Required Reading -- Praying for Boys: Asking GOD for the Things They Need Most

This book should be required reading for all moms of boys.  I was so excited to be able to review Praying with Boys -- and I know you will simply LOVE it.

As the mom of a 14-year-old boy, I am constantly reminded to be MORE INTENTIONAL in all that I do and I am most convicted to PRAY for my boy now more than ever.   It seems like yesterday that my children were little and I felt like I had all the time in the world to cover them in prayer.  Now, my girls are 19, 17, and 12 and my son is almost 15.   I'm not at all sure when they grew up, but I feel a pressing NEED to be on my knees in prayer -- over my son and the men that GOD is preparing for my daughters, as well.  My friend, Brooke McGlothin, has written a wonderful book that gives me the exact tool I need and provides perfect opportunity to pray specifically for my favorite son -- and to begin praying for the ones that will steal the hearts of my girls.  

With 21 Chapters of Scripture-led prayer, Brooke begins by explaining exactly what prayer is and why we should do it.  She even includes a "How to Use This Book" section that shares some great ideas about getting started and reminds us that GOD is FOR us.  And if GOD is for us, then who can be against us, right? 

In my quest to pray intentionally, Praying for Boys meets me right where my heart is.  It allows for exactly what I need to be praying over my son and provides the opportunity to personalize Scripture and claim the promises of GOD for him.

As a homeschooling mom, blogger, and minister I had a few questions for Brooke to see how she makes it all work.  It always helps to see how others function down in the trenches of the ministry of motherhood.  Here's my Q & A with my friend, Brooke:

So you have two young boys, you homeschool them and you oversee a popular blog as well.  How do you even make time for prayer?  

That’s a great question, because I’ve had people ask me even recently how I do it all.  The answer is that I don’t.  We’ve recently hired two Virtual Assistants to help us run things at the MOB Society, and I have a team of over 35 writers who make that community strong and consistent.  I have a co-owner of the site who runs the marketing and advertising, which frees me up handle the writing team, and dream of our next big thing.  And most importantly, I have a husband who serves me and loves me way better than I deserve.  When I was writing Praying for Boys, and again while I’ve been preparing to launch it, he has basically taken over the household duties.  The only things he doesn’t do are homeschooling our boys, and cooking.  But he does everything else—laundry, cleaning, paying the bills.  It’s a season we’re in, and he’s definitely stepped up to the plate for me in many ways.  I couldn’t make any of this work without his heart to serve me and the boys.  But even more important than having people help me, is that I’ve learned that in order to function well, I HAVE to pray.  I HAVE to stay connected to the heart of GOD, I HAVE to hear HIM leading me, I HAVE to pour out my heart to HIM and beg HIM to help me raise my boys, and I HAVE to petition HIM to fulfill HIS Word in their lives.  If I don’t pray, I’m useless.  If I didn’t meet with the FATHER regularly in prayer, there’s no way I could ever live out the life HE’s called me to with any kind of integrity or excellence.  I’m not saying prayer is a “magic lamp” so to speak, that makes my life turn out the way I want it to, but I am saying that prayer keeps me focused on HIS plans for my life, and helps keep HIS voice as the loudest, and I just have to have that, both as an entrepreneur and as a woman trying her best to follow JESUS.  If I didn’t pray, I wouldn’t want to do ministry.

What do you most hope the readers of Praying For Boys gain from experiencing the book?  

I wrote Praying for Boys because I truly believe we can change the world if we pray for our sons.  My greatest hope for moms who read it is to inspire them to trust GOD with their boys, get into HIS Word and find out what it has to say about raising boys, and inspire a generation of moms to get on their knees, partnering with GOD for the hearts of their sons.

How can moms join together to help each other pray for their sons?

That’s one of my favorite parts of being a boy mom!  GOD has knit my heart together with a local group of boy moms. We pray for each other, serve each other, and encourage one another almost daily.  But those kind of relationships don’t happen by accident.  Joining together requires us to take a step of faith, and as my friend Stacey Thacker likes to say, “pull back the veil of fine.”  When I finally admitted to myself that raising boys was much harder than I thought it would be, and shared that sometimes, I wasn’t fine, I found a whole army of mothers of boys who felt the same way.  So the first thing we have to do is pull back the veil and admit we need help.  If there’s no group of women in your community meeting together to encourage one another and pray for each other, start your own.  Go to your pastor and ask for permission to start a 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge that meets in your church, or have a group of moms hire a babysitter for all of the kids, everyone chipping in, and hold a 21 Days of Prayer for Sons in your home.  I’ve tried to make this as easy as possible for you by devoting an entire section at the end of Praying for Boys to helping boy moms lead their own prayer challenge.  Who knows but that you might meet the women GOD wants you to live out life with for this season, just by taking a leap of faith!

I can't recommend this book enough for moms of boys of any age.  What a privilege it is for all of us boy mommas to pray for our sons.   I am honored to pray specific prayers straight from GOD's Word over my son and can't wait for my friends to receive their copies of the Praying for Boys book as we begin meeting together to cover our boys as they become men.  Won't you pick up your own copy today (it's available from Christianbook.com, Amazon, and Lifeway) and join us?  I'd be honored to read and share and PRAY along with you.

Brooke McGlothlin 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).

You can get to know Brooke even better by checking her out.  Her Personal Blog helps you to find hope in the mess of life and the MOB Society Blog is full of encouragement for boy moms everywhere.  I'm so thankful that I can connect for a daily dose of encouragement to keep praying on. 

You can also connect through the MOB Society on Facebook and Twitter AND directly with Brooke on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Isn't it great to have easy-access to great advice?

This Day Has GREAT Potential -- and I'm finding it through prayer.

Disclaimer ~ I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  The opinions stated are mine and mine alone.  I was not paid to share my thoughts and feelings with you.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.~

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