If you’re anything like me, you dream of your son becoming a mighty man of God—a man of integrity, a man of principle, a man who loves Jesus. You dare to hope that when the day of temptation comes, he will stand strong and fight for Truth.
That’s the greatest desire of your heart. But I’m guess you have no idea how to make it happen.
man-of-integrity
Me neither. Not exactly.
But I do know this: The best parenting in the world cannot make this dream come true. The only way our boys will become men of integrity is for their hearts to be changed…” (Excerpted from Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most).
Men of Integrity
The best equation I’ve found for growing men of integrity is this: Modeling + Heart Change = Integrity, and it’s not an exact science, doesn’t have a guaranteed outcome because we can only control one part of the equation—modeling.
As parents, it’s our responsibility to model a life of integrity for our kids so they know what it looks like. They need to see us make the hard, but right decisions. It’s doing right when everyone else is doing wrong. Making choices that might not be easy, but are good. Even making decisions that might hurt us, just because they’re right. Those of us who follow Jesus have all been given the power to choose. We can do it because God empowers us to live a godly life.
The part that isn’t within our ability to control is heart change. According to Ezekiel 36:26, that’s God’s job, and unfortunately, our boys may not be interested in living a life of integrity that honors God and others until this work of God is done in their hearts. True integrity is a bending of the will to something greater than ourselves. It’s responding to a greater authority than ourselves, choosing to honor God even when no one is looking. It’s giving up the right to have rights…a kind of submission that only comes as our boys give their hearts to Jesus and call Him Lord. And…
If their knees are ever to bend to Jesus as Savior, their hearts must bend first. This is the place a mama’s prayers (<–Tweet That!).
4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son be a Man of Integrity
1. Lord, may (your son’s name) walk blamelessly, do what is right, and speak truth in their hearts.
“O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:1-2).
2. Lord, may (your son’s name) trust in the Lord without wavering.
“Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering” (Psalm 26:1).
3. Lord, may (your son’s name) turn away from evil and do good.
“Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:13-14).
4. Lord, turn (your son’s name) heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
This week, add these verses to your prayer time each day. In your time alone with the Lord, ask him to show you ways you can improve your own walk of integrity so you model it more effectively to your sons.
Resources to Help You Pray
4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son Be a Man of God
4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son Be a Man of Purpose
4 Verses to Pray for Help your Sons Be a Servant Leader
Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most
Join other mothers of boys as they spend 5 days praying for their boys from head to toe. Based on Ephesians 6:10-17 (the armor of God)
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In this 5-day challenge, we’ll learn to put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) for ourselves and our sons in prayer as we explore praying for our boys from head to toe. In the process, we might even realize just how valuable and powerful we are as praying moms.
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Brooke McGlothlin
Brooke McGlothlin is co-founder and President of Raising Boys Ministries. She’s a mother of two boys who believes God has chosen her to fight for the hearts of her sons. She can be found most often on her knees in prayer, not because she’s so holy, but because God is. Not because she knows how to raise godly men, but because she believes in the God who loves them more than she does.
I love this post on prayers for integrity. My husband and I are “those parents”—you know, the ones who tend to be a little more conservative with our boys’ (ages 8 & 11) upbringing. We don’t have cable and we don’t allow first person shooter or any M rated video games. Our oldest has cried himself to sleep at night because he feels like an outsider when it comes to topics kids (with more permissive parents) are talking about. Our child is a sweet, loving considerate boy who adults love, but he struggles with forming clise friendships with peers. He rarely receives birthday invitations, but he was especially heartbroken this week when he was not invited to the party of one of the “cool kids” who my son considered a close friend. My husband and I also felt hurt because the boy’s parents are good friends of ours. They know the struggles our son has with feeling left out. How I wish they would have stepped up to the plate and shown some compassion towards our son. I know we’ve hosted birthday parties for our boys where we’ve encouraged them to invite some “less popular kids” who hadn’t been on their guest lists, and they readily agreed…. It’s tough to model integrity and to not be conformed to this world in our parenting choices–especially when doing so can cause heartache for our children who can be deemed as “different” because of it. Brooke, as I read your thoughts on why integrity matters, I couldn’t help but think that I need to read it with my son’s. If you would ever consider doing a daily devotional book with your topics/writings written at kid level—I would be one of the first to buy it! 🙂
Thank you, Susan! I’ve got so many ideas for things like this, but so little time to write them. One day!
[…] 4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son be a Man of Integrity […]
Oh, thank you! My precious son is breaking my heart right now on a daily basis. He loves the Lord and knows the Word but gives in over and over to desires of the flesh. I pray the fruits of the Spirit over him constantly.
As a mother of two boys, I LOVE this post, Brooke! Thanks so much. Sharing!