Raising to be Warriors

For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers. ~ Proverbs 24:6

Every little boy, from the time he is small until he is tall, knows he is a warrior. It is in the games they play and how they play them. Each one wants to be the biggest, fastest, tallest, toughest, hardest, roughest, winner! Whether through Transformers or race cars or dirt, each one plays their side to win. When a boy grows to be a man, he carries that spirit with him, that warrior-winner spirit. But as a man in an adult world, there are many more rules and restraints; much more clutter and confusion. How can he possibly win the battle he was born to fight?

1) He needs guidance. "Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it," (Proverbs 22:6). When a child is born, he knows nothing. Through guidance, wisdom, and example, he will learn. Of the three, your example as a parent or guardian is the one he'll remember and carry with him, more so than the others. If your example falls in step with your guidance and wisdom, he will carry those with him, as well. Be honest, be straight forward. Teach him with love, teach him with tenderness, but also, teach him with Truth.

2) He needs advisers. If your guidance has been solid, he may turn to you for advice. But even if he doesn't, pray that the Lord would surround him with godly counsel and that his heart would be open to the Word of the Lord. "Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust," (Psalms 40:4). If he makes the Lord his hope, his center, his confidence, his trust, who can come against him? Who can make him fall?

Pastor Chis Hodges said, "We must win the war in the spiritual." That is done through fasting and prayer and listening and trusting and obeying. Long before these boys ever become great men of God, there was someone praying them through. As a parent, a relative, a friend, a community--don't you want to know it was you?

Let's pray:
Father, thank you for all the boys you have raised and will raise to be leaders of this community-leaders for your glory, Lord. Father, I pray that no matter what every man has been taught, that you would surround him with godly counsel and that he would give ear to your word and follow your instructions. Lord, I pray for a hedge of protection around them and your steadfast love and guidance to come round about them. Help them to be godly leaders in every area of their lives: at work, at home with their families, and in the community. Thank you, Lord, for raising up little boys to be warriors and victors in your kingdom. It is in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.