A Prayer For My Son

by | Jun 24, 2011 | 21 Days of Prayer for Sons

Psalm 71 is my ‘Life Song’. Through the hardest times in my life, the truth in this verses has been an anchor for me. Choosing to hold onto My Rock of Refuge in the midst of the storm was not always easy – some times I was barely hanging on by the fingernails; sometimes the only thing that kept me on the Rock was His firm, loving Hand on mine – but these words encapsulate the Song of my Life, and the love I have for my Lord.

I have adapted it at as prayer for my son, Timothy. 

In you, O Lord, may my son take refuge; let him never be put to shame. In your righteousness, rescue him and deliver him; turn your ear to him and save him. Be his rock of refuge, to which he can always go; give the command to save him, for you are his rock and his fortress. Deliver him, O God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel. May You be his hope, Sovereign Lord, his confidence since all his life. From birth he has relied on you; you brought him forth from his mother’s womb. May he ever praise you.  You are his strong refuge.

May his mouth be filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long. Do not cast him away when he is old; do not forsake him when his strength is gone. For his enemies will speak against him; those who wait to kill him conspire together. They say, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for no one will rescue him.” Do not be far from him, my God; come quickly, God, to help him. May his accusers perish in shame; may those who want to harm him be covered with scorn and disgrace. 

May he always have hope; may he praise you more and more. May his mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long— though he knows not how to relate them all. May he come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; May he proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. O God, teach him from his youth, so he may declare your marvelous deeds all his life. Even when he is old and gray, do not forsake him, O God, till he declares your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens, you who have done great things. Who is like you, God? Though you will make him see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore his life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring him up. You will increase his honor and comfort him once more.

May he praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O God; may he sing praise to you with the lyre, Holy One of Israel. May his lips shout for joy when he sings praise to you. May his tongue tell of your righteous acts all day long.