As I was looking over the list recently, I was struck by the fact that the bulk of the list is young people, largely Millennials in their late teens and early 20s. Another interesting observation is that the majority of those young people is guys.
There are the names of sons of some friends my age. Over dinner one night, the moms opened their broken hearts and spoke of their heartbreak and fear concerning their unsaved sons. One mom, who has battled anxiety for most of her life, shed some tears as she expressed her fear that if something happened to her son, she isn't so sure she would see him in heaven someday. That very night, I started praying for their boys.
One young man on my prayer list is the same age as my son. About five years ago, while under the influence of drugs, he committed a terrible crime and will spend his life in prison - no chance of parole. It would be easy to conclude that his life is over and that the duration of his life will be a purposeless and hopeless one. I don't believe that to be true, though. I believe that God has a plan for him, and so, I pray over him every morning.
The rest of the boys on the list are just that, boys. They are teenagers with a list of baggage that is seemingly endless. All three have been in trouble with the law. They struggle with anger, anxiety and depression, criminal tendencies, irresponsible sexuality, and a penchant for poor choices. Their faces and circumstances come to mind when I spent time in prayer.
In addition to praying for them individually, I also pray that God will send strong Christian male mentors into their lives. These boys all need men to show them how to be men. With the exception of two, all the guys on the list come from single-parent families, where Mom is the primary caretaker.
Further complicating the issue is the fact that we have emasculated males and maleness in pop culture. If you watch any contemporary movie or sitcom in modern society, there is one common theme, and that is the stupidification of males. Men are the butts of all the jokes. Men are bossed around by the women. Men are made to look like helpless dummies in comparison to the seemingly far-superior female counterparts. The gender pendulum has definitely swung all the way in the opposite direction.
Some might argue that this is a good thing - a positive move forward for society, or in the very least, women. I would say that is a classic example of faulty comparison. Neither extreme is healthy or beneficial.
With regard to the latter, the result has been a whole generation of males who have no idea how to be a male. The lack of a strong, consistent, Godly male in the home and in the media means there have been no role models to teach these guys how to be men.
And so I pray for strong Christian men to have courage, to stay in close communion with God, and step up and stand in the gap for all the floundering young men in the world today.
Conversely, I also pray that even in the busyness of my day, I will hear God's voice when He needs me to stand in the gap for the young women He places in my path. Girls so desperately want to be loved - to be cherished. The girls on my prayer list have eating disorders, substance abuse issues, and always, always heartbreaking relationship issues - the devastating realization that the promises made in the heat of the moment are born of lust and not love.
My heart breaks, and that's not just a cliche, for all the kids (and yes, they are kids to me) who are struggling.
And yet, I know that God has a plan for each of them. They are here for such a time and place as this.
And so are we. It is not for us to judge them, to shake our heads at them, to wave them away in disgust or frustration. God has called us to such a time and place as well. I pray that we may all keep our hearts soft and our eyes and ears open to listen more than speak, to show compassion and kindness, and to firmly and lovingly convey truth to all whom God places on our hearts and in our paths.
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