“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, 14 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, and much harder to do. If I find it hard as a 37 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.

Already, my oldest wishes he was the star athlete like his brother and father, and thinks that somehow his worth as a person is tied to his performance on the field.

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.

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 them truly, and deeply love you.

“Let (your son’s name) love the Lord his God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength and with all his mind, and his neighbor as himself” Luke 10:27.

2. Lord, may they be men after (pursuing it with reckless abandon) your own heart.

“May God find in (your son’s name) a man after his heart, who will do all his will” Acts 13:22.

3. Lord, may they seek to abide (remain) in you.

“May (your son’s name) abide in Christ, and Christ in him. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can he, unless he abides in Christ” John 15:4

4. Lord, may they be lead by you.

“May (your son’s name) trust in the LORD with all his heart, and not lean on his own understanding. In all his ways may he acknowledge him, and He will keep his paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6.

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, and if you’re not, make the change.

Resources to Help You Pray

4 Verses to Pray to Help Your Son Be a Man of God

Praying for Boys: Asking God for the Things They Need Most

The FREE 5-Day Praying for Boys Challenge: Covering Them from Head to Toe

Brooke

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.