Real Men 'Do' Pray...

Healing Prayers For Men: Inspired from 'Wild at Heart' John Eldredge

Start with surrender,

Dear Jesus, I am yours. You have ransomed me with your own life, bought me with your own all my years of independence-all my striving, all my retreating, all my self-centeredness and self-determination. I give myself back to you-all of me. I give my body to you as a living sacrifice. I give my soul to you as well-my desperate search for life and love and validation, all my self-protecting, all those parts in me I like and all those I do not like. I give to you my spirit also, to be restored in union with you, for as the Scripture says, "He who unites himself with the Lord is one spirit with him. Forgive me, cleanse me, take me and make me utterly yours.

And we invite Christ into our wound. We give him permission and access to our wounded hearts:
Jesus, take me into my wound. I give you permission and access to my soul and to my deepest hurts. Come, and bring me to my own brokenness. Come and shepherd the orphaned boy within me. Let me be fully present to my wounded heart. Uncover my wound, and meet me there.

And we renounce any vows we've made, and the ways we've mishandled our wound:
Jesus, I renounce every vow I've made to seal off my wound and protect myself from further pain. Reveal to me what those vows were. I break every agreement I have made with the lies that came with my wounds, the lies of Satan, and I make all agreement with you, Jesus. I give the protection of my heart and soul back to you; I trust you with all that is within me.

And we ask Christ to do what he promised to do-heal us, set us free:
And precious Jesus, I invite you into the wounded places of my heart, give you permission to enter every broken place, every young and orphaned part of me. Come, dear Lord, and meet me there. Bind up my heart as you promised to do; heal me and make my heart whole and healthy. Release my heart from every form of captivity and from every form of bondage. Restore and set free my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. Help me to mourn, and comfort me as I do. Grant my soul that noble crown of strength instead of ashes; anoint me with the oil of gladness in every grieving part, grant me a garment of praise in place of a spirit of despair. 0 come to me, Jesus, and surround me with your healing presence. Restore me through union with you.

Father, strengthen me with your true strength, by your Spirit in my innermost being, so that Jesus may live intimately in my heart. Let me be rooted and grounded in love, so that I, too, with all your precious saints, may know the fullness of the love of Jesus for me-its height and depth, its length and breadth. Let me be filled with real knowing of your love-even though I will never fully reason it or comprehend it-so that I might be filled with all the life and power you have for me. Do this in me, beyond all that I am able to ask or imagine.

Jesus, I choose to forgive my father for all the pain and all the wounds he gave to me. It was wrong, it hurt me deeply, and I choose now to pardon him, because your sacrifice on the cross was enough to pay for these sins. I release my father to you. I also release any bitterness I've harbored toward him, and I ask you to come and cleanse these wounds and heal them.

Finally, we ask God to father us, to validate us, to tell us our true names:
Father, who am I to you? You are my true Father-my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sustainer. You know the man you had in mind when you made me. You know my true name. o Father, I ask you to speak to me, to reveal to me my true strength and my real name. Open my eyes that I might see, give me ears to hear your voice. Father, I ask that you speak it not once, but again and again so that I might really receive it. And grant me the courage to receive what you say and the faith to believe it. I ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen.


Take a moment in silence now to see what God has to say to you in your heart.



Final prayer,

Father, once again we ask you to come and father us. Initiate us as your sons. Speak to us, Father, again and again, so that we might know it is you. Tell us who we are. Initiate us into masculine strength. Heal our wounds and set our hearts free. We stand together as one man against our enemy, and we bind Satan from lying to any man, from accusing, from wounding us again. Jesus, protect us in your authority and in your name. Amen.