Lent Day 12: Bless the Men

From the Genesis account, we have come to know and believe that God is the Creator of all and that everything He conceived was delivered in a healthy and perfect condition. Known as the crowing achievement of God’s creation, mankind was birthed in two distinct genders, “male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27)—a good and blessed gift to the world at large.

Grievously, sin entered the world through the rebellion of Adam and Eve, distorting the original purity of mankind to such an extent that we have since had reasons to view men and women more often as challenges instead of blessings. Hence, Christ came to earth and died so that, through His righteousness, men and women alike who believe in Him can reclaim their proper identity and role.

Given that the man was created first, let us focus on men in our prayers today. 

We learn from Genesis 1-2 that the role of men is to father, love, protect, and provide for those in their respective spheres of influence, whether or not they happen to have physical children. Let us consider on this twelfth lenten morning . . . 

Have there been men in our lives who have invested and/or planted seeds of growth in us or helped bring us where we are today? 

Let us pause and jot down their names. 

Let us exercise our heart muscles and think generously toward them.

Let us take this opportunity to thank God on their behalf, praying that God will use His Word to encourage them to be the kinds of authentic men who will realize that “apart from God, they have no good thing” (Ps. 16:2).

Hence, in the name of Jesus, we bless the men in our lives. 

We bless them with every good and perfect gift that God, the Father, has made available to them. 

We bless them with the redemptive work of the blood of Jesus that covers all their sins.

We bless them with the power of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit strengthening them to do the work apportioned to them. 

We bless them with the numerous dreams and visions that God has entrusted to them knowing that He will provide the strength and wisdom the men in our lives need to accomplish them.

We pray that God will guide our grandfathers, dads, uncles, husbands, sons, nephews, neighbors, clergymen—all the men around us—to be exposed to His Word, to absorb scripture, and to have a heart response that completes their full experience of God. We pray that they will be desirous of and faithful in living in total submission to the Holy Spirit as they face trials and temptations of all kinds. We pray that they will develop a meaningful prayer life as major crises interrupt the flow of their lives. May the men in our lives embrace biblical manhood and truly become the blessings that God intended for them to be, in Jesus’ name!