3 Things to Pray for your Son

The Conlee family recently hit a milestone as our firstborn turned 21.

If you’re in the early years of parenting, let me encourage you that you will make it despite how you may feel… and know that having adult children can be an amazing experience. As an empty nester, it’s easy for me to say, “Hold onto every day they’re in your home,” because it’s true.  BUT… you can also look forward to seeing them grow into all that God has for them. Both seasons have lots of opportunities to navigate and celebrate.

If you have a son, besides air, water, and food at all times, they also need prayer. As Chris wrote Mark’s birthday card, I smiled as I thought about the first time Chris had this conversation with our pre-adolescent son. Here we are a decade later, and the truth is clearer than ever before. Pray for your son to have:

• God
  Whether your son is 9 or 59, if he has the Lord front and center in his life, there’s a level of safety, security, and stability that can’t be measured. Today, I was in Exodus 19:5 where God tells His children that if they will obey His voice and keep His covenant, they’ll be His treasured possession. The people declare they’ll do what God has spoken, but it only takes a few more verses to realize that it was just empty words. We need to pray for our sons to truly put God first. We need to pray for them to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to truly delight in the Lord. It might be obvious, but sometimes we neglect to pray that our sons will not only find their first love in their Heavenly Father, but also keep their first love through every season of life.

• A Goal
  Without a purpose, we’re bound to wander and waste the life that God has given us. This is true for all humans. But since God has wired our sons to be initiators, this goal-setting piece is often overlooked in the early years. Whether it’s in school, sports, music, or friendships, we should pray for God to give our sons worthy goals to aim for in each season of life. Maybe the goal is to keep their clip on green. Perhaps it’s to say something nice to their sibling each day for a week, or to earn some money for a project. Having something to aim for stretches and encourages them to continue to grow. 

• A Girl
  So, this is why this list belongs to the sons! Every girl also needs God and a Goal… but for our sons, this girl piece isn’t just important, it’s life altering. From before Mark was born, I’ve prayed for the woman God would bring to him as his wife. For all the moms of unmarried boys, our interceding is never in vain. For those who have married sons, can I encourage you to also continue to remember to pray for your son’s bride? The enemy wants to tear down marriages. It’s our privilege to keep our sons and their families covered in prayer. 

Every boy and man needs God, a goal, and a girl. They need all three, whether they can grasp that or not. It’s an honor for us to stand in the gap and pray for God to lead them to exactly what – or whom – they need.