled with doubts and hard questions about God, compounded by frustration and uncertainties about his purpose in life.
A journey that has broken my heart and brought me to my knees.
And while praying for my son, I’ve heard wisdom that could only come from his Heavenly Father.
- Wisdom told me not to react, but to listen closely as Andrew vented words that were hard to hear.
- Wisdom told me to keep my mouth shut, and let my actions speak louder than my emotions.
- Wisdom helped me breathe deep and look for ways to affirm unique gifts I’d seen in Andrew that he could no longer see in himself.
I have admired Andrew’s natural tendency to notice and encourage others for years. But it had disappeared. So, I’d been praying 1 Thessalonians 5:11 for him, asking Jesus to help this boy I love remember what brings him joy and purpose.
And God had answered, using the kindness of a stranger to stir up that life-giving gift in my son. That day, a ray of hope broke through the clouds. And each day it gets a little brighter as I stay on my knees and in God’s word on my son’s behalf.
Parenting is hard. It can leave a mama feeling worn out and weary from the battle for the hearts of her children.
If that is you, please keep reading and enter today’s special giveaway. I’m excited to introduce you to my new friend, Brooke McGlothlin. Brooke knows what it’s like to want to wave the white flag and give up the fight but she also knows God has called mothers to get in the battle. So how do we do that in the most effective way? By coming alongside them in prayer.
Brooke just released a new book, Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most, And I love it! So I’m giving away a copy today!
From fun boy mom humor, to insightful biblical wisdom, Brooke helps mothers of boys discover their value and power as praying moms. In Praying for Boys Brooke teaches us to discover delight in the chaos of raising boys, and helps us have more peace in our hearts and homes. {Disclaimer: If you have a daughter, don’t worry I’ve got another friend whose written a book for you and I’ll be giving away one soon!}
But if you are a mom of boys, I want to tell you a little more because this book is a praying-boy-mom’s treasure chest!
Praying for Boys will:
- Help you stop hovering, and start covering.
- Give you permission to wave the white flag, while empowering you with the tools you need to keep going.
- Help you recognize your value and power as a praying mom.
- Overcome feelings of failure, and walk in confidence as a mom.
My favorite part is that Brooke includes over 200 topically-organized, Scripture-based prayer prompts for 21 areas in which boys struggle the most.
Brooke McGlothlin is Co-founder of Raising Boys Ministries, where moms and dads come to discover delight in the chaos of raising boys. You can find her writing about fighting for the hearts of her sons at the MOB Society blog. Brooke is also a homeschooling mom to her two boys and happily married to the man she’s had a crush on since the third grade.
ENTER TO WIN: Click “Share Your Thoughts” below this post and tell me about the boys you pray for.
I’ll choose a winner Sunday night, and announce it on my blog Monday, along with the 5 winners that will be picked from Wednesday’s Giveaway.
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I have two boys 11 & 9 . I really want to be more proactive in praying for my boys. I want them to be better than me in their relationship with Jesus.
**Tears** My (5) nephews…..
As I read your article tears filled my eyes because I feel were your coming from. I’m the mother of twin 11yr. old boys. It’s truly been a blessing to experience Gods creation through their eyes, but it’s also very difficult raising boys . I can see their heart for God, but I also see the enemy battling for that heart on a daily basis, SPIRITUAL WARFARE. I know my boys are ultimately Gods boys not mine and want to please him in raising them and how I handle each challenge in there life. This books looks like a must have for a mother of boys.
I have a 6 year old son and I have been having such a hard time with him for the last year or so. His Daddy took a job where he travels a lot, sometimes up to 3 weeks out of the month. My son is a very sweet, loving, kind little boy but when his Daddy has to leave, his entire personality changes. He has such separation anxiety and sadness over his father being gone that he becomes angry and defiant, sometimes crying over nothing, sometimes being very argumentative and disrespectful. He has problems concentrating on homework and what should take fifteen or twenty minutes at most can take an hour or more to complete. I’ve tried everything from stiff discipline to just hugging it out and it has gotten some better, but it still gives me so much anxiety when his Dad has to leave that I have begun to dread it almost more than my little boy. I’ve prayed and I’ve cried and I know God has helped me, but it’s been a long road and I think it will continue to be difficult in the years to come. I’m determined that my sweet little boy not grow up to be an angry, trouble-filled teenager but I know that it isn’t all in my hands. I have to give some of it up to God, but some days I don’t know how?
This book would be very beneficial to me. I have 2 sons, ages 16 and 8. Please include me in this drawing
This year has been one of those years. My son has come home from his 5 years in the military so discouraged and bitter at God as well as family. I have been praying he will be reminded of all the verses he has learned and turn back to God
My boys are 8 and 4. My serious, football stat loving, mop head B, and my silly, kiss giv’in, war cry yell’in, PJ lover, Ty. They are as different as night and day and I love them with all my heart. I pray they grow up to be Godly men like their Daddy. I actually just purchased this book and can’t wait to dig in. But I would love a copy to give away to another Mama of 2 boys. We share quite a bit, how to do life with our “wild things.” I praise God daily that he chose me to be just the mom they need. Me. Not my task list or accomplishments. Just me. Lord, help me to do a good job introducing them to you!
Paige
When I read “Help you stop hovering, and start covering”, I smiled because that’s me sometimes. I am the lone female in the household with my hubby and 9 year old son, Jacob. Sometimes, I have so much difficulty in relating to my son. I grew up with an older brother with cerebral palsy so there are does when I just don’t “get” my son. But, with the Lord’s help, I’m trying 🙂
My nephew worries me so much i pray to God to show him the way he needs to go. when he was a Young boy he used to sing for the Lord with passion its sad to see the path he is taking.
I have a church member that is a young unwed mother of two little boys that I would love to give her a copy of this book to help her as she tries to raise these little boys on her own. I know today it is harder to raise children with all the distractions they have at their finger tips.
My husband and I have two wonderful boys – a 22 year old and a 16 year old. I pray for special care and godly and moral direction for them daily. Although our 16 year old has been homeschooled his entire life in our Christian home with a social life of mostly extended family members, a day will come soon when I must turn him loose completely to the world. I pray that with all the newness of that “freedom”, he will remember everything we have taught him about prayer and living for God and about being a leading example with those tools instead of letting others lead him where he should not go. Scripture to aid us through this transaction would be wonderful to have. Thank you for this offer.
I pray for my husband and my son, who’s 4. He has some issues that make him a little different so I pray that he and I will learn to deal with them the best that we can. It can be difficult with him because he is hard to work with at times, but I just pray for him the best I can
Hi Reene thks so much for your so timing post sahring your heart about praying for your son.
I have a 14 year old son who has been expouse to sex videos about a year ago and when I found out it just broke my heart. I can begin to explain the pain I felt since I know God’s plan for my son are amazing. He’s still battleling and struggling with thoughts the enemy likes to throw at him, so I do pray and fast for my son to be set free. I know Jesus has set us free but we need to believe it and walk in that freedom, so I pray my son will believe that he’s set free by the power of the cross that Jesus is enough. That he doesn’t need to feel trap in any thought or behavior that is not pleasing to God for he’s a child of God bought to freedom.
The other night my son came to my crying since the enemy has been harassing him and I just prayed over him and for him. I do love and thk God that my son has that open heart and mouth to trust me, so please pray for also for me so as I seek God He will give me the wisdom to share His word and His heart with my son.
Thank you so much! Thks for your book A Confiden Heart and your life- a precious testimony of being an aver comer by the power of Jesus!
I am so grateful for the oppurtunity to pray for my sons who are 16 and 15. They lost their dad 3 1/2 years ago by suicide. Their feelings of grief and abandonment have been very hard to break through. Lets face it, boys do not talk and share freely. Trying to listen and not speak and learning to be the disciplinarian has been a challange for me. As a mom, we want to encourage and love our children. Take away all their pain, not enforce rules and boundaries. It’s been an incredible time of learning and growth for all of us. I am blessed by God for the wonderful people that he has so graciously sent our way to help. I would love to have the opportunity to read Brooke’s new book and learn more about the power of prayer. Thank you Renee for all you do to encourage woman!
I am a Mom to 4 fantastic sons 26, 21, 17 & 14. It has brought me some of the most joy I have ever felt, and some of the most pain. But I am SO blessed and thankful to be the mother of sons. My oldest son is having his first child this Summer and it is a girl! What am I going to do?!
My son is 15, the youngest of three. (older two are girls) I worry about my son sometimes because my husband’s job requires him to travel alot, usually for a week at a time. with weekends at home. My son struggles with being the “man of the house” when his dad is gone, as well as being the only male in the house. He is still a teenage boy who needs to enjoy this time in his life, focus on school, church and friends. I worry that he gets overwhelmed. I do not want him to feel pressured into growing up too soon, and then start rebelling. I would love to have the book as a resource and guide on how to pray more effectively for my son and his needs, his faith, his future, as well as praying for my husband when he is away from home, and the need for him to be a spiritual leader and an active, positive influence for our son when he is here.
My son is 15 and light years beyond most of his friends in maturity! Some days I wonder aloud about the whereabouts of my precious first born?? I do catch a glimpse of the young boy that was so loving and sweet. I keep telling myself it is his age, but all too often I walk away from encounters with him ( cant quite call them conversations:) ) feeling lost and hurt:((. Some days I don’t even know what to pray for???
This book sounds really wonderful to me. I look forward to reading it. I have 3 boys, one is 23 and married, he has all kinds of things on his plate, but the one that stands out right now is he and a friend are opening up a store at the beginning of March, one is 21 and has done through all kinds of struggles, from being a dad at 16, giving that child up(very difficult decision), getting into drugs, struggling to hold down a job(but doing well in this area now), and he now has a house and is renovating and struggling financially, and my youngest son is 17, goes to youth, bible study and helps teach Sunday School, he is graduating this year, he also plays drums in a Christian band. So as you can clearly see, I have a lot to pray for and any help I can get, is much appreciated.
Helen
My son, 10, is autistic. He blends in and by all accounts is very typical. HOWEVER, he has obsessive thoughts and doesn’t always understand things the way we do. Because of that, I am particularly worried about the “teen” years and all the social pressures of relationships, intimacy, etc. I worry about that for him for marriage too. He has an insane sense of right and wrong, but often not until after that fact and learns the why. I can’t expose him to everything at once to give him every life lesson he will need to navigate this but at the same time, I think about it often praying his eyes and heart will be protected.
Renee, our son has been struggling all his life, never feeling like he was good enough, and never wanting to do the work to make himself feel successful. Now he has a brain injury from an work accident, he has become angry, bitter, confused and spilling downward. He breaks my heart daily from the angry, and the way he now chooses his life, of girls, sex and drinking, WE are now paying him not to drink, and so far it has been working for 8 weeks. He is a bright, smart young man, who if he worked hard could have an amazing life. How do we make him want that? Need prayers to continue just to listen and not react, to be the pray warrior for him and help him want the good life that God has promised.