ACT LIKE WOMEN

PRAYER GUIDE

WEEK 1

MONDAY

Father, we are made in your image. Male and female you created us. As we seek you through the next few weeks of our Act Like Men series, open our hearts to the goodness of your Word and teach us to walk in your ways. We want to hear from you.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27

TUESDAY

Father, encourage ________’s heart as he seeks to be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, and be strong in you.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13

WEDNESDAY

Father, I pray for _______ as he seeks you. I pray that you will continue the work you’ve started in him and bring it to completion. I pray that he will seek you first in all parts of his life and that you will grow his faith and relationship with you.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

THURSDAY

Father, I pray that as ______ leads, provides, and protects our family, you will fill him with more of you and everything he needs to live out such a weighty calling. Father, make our marriage and unity strong in you, and help our marriage reflect Jesus and His church.

FRIDAY

Father, ______ is your son. He is your man. Be his helper and sustain him as he seeks to walk in your ways, keeping your statutes, commandments, rules, and testimonies, so that he will prosper in all that he does.

“…Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.” 1 Kings 2:2-3

SATURDAY

Father, you are LORD. I pray that you will fill ________ with the knowledge of your will. Give him all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner fully pleasing and worthy of you. I pray that as you increase his knowledge and love of you, his life will be overflowing with fruitfulness. I pray that you will strengthen him with all power according to your might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

“…we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” Colossians 1: 9b-11

SUNDAY

Father, your word is living and active. Pour out your Spirit and your Word today. Pierce our hearts with the depth of your Word. We receive your Word. We love you.

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

PRAYER GUIDE

WEEK 2

MONDAY

Loving Father, You are so kind to us. You are gentle with us, and it is always your kindness that leads us to repentance in all things. Father, You are LORD over our lives, and I pray that You will call to remembrance Your words spoken yesterday. Is there any area You long to work in my life, or in ________’s? I pray that You will guide and direct all our conversations this week and help us to keep control over our words. Life and death are found in them, and we know a gentle answer is able to turn away wrath.

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.” Proverbs 15:1

TUESDAY

Father, I pray You will help us maintain unity of the Spirit in our household. We want Your peace and gentleness to govern our home, our family, and our lives. We want to be led by your Spirit and for You to help us to be gentle and patient with one another, bearing with one another in love. Father, help us where we are weak.

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-2

WEDNESDAY

Father, you are good, and all good things come from you. You are the One who gives the growth in our lives. Someone plants, another waters, but it is You who produces the fruit. I pray over _______. I pray that You will produce fruit in his life as he walks with You. I pray that his heart and passion is for You, and that You will grow a harvest of joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in his life.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

THURSDAY

Jesus, You are gentle and lowly in heart. I pray for _______ as he comes to You. I pray that where he labors and is heavy laden that You will teach him to find his rest in You. Help him to take your yoke and learn from You and continue to grow him in his likeness to You. Help him to find rest in You.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

FRIDAY

Father, being reminded of your character, we know You are slow to anger and patient with us. May the love of Christ control us in all that we say and do. Help _______ and I to be quick to hear one another’s hearts and needs. Show us what the true need is and help us to respond in love. Help us to be slow to speak. Govern our thoughts and words because we know that a great forest is set ablaze by a small fire. When we do speak, may our words be filled with life. Father, please help us to be slow to anger. Help us to receive your gentleness, and fight for unity even when it is hard.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.” James 1:19-20

SATURDAY

Father, You are our peace. You give us peace that surpasses all understanding when our minds remain on You. Father, focus our attention upon You. Help us to receive peace from You and bring it into our home. I pray our home will be a place saturated with Your love, kindness, and peace. Father, please help us to not let a root of bitterness invade our home but help us to have peaceful communication for the sake of being reconciled in love. Nothing is impossible with You. Father, govern our conversations. Help them to grow us closer to one another and closer to You. Do not let satan get a stronghold and allow roots of bitterness to grow. Help us pull those roots up. You give us the grace; You give us the power, and we will give You the glory for the work You are doing in and through us.

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble…” Hebrews 12:14-15

SUNDAY

Father, grow us in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. He is our Savior, and we give all of ourselves back to Him as our Lord. Father, our lives are Yours and belong to You. We will be restless until our hearts rest in You. Father, we pray that You will prepare our hearts for the teaching of your Word today and that we will receive it with glad and open hearts ready to say yes and amen. We love You, and we give Jesus all the glory now and forever.

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18

PRAYER GUIDE

WEEK 3

MONDAY

Merciful Father, you are holy and pure. You are the Triune God living in perfect unity and harmony with the Son and the Spirit. I pray over my marriage today. Your Word says that you will give me the encouragement and endurance needed to live in harmony with those around me, and I pray that you would especially help me to live in harmony and unity with _________. You have brought us together, and I pray for a special blessing on our marriage. I pray that you will unite our hearts together, reminding us we are on the same team, and help us walk in unity of heart and mind to the praise of your glory.

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6

TUESDAY

Father, thank you for bringing _____ and I together. I pray that you will give me a vision of what our home can be. I pray that it will be a haven that builds up our family and all who enter. I pray that you will help me see specific ways that I already am and can be a help to ______. I pray that you will grow our companionship, friendship, communication, and deepen our love and intimacy. Father, place your hedge of protection around our marriage.

“Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18

WEDNESDAY

Father, as I go about my day today, show me ways that I can do ______ good. Show me specific ways that I can pray for him as he leads, provides, and protects our family, as well as specific ways I can be a blessing and an encouragement to him. Strengthen our union with one another and with you.

“The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm, all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31:11-12

THURSDAY

Father, I know that encouragement in the mouth of a woman is strong in the heart of a man. Help me to be a woman of encouragement. Show me opportunities throughout the day where I can be an encouragement to ______ and build him up. Father, I want my words to give grace to _______. Help me walk in faithfulness to your Word in this area of my life.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29

FRIDAY

Father, search my heart and reveal to me if there is any area where I am harboring unforgiveness towards ________. Father, I don’t want to allow Satan a foothold in our marriage. I surrender this situation, heart attitude, or _________¬¬ to you and ask that you would help to forgive from the heart, as you have forgiven me. I pray that this will be a turning point in our marriage, and a place of growth, reconciliation, restoration, and one where you receive all the glory.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

SATURDAY

Father, I realize that you have shown me perfect love. You are patient and kind. You perfectly model each one of the characteristics in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Father, I pray that you will help _______ and I live this out in our marriage. Help us to be each of these qualities towards one another. May our marriage reflect Christ and the Church. Help us to be patient and kind, not arrogant nor rude. Help us to not insist on our own way but listen to one another and remember we are on the same team. Unify our hearts. Help us to be peace makers and let no root of bitterness take hold. Father, as far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our sins from us. Help us to be imitators of you and do the same. Father, help us destroy that record of wrong, and instead, rejoice with the truth.

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

SUNDAY

Father, just as I need love, your Word reminds me that _______ needs my respect. Father, help me to respect him in public and private, and help him to continue to rise to be the man he can be, the man you created him to be. May my words and actions affirm him in his manhood and leadership of our family, as well as show him that I believe in him. Father, continue the work you’re doing in our family, and transform us more into the likeness of Jesus each day.

“However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:33

PRAYER GUIDE

WEEK 4

MONDAY

Father, you are a perfect father. You love your children with an everlasting love. I pray over _____ this week, as you continue to bring to his mind the sermon on men and parenting. I pray that you will continually remind him of how you love him and encourage his heart. Grow him in his fatherhood and strengthen his father’s heart because he sees and knows the depth of Your father’s heart towards him. May his relationship with you continue to deepen as you transform him into your likeness, and may he reflect your love towards our children.

“…and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18

TUESDAY

Father, I pray over our parenting today. Just as your word says you are one, I pray that you will unify _______ and me in our parenting. Remind us that we are on the same team. Unify us in You and for You. You give us a vision of what it looks like to teach our children your Word and ways. Father, encourage _______ in his role as father today, and recall to his mind how important he is to our children and how much they love and need him. Help me to be a support and encouragement to him.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

WEDNESDAY

Father, raising children is a weighty calling. I pray for ______ as he seeks to take on your yoke. As he walks yoked to you, I pray that he will receive your wisdom where he lacks clarity in his leadership of our children. I pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will illuminate his path forward, and make it straight. I also pray that he will experience much joy.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

THURSDAY

Father, I pray over _______ ability to communicate and lead our children well. Give him wisdom and control over his words. When our children need discipline, instruction, and direction, please give him wisdom and discernment of what is at the root and show him how to handle the situation. May you use these necessary times to strengthen our children in you and deepen their relationship with their father because they know how much he loves them.

“Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.” Colossians 3:21

FRIDAY

Father, thank you for the gift of family. We want our family to have a lasting legacy in You. Firmly root and ground us in you. I pray over our family culture, may it be one of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. I pray that ______ will be the glory of our children because he is steadfast in You. Father, show us ways we can honor _______ this week. Thank you for the man he is, and how You are working in his life.

“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” Proverbs 17:6

SATURDAY

Father, just as Paul encouraged Timothy, his son in the faith, I pray that ______ will encourage our children. I pray that he will be a faithful man in word and deed and is able to teach and model for others Jesus’ example. Father, fill him with spiritual hunger for You and your Word that freely pours out of him.

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful me who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:1-2

SUNDAY

Father, we desire for you to be our first priority. We love you and long to be full of your presence. Father, please speak to us this weekend, and give us ears to hear your word, and a willing heart to put it into practice. Father, we love you and want to serve you.

“…But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

PRAYER GUIDE

WEEK 5

MONDAY

Father, we see from your Word that work is good. You gave the gift of work before the fall. I pray over _______ ‘s work today. Father, You have created him with specific gifts and talents. I pray that he will be confident in who You created him to be, and that he will be skilled in the area of labor and work You’ve called him to. Father, I pray that You will help him to have confidence in his purpose, which is rooted in You, and that he will find great fulfillment in the tasks that you have set before him.

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15

TUESDAY

Father, you are so kind to create us and call us yours. We are your workmanship, made in your image. You created each one of us for good works. Father, I pray over ______. I pray that You will encourage him in his work. I pray that he will see it as an opportunity to serve You and walk in the good works you created for him. Give him vision and clarity on what that looks like to serve You right where he is and help me to be an encouragement to him.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

WEDNESDAY

Father, thank you for giving us Jesus as our Savior, and as our example. Just as Jesus increased in wisdom and favor with You and man, I pray the same over ______. May he continue to grow in wisdom in all areas of his life and find favor with man. Father, I pray he will prosper in all his work. I pray for his work relationships and that You will give him supernatural favor with the people he works with, and may You be glorified in those relationships.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52

THURSDAY

Father, in every area of our lives we can view what we do as service to You, Father. I pray that each day as _____ prepares for work that he will see it as an opportunity to serve you. Help him to keep an eternal perspective on all that he does and recall to his mind that he will receive his inheritance in You.

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

FRIDAY

Father, I pray for ______ to see his work as a gift from You. I pray he will prosper and be successful in all he does, and that You will use him in a mighty way for your kingdom right where he is now. Father, help him to be steadfast, immovable, faithful and hardworking. Help him to keep a good balance to his work rhythms, not overworking, but never underworking either because we know that everything we do can be done for you. Father, I pray that his work will be fruitful and that You will show him glimpses of the fruit along the way.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

SATURDAY

Father, you are living water. May _______ be like a tree planted by streams of water. As he receives the nourishment from his relationship with You and your Word, I pray that You will continue to produce fruit in his life and in all of his labor. Father, don’t let his leaf wither, but prosper him in all that he does. May there be abundance and prosperity in his work and all areas of his life.

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” Psalm 1:3

SUNDAY

Father, you give us the Sabbath as a gift. Help our family to receive it as one, and truly embrace what it means to rest from our work and in You on the Sabbath. This day of rest shows us your faithfulness. It shows us how you will fill us up with more of You and what we need to make it through the other six days. Help us embrace the goodness of Sabbath rest. As we come to the close of this sermon series, we ask that You continue the work you’ve started in each of us and that each day we seek You with our whole hearts and reflect your glory.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11

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