Praying for Boys with Brooke McGlothlin

Main-headshot-2-600-217x300Today my friend Brooke McGlothlin releases her new book Praying for Boys. Brooke is Co-founder of Raising Boys Media, where moms and dads come to discover delight in the chaos of raising boys. You can find her writing about fighting for the hearts of her sons at the MOB Society blog, or living a life in pursuit of Jesus at her personal blog www.brookemcglothlin.com. A normal day finds Brooke homeschooling her two boys, wrangling two large Labs, Toby and Siri, writing to bring hope to the messes of life (in the midst of her own messy life), and falling more and more in love with the man she’s had a crush on since the third grade (who just happens to be her husband).

Praying-for-Boys1-196x300Below is a short Q & A with Brooke about her fabulous book. I got a sneak peek at the manuscript and even the honor of endorsing the book! Here is what I had to say, “While our sons grow tall, wearing out the knees on their jeans from tumble and play, we mothers too find our fabric worn thin from kneeling in prayer for our soon-to-be men. Brooke’s practical book, full of vulnerable sharing and deeply rooted in God’s word, will become a useful tool as you seek to make prayer a priority and model for your boys just how to run hard after Jesus.”

Be sure to leave a comment on today’s post telling us about any boys you pray for. They can be sons, nephews or the rambunctious boys you teach in a class at school. One person will be chosen at random to receive a copy of Praying for Boys.

Brooke, what do you feel is the greatest obstacle moms must overcome in order to be women who make prayer for their boys a priority?

We give priority to the things we find most in important in life. For example, I’m pretty partial to eating. I get sick and grumpy very fast if I don’t eat when I’m hungry, so because of that, I tend to place a high priority on meal time. I make time for it. Some of my friends are dedicated to exercising, so they find time for it and let others things on their to-do list slide to a lesser priority status. So it is with prayer. When we know how powerful a praying life can be—not just because it allows us to join with God in shaping the hearts of our sons, but also because it keeps us connected to His heart, shaping us into the kind of parents HE wants us to be—we make time for it. So really, the greatest obstacle to overcome is how important, or unimportant, we believe prayer really is.

What has been the biggest answer to your own “mama prayers”?

I actually touched on this in Praying for Boys, although I didn’t refer to it as my big answer to prayer. We went through a very hard season with our boys during the first part of 2012. We homeschool, and my youngest son, then in Kindergarten, grew bored with his curriculum within about a month. What should have been a sweet, playful first year of school for him quickly turned into a nightmare. He would tantrum every single time I mentioned that it was time to start school. Every day was a battle, and in early November, after another horrible day, I sat down in my family room chair and told God I was giving up. I’m not sure I prayed anything more specific than, “God, what do I do? Will he EVER learn to obey? Will he EVER stop tantruming all the time?”

As I sat there, weeping and telling God, “I quit!” He dropped the memory of a Bible story into my heart. I opened my Bible, re-read the story, and God met me in a powerful way. I essentially felt like He was telling me that my boys needed someone to fight for them, and that He had chosen that person to be me. I heard Him whispering to my heart, “don’t give up on him. He needs you not to give up.” It wasn’t like God gave me a specific answer to a specific prayer. Nothing really changed about our situation. But my heart had changed. I was encouraged to keep going, and felt less like a failure and more like a fighter. That 30 minute prayer session has done more to energize me as a mom and child of God than anything else that’s happened to me since.

Praying for boys not only changes them, it changes moms too. How has it changed you?

Do you remember from grade school math that any time you change one part of an equation, it changes the answer? So for example, if you’re adding 2 + 3 and get 5, and then read the word problem again and realize you should’ve been adding 3 + 3, you can’t expect the answer to still be 5. Something changed. And when even just one thing changes, it affects everything else…changes everything else, even if just a little. Praying keeps me in the right place with God. Keeping my mind focused on the fact that He is God and I am not helps me put all of life in perspective, and it changes the way I live my days. Ultimately, spending time talking to God brings me closer to Him, and helps me know Him better. There’s no better way to be a better mom than to get to know God better, and listen to Him as He directs our paths. As we change, our families will change too.

Thanks Brooke for visiting with us today!

Now, to be entered in the giveaway, tell us about the boys you pray for.

99 Comments

  1. Praying for my 7 and 11 year old boys!!! They are not getting good direction from dad who does not follow God’s ways, and I am always feeling alone in this!!!

  2. January 9,2013 our beautiful 33year old daughter, wife and mother of 3 left this life and met her Savior after a shirt illness. We are now spending much of our time helping our son in law with the children. We have been in ministry for almost 40 years. We raised three daughters and now have 8 grandchildren. Four are boys. My daughter left behind two sons, 9 and11 years old and a six year old daughter. I need help!!!! Our little red head is so angry at times and is struggling with self control. We spent much of our ministry working with families, yet it has been difficult as we also work through our own grief. Our God is faithful and this book sounds like a very helpful tool. Thank you.

  3. I pray for my 15 year old son… for his sweet caring spirit who loves the LORD. He loves his friends, baseball, and wants others to like him. I pray for his heart to stay the same through his high school years and thru college. I pray for my 12 year old son… for his eyes to see the bible and GOD differently and new every day. He loves his brothers, his friends, and following the rules. I pray for his safety as he grows and learns to overcome tempers learned from family. I pray for my 3 year old son… for his love he shows me everyday. He loves his mimi and poppy, sometimes his older brothers, and going strong from the time he wakes up til the times he is made to go to bed. I love them all dearly… and I pray that they grow to be the men that GOD has planned for thier lives :) They will have to overcome adversity already present in their lives and addictions that have plaqued thier father’s life for generations. I just pray!

  4. PRAYING DAILY FOR 7TH GRADE AND 9TH GRADE BOYS – FOR GOOD GODLY FRIENDS TO KEEP ON PATH AND GAURDING THEIR HEARTS AS THEY GROW INTO YOUNG MEN OF GOD!

  5. I pray for my two boys and their three boy cousins. I pray for them to love God, love others, and love self all of their days. Your book sounds like a wonderful resource to moms of boys.

  6. I pray for my 2 sons-24 and 14,each at such different stages of life. I also pray for the son-in-law that someday I may have.

  7. I have a very bright almost 5 year old (March 24) who really is a handful at times–Conor does not do bored well…but, he has a heart to witness to others (he has since he was 2), wants to feed hungry people, loves animals, and can sing really well. I never expected to have a child, and he is a blessing, but I want to do the best I can for him. We desperately want a baby sibling, but I do not know if it will happen. Thank you for any wisdom you can offer.

    Carissa in eastern Iowa

  8. I am praying for my 12 year old son to grow to be the Christian man god wants him to be dispite having divorced parents and a difficult relationship with his father.

  9. Praying for my two boys 15 and 10 that they will always trust in the Lord and that their faith will grow everyday. Also that they will have godly friends throughout their lives.

  10. I pray scripture with their name in it, because His word is sharper than any two edged sword. “He who began a good work in ____ will complete it till the day of Jesus Christ”.
    “No temptation has taken ____ but such is as common to man. But the Lord is faithful, he will not allow ____ to be tempted beyond what he is able, but with the temptation provide a way of escape, that ___may be able to bear it.” Etc with many scriptures!

  11. I pray for my son, Joshua who is 3 1\2. He is so active, so rambunctious, so much a boy!!! I love his heart and i pray for him to know the Lord, serve Him and be a man of integrity. I worry for the worlds influence on him.

  12. I pray for my 9 yr old son, his friends, and the boys who will soon be the MEN my daughters will marry!! I also pray for my future grandsons (and granddaughters, but we’re talking about boys right now) :)

  13. I pray mainly for my 26 year son. He is searching for love in the wrong places & he almost married the wrong girl in 2012 & they have a son together that I am also praying for now!

  14. I pray for my 29 year old son & 4 year old grandson. I pray “that they will soar high on wings like eagles”…

  15. I love this book idea! I have three daughters, and five sons (one is my nephew, whom we are raising), and I definitely see for myself that there are big differences between raising girls and boys. I would love to read your book after reading this little blurb. I will also say that sometimes, as I pray for my husband, it seems like he is one of the boys, too! :)

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