Lord,
I need your gentleness here… I don’t want my words to you to needlessly critique. But I feel this is such an important area for us to petition you today. Our men are acting like women. It’s disgraceful. It seems to be overwhelmingly a societal shift… but it’s so abundantly clear in your Church as well. I feel we could have shined an important and very bright light to the world by displaying your masculine image to a confused world. But instead, we were corrupted by it. Forgive us.
I think I saw a shift in your Church when we started abandoning singing your eternal hymns when we offered worship to you, shifting to this empty, repetitive, mindless, cult-like call of evil spirits instead. Men started wearing skinny jeans, crying a lot, and losing their sense of being protectors and providers. Can this possibly honor you as King? You told us through your servant Paul to “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” How do we even stretch our imaginations to characterize strength in such a way!?
Lord, while it became more apparent in the public gathering for worship on your day, it seemed to have started in our own homes. It usually does. So many of your children have completely abandoned male headship. You told us men that we’d abuse our authority in our sin, but rather than us repenting and submitting to you as you restore proper headship in our homes and throughout the rest of the world, we are using it as an excuse of why we should reject patriarchy! This seems like utter rebellion against you and your created order, God! It is no surprise that we are reaping the bad fruit of this rebellion in so much of our world now.
I was thinking the other day about how women are being appointed as “elders” and teachers in your Church. They are “co-pastoring” with their husbands as ways to try to obfuscate your instruction. You explicitly forbid this! And rather than the Church lamenting over this apostasy, we are celebrating our “inclusivity” and “tolerance” as we war against you. But again… it started in our homes… men began “co-pastoring” their children with their wives instead of pastoring our wives and our children as men who are appointed by you to rule in our homes. Rather than upholding and living within a glorious and peaceful home as kings, we bicker and fight with our wives and watch our kids walk all over them, and us! We have been emasculated. All while the world gladly takes them in and makes them their own. You warned us about this too… Oh, how have we come to this.
I don’t believe it’s too late for us though, Lord. I know you are in control. I know you have a purpose in this too. You are our Creator God. You have designed us men to desire to be like men. You have also created our women for man, not man for women, creating in them the desire to be subject to their head. It is only in sin that women want to cast off your created order. It was also in sin that man failed to protect his wife. And just like your son Adam failed his wife in the beginning, we are once again failing our wives, and all women, by living in such weak and defenseless ways. Far be it from us!
But how do we reverse what has been such a sweeping and influential movement across the world? We can’t even challenge this or other ideas in our our local gatherings because weak men (and now also women) are ruling in those too! Everything is offensive now. We cower and flee and push accountability away from us. That’s the opposite of what you instructed us to do, Lord. How long will you tolerate it?
Lord, I want to pray for men today. I know we have abused our strength, we can be overbearing to our wives and discipline and frustrate our children in anger and without love… distorting your image. We must repent of such unmanly behavior. We should repent to our wives and kids for these things. But I also pray that we not cast off our masculinity because we have misused it. Rather, I pray that we not oppose you as you seek and desire to restore it. Oh that we would embrace a masculinity that images you! I pray that our wives be our beautiful crowns of glory as we restructure our homes, according to your will, in ways that bring honor and glory to your name.
Finally, Lord, I also thank you for my crown—the wife you have given me. She is beautiful, humble and meek, a wonderful mother to our children and a faithful wife. She is patient and submissive to me as her head. She bears with me when I am weak, and lifts me up in honor in my strength. She exemplifies the character that I know pleases you in a woman that fears you. And she brings me great joy! Thank you for her, your commitment to her, and the beautiful transforming work you continue to do in her. She is a glorious example of a woman to our children. I have no doubt you exalt her in your kingdom as heir of all that is yours. Bless her and keep her today and forever.
Amen.