If you’re parenting a teen boy, you already know—these years can feel like an emotional roller coaster. There are moments of joy, but also confusion, frustration, and heartache. You want to guide your son, love him well, and point him to Jesus—but some days, you honestly don’t know what to do.
This week on The Love Offering podcast, I’m joined by Brooke McGlothlin, author of Praying for Teen Boys: Partner with God for the Heart of Your Son. As a mom of two sons herself, Brooke offers wisdom straight from the trenches and reminds us that we’re not alone—and we’re not without help.
In our conversation, Brooke shares how to:
- Fight for your son, not against him
- Partner with God in powerful prayer
- Navigate your changing relationship with peace and confidence
- Find purpose, not powerlessness, in your parenting
No matter how out of reach your son may seem at times, prayer keeps you connected to the One who sees, knows, and loves him even more than you do.
Tune in and be encouraged—your prayers matter more than you know.
Summary
In this episode of the Love Offering Podcast, host Rachael Adams welcomes Brooke McGlothlin, founder of Million Praying Moms, to discuss the importance of prayer in parenting, especially for mothers of teenage boys. Brooke shares her personal journey of raising her sons and emphasizes the need for mothers to fight for their children through prayer. The conversation explores themes of surrendering control to God, trusting Him with our children’s futures, and praying intentionally for key areas in their lives. In this conversation, Brooke McGlothlin and Rachael Adams discuss the challenges and joys of parenting, particularly focusing on the importance of prayer, the impact of fear and anxiety, and the role of love in guiding children. They emphasize the need for personal growth as parents, the significance of community support, and the unique needs of boys and girls in their spiritual journeys. The discussion also highlights the importance of modeling behavior and the power of words in shaping children’s character.
Takeaways
Prayer should be a first response, not a last resort.
Moms need to fight for their sons through prayer.
Raising boys requires partnership with God.
Surrendering control is essential in parenting.
Trusting God’s plan for our children is crucial.
Prayer can change the perspective of motherhood.
Understanding the power of words is vital for boys.
Moms should pray for wisdom for their sons.
It’s important to pray for the hidden things to be revealed.
Building a strong foundation for children is key. It’s important for parents to model good behavior for their children.
Fear and anxiety can be overwhelming for parents, but prayer can help.
Prayer is a long-term commitment that can change both parents and children.
Trusting God with our fears can lead to personal growth.
Answered prayers may not always come in the expected way or timing.
God’s love for us is unconditional, regardless of our actions.
Community support among parents can provide strength and encouragement.
Dads play a crucial role in the spiritual development of their children.
Understanding the unique needs of boys and girls can enhance parenting.
Prayer has no limits and can profoundly impact our children’s lives.
Sound Bites
“Prayer is a first and best response.”
“I wanted to raise good men.”
“Your boys need someone to fight for them.”
“Thy will be done in the heart of my children.”
“There is power of life and death in the tongue.”
“Fear can really take hold of my heart.”
“Prayer is the long game.”
“Prayer is not a vending machine.”
“Dads could come alongside and read through that.”
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Love Offering Podcast and Guest
03:00 Brooke’s Journey as a Mother and Prayer Advocate
05:47 The Importance of Prayer in Parenting
09:03 Fighting for Your Son: A New Perspective
12:12 Surrendering Control: Trusting God with Our Sons
14:59 Praying for Key Areas in Your Son’s Life
27:06 The Power of Words and Modeling Behavior
27:48 Navigating Fear and Anxiety as a Parent
28:54 The Long Game of Prayer and Personal Growth
32:42 Understanding Answered Prayers and God’s Timing
36:19 The Biblical Concept of Love in Parenting
39:10 The Importance of Community in Parenting
44:41 Dads’ Role in Praying for Children
Transcript
Rachael Adams (00:03.518)
Welcome to the Love Offering Podcast. I’m your host, Rachel Adams, author of Everyday Prayers for Love, learning to love God, others, and even yourself. Each week we dive into meaningful conversations about how to live out the greatest commandment, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Through inspiring stories, practical tips, and biblical truths, my hope is to encourage you to love boldly, live faithfully, and reflect God’s love in every area of your life.
Today, I’m thrilled to welcome back Brooke McLaughlin, founder of Million Praying Moms, author of Praying for Teen Boys, and my personal friend. So if you are a mom raising a teenage son and want to strengthen your relationship with him through prayer, this conversation is for you. Brooke shares practical wisdom along with over 90 scripture-inspired prayers to help moms fight for their sons and partner with God as they navigate these formative years with confidence and purpose.
Well, hello friend and welcome back to the podcast. It’s always a joy to have you.
Brooke McGlothlin (01:09.208)
I am. thank you so much. I am just so glad to be here, Rachel. I like doing podcasts, but there is always just something a bit more relaxed and special and fun when you’re doing it with someone that’s an in real life friend. So thank you for having me.
Rachael Adams (01:23.786)
Yeah, we’ve already been talking like, baseball stories and like there’s a comradery with teenage sports moms for sure. Right? Yeah. Well, so I know for those that have tuned into one of our episodes before, I know we, we have, well, you are the founder of million praying moms. so those that have read the everyday prayers for love book, Brooke is the one that
Brooke McGlothlin (01:26.862)
Yes. Yeah. Absolutely.
Rachael Adams (01:46.48)
I partnered with to write that and she has this whole series that she has released all on the fruit of the spirit and just as a heart for prayer, but those are my words about you. I’d love for you to share just, you know, even just your personal, family life and what your life looks like, in West Virginia, where you are now.
Brooke McGlothlin (02:04.586)
Yeah, so I am the founder of Million Praying Moms, which is a privilege. We have spent years and just have had, you know, maybe one of the greatest honors of my life helping moms see prayer not as a last resort, but as a first and best response to the challenges of motherhood. That really, it is my heart and my desire to help moms see it that way, to help them be proactive with their prayers. So that has just been my, my, just my goal and my desire and my privilege to be able to help moms move in that direction and be proactive with their prayers instead of thinking of it as a last resort. It is something they can do proactively. So that’s, that’s what I do in ministry. I also work outside my home, I have the privilege of being Client Services Director for one of my local crisis pregnancy centers, which is what I started doing. That was my first job out of graduate school. I did that. been engaged in those ministries for a lot of years, and I’m really grateful to be back there. But as far as just personal things, I’ve been married to my husband, Corey. It’ll be 23 years in a few weeks which is exciting. And we have two teenage boys, one who is about not to be a teenager anymore. Our oldest is going to be 20 in a few weeks in mid-June. And our youngest son actually turns 18 next week. So we are always busy. There is never a shortage of stuff happening. And our teenage son, our oldest son then is actually home before the summer with us. And this is the first time that this has happened since he graduated from high school. So we’re really excited, but the entire tone of the house changed when he came home. it got bigger and louder and all those things, but it’s a joy.
Rachael Adams (04:06.965)
Well, I know you actually released a boy book when your boys were younger too. And so this is so beautiful to see and to be along in your journey as a mother, as you’ve learned in each season of motherhood, what it’s like to pray for them and to parent them. tell us about, like, give us the backstory of like you raising, raising your voice.
Brooke McGlothlin (04:26.58)
Yeah, absolutely. So people always seem to like to know that I actually prayed for God to give me voice. Before my husband and I were even married, I kind of knew, you know, like we knew that was going to happen. I was still in grad school and I was working on some paper for a grad school class. I don’t remember now what it was, but it was asking me to really think deeply through the things that I wanted for my future life, you know, to look forward and I remember where I was and I remember the thought coming to me almost immediately that I wanted the opportunity to try to raise boys. And at the time, I look back now and I think, oh my goodness, I was so self-righteous in that moment. I thought I could do a better job than other people around me. I thought that I wanted the opportunity to try to raise men who were different.
I wanted to raise good men. wanted to raise godly men. had had a few encounters with some men that were supposed to be good and godly and that they were not. And I just, thought I could do that. I think that I could work hard enough to be able to raise good men who are different from some of the other men that I see. And you know, like all the boy moms are laughing with me. They’re not laughing at me, maybe they’re laughing with me because they know how hard it is to be able to do that. And I realized very quickly after having our two boys, they were born 23 months apart, that I, even though I’m an achiever, Rachel, even though like that’s just my personality, I am an achiever, I get things done, I work hard and I make things happen. There was no amount of that type of just pull yourself up by your bootstraps or just work hard enough and you can raise the kind of men that you want that was going to make that happen. I realized early on that there had to be something more than just my hard work and that I needed to partner with God for the hearts of my sons. And really where that came from was Ezekiel 36 26. I was studying in Ezekiel one day when they were young and I really don’t remember why. It was part of a Bible study or something. And I came across that verse.
Brooke McGlothlin (06:39.052)
And what it says is that God is the one who turns hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. And when I read that, I had probably read it before, but in that moment, it was like the Holy Spirit just turned on a light bulb for me. And I realized that I had a job to do and that God had a job to do in the raising of my boys and that they were different things. That God was the only one that could turn their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. I can’t do that.
I can make it as easy as possible for them through the culture of our home, through things like taking them to church, studying the Bible with them myself. I can do a certain number of things that makes it as easy as possible for them to know the Lord all of their days and to experience what it’s like to walk with the Lord from that level. But that’s all I can do.
I cannot change their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. And so when I realized that, that’s really when I started praying for them, because I knew that I needed God to do that part. And honestly, all the stuff that I could do, while it’s good, and while we as moms should endeavor to do those things, it is part of what God’s called us to do is to, you know, to disciple our own children. But I knew that if God didn’t change their hearts, none of that would really matter in the long run.
I didn’t just want to raise good men. I wanted to raise men, good men who knew the Lord. And so that’s when I started to pray for them. And yeah, I got the opportunity to write my first book, Praying for Boys When They Were Little. It’s a book that really is kind of geared more toward moms of younger boys. And when that book released, I knew that I would write this one. I just didn’t know when. I didn’t know exactly how or when, or even if I would still, you know, be writing, but the Lord in His kindness allowed me to come back to it after several other books. And I can tell you that this is one of the sweetest projects that I have ever had the opportunity to work on. It is so precious to me, not only because it’s about prayer, and I am extremely passionate about prayer and its role in our parenting. It’s that, but it’s also that it’s about my two boys. It’s about how God has worked through prayer in our lives, not just in theirs, but in mine, what He’s taught me about Himself and about being a mom through and about being a child of God as I have faithfully prayed for my boys. So it’s very special to me and I’m very grateful to the Lord for letting me do it.
Rachael Adams (09:20.499)
We’re going to take a brief break to hear a word from today’s sponsor. And when we come back, we will explore how moms can unlock the full power of partnering with God through the prayer for their sons. Welcome back. We are talking with Brooke McLaughlin, the author of praying for teen boys. so Brooke in your book, you talk about fighting for your son, not against him. So what does this look like practically as a mom of a teenage boy?
Brooke McGlothlin (09:45.448)
Yes. it’s one of my favorite things to talk about. God gave me that early on. So we in the beginning, we are, we are not a homeschooling family now, but we were in the beginning. We homeschooled for a lot of years when they were little up through like, I think third and fifth grade. And then we transitioned from there. But when my older son was in the second grade, I think when we were doing second grade with him, we were starting to do kindergarten with my younger son. And I realized that about, I don’t know, halfway through the first part of the year, I realized that my younger son already knew everything that I was trying to teach him. He had been listening to me teaching his brother and I was completely unaware of it. I just didn’t even realize how much he had just absorbed just by being around you know, me teaching his brother. And so we began to have these big fights because he didn’t want to do what I thought he needed to do. I was brand new at this homeschooling thing. And so rather than just letting him move on, which is probably what I should have done, I was like, no, no, and I’m a rule follower too. I was like, no, no, we have to do kindergarten. We have to check this off. We have to check this off. And somewhere around November of that year, I ju gave up. had had this big explosion with him, again, not wanting to have to sit. Poor baby. mean, can you imagine? Not wanting to have to sit and learn something he already knew. I can’t imagine why he was frustrated by that. so I put him in his room. They had a quiet time. And I went downstairs and I just sat in what I used to refer to as my green prayer chair. where I went whenever I needed to talk to the Lord. And I just sat there and wept and I said, Lord, I give up. I’m done. I can’t, I can’t do this anymore. And I wasn’t really referring to just homeschooling. was referring to like my boys were hard boys, Rachel. I used to call them those boys, like the ones that are 250 % boy. They’re the ones that are aggressive and impulsive. And you know, like all of that there, they were a little wild in the beginning. And I struggled as more of an introverted calm, person, I struggled to know what to do with them and how to how to make them behave and do the right things. And so our home was a bit chaotic in the early years, more than much more than I wanted it to be. And so it was really all of that that I was felt like I was telling the Lord I was giving up on. Like I obviously do not have what it takes to be the mother that they need or to be able to manage our home. And I really meant it. I didn’t mean that I was giving up on them because I didn’t mean that I didn’t love them. I just meant, Lord, I can’t do this. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to do what you’ve called me to do with them. And in that moment, I will not say that I’ve ever heard the audible voice of God. I have not. But in that moment, I felt like the Lord spoke to my heart so clearly, more clearly than I maybe have ever had experienced before or since. He said to me, Brooke, do not give up on them.
Your boys need someone to fight for them. And I have chosen that person to be you. And I have never, even just saying those words right now still kind of gives me chills. And when I had that direction from the Lord, I just began to see everything differently about them. Yes, they were hard boys. Sometimes they still are hard boys, even though they’re almost 18 and almost 20. They’re still those boys in many ways, although they’ve praise God grown up and matured a good bit. but, but I began to see everything differently. And I thought, you know, sometimes I don’t even feel like we’re on the same team, but we are on the same team and I’m going to be the mom who fights for her kids. And the way that I can do that most effectively throughout all of the decades and seasons of their lives is to be on my knees and prayer for them. Prayer is one of the most overlooked parts of Christian parenting today. And it’s so sad because it changes everything about the way you look at parenting your children. So when I talk about fighting for them instead of against them, I’m not saying that that means that you’ll never have another fight with your child. I’m not saying you’ll never have another disagreement. I’m saying that it changes the perspective that you have on what your role is for them as a mother that you are going to go to God on their behalf, maybe before they even need it, maybe praying for them before there’s even an issue, because you’re going to prayerfully protect every step of their lives and trust God to do what He’s going to do in them. And it really just changes the entire way you look at your motherhood.
Rachael Adams (14:59.221)
When you were talking about your moment with the Lord in that green chair, it sounded like just a moment of surrender. Like I’m surrendering control. I realize, and that’s almost like the Lord wanted you to be in that place in some ways, like you can’t do it. And so come to me and rely on me. And I think one of the areas that I really feel like God is working on me and right now at the ages my kids are is this idea of surrender because their futures and their choices and decisions that they’re making right now, they really can change the trajectories of their lives and the choices that they make may not even be the choices that I think I would want for them or choose for them. And so that’s difficult as a mother. So maybe talk to us about that. Like what does it look like to surrender our son’s futures to God as well?
Brooke McGlothlin (15:49.014)
Yeah, it is hard. think it’s really important for us just to acknowledge that from the get go. It is hard to feel like you’re losing control in a season where their choices matter more than they ever have. Like they actually can make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives now, right? So there is a weightiness to this particular season. And I will not say I haven’t struggled with it. I have.
And if my children were here right now, they would tell you, yeah, mom had struggled with that some, maybe me more than their dad. don’t know if that’s a dad thing versus a mom thing, but, or maybe it’s just because I like to be in control. If they were here, they would tell you that too. But it is an issue that we have to get our minds wrapped around, that it is a good thing and a normal thing and a natural thing for our kids to begin pulling away from us. It’s the process of differentiation or individuation where they are learning who they are apart from our family. Your family is, if you think of it this way, I find it helpful. It’s not that our children will always stay completely tethered to us. It isn’t a chain kind of metaphor, like we’re chained to each other. It’s more of a foundation metaphor in parenting that we’re giving them something firm and solid from which to launch into the world and then go figure out who they are and what God’s purpose for them is. It isn’t that we want to have to try and chain them to us so that they have to stay. It’s that we’re giving them that foundational identity, hopefully an identity that is centered in Christ s they go off into the world. And if we can look at it that way, it’s helpful. Here’s something else that’s helpful. If you can open your hands and say, Lord, thy will be done instead of my will be done in the heart of my children. There is very definite, definitely a difference between my will and God’s will for my kids. And we have to get to a place where we trust that God’s plans for them are good. Sometimes it’s easier to trust that God’s plans for somebody else are good or that God’s plans for us are good than it is to trust that God’s plans for our kids are good because we don’t like to see them hurt. We would rather take the hurt on ourselves than watch them hurt and struggle. Most moms, most loving moms that I know would say that in a heartbeat. I would do anything to take away the heartbreak that they’re feeling right now. I would wear that like a like a, you know, I would advertise it if I could just take it away from them so that they didn’t have to carry that. But it is a part of what God does in their lives for his redemption plan, his unique and specific redemption plan for your child. And if you look back on your own life, you’ll see that it’s true and it was true for you too. God had to take you or allow you to go through some things that were hard in order to get you where you are today. And so if we could just find a way to release them and say, thy will be done. I have found an enormous sense of relief and peace. And just saying, Lord, I’m going to trust you in this because there’s really to try and live any other way is, it’s just a hassle. It’s just it really is, it steals life instead of gives life. And it will hurt your relationship with your with your teenage children instead of empowering it.
Rachael Adams (19:33.736)
Yeah, and I think that’s such good wisdom that you just shared and because he is he is a good father and he cares for his children and just as much or more than we do as as their mothers. And so we’re going to take another brief break to hear a word from today’s sponsor and when we return, we will talk about how we can pray intentionally for seven key areas in our son’s lives.
Rachael Adams (19:56.018)
Welcome back. We are talking with Brooke McLaughlin about her book, Praying for Teen Boys. And in the book you talk about praying for seven key areas in a boy’s life. And so would you maybe just, I don’t know, it’s too much to probably walk through all of them. Maybe just give us a synopsis or just maybe focus on one area that has really impacted your relationship with your son and his spiritual growth.
Brooke McGlothlin (20:17.942)
Yeah, I will tell you what a few of them are and then I’m going to choose one to land on that I think you’ll really, you may be able to resonate with well. So the first one I talk about is Lord keep his heart, which is just about asking the Lord to hold on to him. When Jesus was praying before he ascended, before he went through his passion, he said to the Lord, I have kept those you have given me.
And it’s that concept of Lord, would you keep them? Would you hang on to them? No matter what happens today, would you be the strongest influence in their lives? We pray a lot for our boys to hear wisdom. That’s probably one of my favorite ones to pray. It’s probably one of the ones that I pray the most often is for my boys. I think maybe apart from salvation, wisdom is the thing that teenage boys need the most. And so I pray for that a lot.
But one of my favorites in the book is a chapter called Lord place a guard over his mouth. And I say, I share a story in the beginning of that chapter where my younger son was playing on a JV basketball team and the team, the game had gotten very heated and it was very chippy throughout the entire game. Like you’ve, you’ve been to some of these games where you can just almost feel the electricity from what’s happening on the field or on the court or whatever. And I was proud of my son because some of the, some of the kids from the other team were not being super nice to our players. And it was also one of those games where it just went back and forth and back and forth. Like the score was just even all the way through the game. Finally, toward the end of the game, my son hit a three pointer and it pulled us ahead. And then, another one of his teammates got the ball in a moment of chaos and shot it and had what secured the win for us. But I started noticing right after my son hit that three pointer that he was getting mouthy with the kid who was guarding him. And my son Rachel has a couple different smiles. He has a smile that’s like his natural, I’m happy smile, but he also has a smile that I would interpret as his mom as. If you don’t get out of my face, something bad is going to happen. Like it’s, he’s trying to prevent that, you know, like, and it ends up in this weird smile that he has. It’s cute. And if you’re not, if you don’t know him well, you might not know the difference, but I can see it. I saw that smile in that moment. I thought, that is not good. And when we hit the winning shot, chaos broke out on the court. And I saw the guy that had been guarding my son start to walk toward him and I saw my son start to walk toward that guy and I thought, my goodness, this is not good. And so I stood up from the sideline, this is, or the bleachers, I’ve never done this before and I haven’t done it since, thank God. But I actually stood up and I said, shut your mouth to him. And he just looked at me like, did you just do that? And I looked at him again, I said, shut your mouth.
And thankfully our coach saw what was happening and immediately like herded the boys into the locker room. So we avoided a big melee, but this is an issue that I think teenage boys face in a very real way today because our kids, the words that come out of their mouths these days are just ugly. There is a whole new level of, don’t care what I say kind of attitude in teenagers today. The amount of cursing that happens, like in front of adults, know people, people were cursing when I was in school for sure, but like there was a, there was a bit of respect that, they offered to adults. That doesn’t happen as frequently anymore. And the cut down culture among kids is a big, big deal. And I think it stems from the little pocket instruments that they’re carrying around with them everywhere because the things that they’re looking at online that they are interpreting as funny are not that funny when you compare them with what God’s Word says. So that one in particular is really important to me because I think it’s such a big deal that our kids are in the culture that they’re in. They need to learn the importance of the power of their words. So we pray a lot, Lord, would you put a guard over his mouth? In other words, Lord, shut him up and help him to not just be quiet, but to really understand why God says there is the power of life and death in the tongue. And you can help someone tremendously, or you can devastate someone tremendously with what comes out of your mouth. So that’s one of my favorites as well. We also talk about having a heart after God. We use David as our example for that and then this one is important for the moms of older teens maybe that are starting to leave the home more is, Lord, would you make the hidden things known? In other words, I’m not gonna be able to see a lot of what’s happening in my child’s life anymore. Lord, would you help me to see what I need to see? And that has been really important for us as well.
Rachael Adams (25:48.16)
Those are all so good, but you’re right. I definitely resonated with the story that you told, but you know, I was almost giggling as you were talking to some like that. I need to do that as a mom. Like there’s something about that mama bear. If you see, know, if you hear other people talking about your son or whatever, then it’s like, I need to be like the Holy spirit shut my mouth or my husband or my friend, like nudge me, like don’t say anything unless it’s positive.
Brooke McGlothlin (26:11.198)
Yes, it is so hard though. really is like there is not a place where it is easier for me to lose my sight of who I am in Christ than on a basketball court or on a baseball field or on some athletic something or other where people are seem to be targeting my children. It is hard. It is not an easy thing to do, but it’s so important because really in those moments that are the most heated, that’s when the truth of what’s in our hearts is coming out. You know, you’ve probably heard people say if they got in a fight with you or if they said things in the heat of the moment, they might say, you know, I’m really sorry that that’s not who I am. That is really not who I am. And I would beg to differ with that. I would actually say that the you that comes out when you are most pressed is probably the realest version of who you are. It’s just the one that you are capable of hiding most of the time. And so it’s really important that we as adults and that we are training our children to watch what’s coming out of their mouth.
Rachael Adams (27:14.333)
Yeah, and they’re modeling what we’re doing, right?
Brooke McGlothlin (27:17.342)
Yes, they are.
Rachael Adams (27:19.387)
Yes. Okay. Well, so thank you for sharing that story. was a little convicting, but also I receive it. You know, something else I struggle with as a mom is just, you you mentioned the little technology in their pockets and all the different influences, you know, just media and people around them and the things that they’re seeing in their schools. so fear can really take hold of my heart, honestly, like anxiety and, and just worry. And so talk to us about even, you know, praying for them through those really tough times to remain with good character and integrity, but also to pray for our mama hearts to not worry so much.
Brooke McGlothlin (27:56.962)
Yeah. Yeah. There are actually two chapters in the beginning of the book and we put them in the beginning on purpose because they’re targeted toward you as a mom and really checking your own heart as in getting it right with the Lord before you move into trying to pray for your sons. And that’s exactly why we did it. It’s because it isn’t just about praying for your kids. This is what I know to be true after 20 years of praying for my kids, Rachel like on a very regular basis, intense prayer for my kids. Not just a, not just a Lord, would you keep them safe today? Or Lord, would you help them to do well on the test? But literally praying God’s word over my kids for years proactively in their lives. I came to prayer for them because I wanted God to do something in them. I wanted God to change their hearts. And, and he has over the years, prayer is the long game. It’s not something that may happen overnight.
But what God has done much more over those 20 years is change my heart. So it has been just as important. And that’s what he does. That’s really, you know, when I was in the beginning and even somewhere in the middle of having, this, you know, before my kids became adults, I often thought to myself, I wish I was a better mom. I wish that I knew, I wish I was a more mature Christian now so that I could offer that to my kids in this moment.
But that’s just not really the way it works. We grow up with our kids and God uses our children probably more than anything else in our lives if we will allow him to, to make us look more like Jesus. And that is just what happens. And so as we grow and mature with them, he changes us and those, those fears that, that we have for our children.
I don’t know that, you know, I’ve prayed for my kids for a long time and I’ve been walking with Jesus in a very serious manner since I was about 21 years old. But I don’t think I, I don’t know that there’s ever been a day, even as I’ve matured, when I didn’t experience a little bit of fear for them on some level. The difference between me now and the fear that I experienced for them maybe when they were much younger is that I know where to go with it.
Brooke McGlothlin (30:21.142)
I know what to do with it now. I don’t have to dwell in that fear. I don’t have to just wallow around in the mud and the muck of the fear and just like, you know, wear it. I don’t have to do that. I can actually feel the fear in that moment, but then I can take that to the Lord and I can replace that with truth. And as you do that more and more and more with your kids, it will become easier to trust God with them through the hard things. Also, it really helps when you remember hard things that you’ve been through in your life and how God worked through those. actually had a great conversation with my older son the other day and I knew just from having parenting parented him that he had struggled with a particular concept about God for a lot of years. Like he, both my kids have made a profession of faith, but they’re like, he, he had just struggled with this one part of God’s character for a lot of years. And unfortunately, it’s a part of God’s character that there’s really just not a great answer for. don’t have, I don’t know if we’re going to have a really clear answer for his question, this side of heaven. It may just be something that God has to show us when we get there. But I was having a conversation with him the other day and I said, you know, I know you’ve struggled a little bit because of this and because of this thing that you had to go through. And he said, actually, mom, I’m not really struggling with that anymore.
Like I don’t see it as having to go through this particular hard thing. I don’t see it as God withholding something from me anymore, or I’m not mad at him for making me go through something hard anymore. I actually see that that was the way that he brought me to where he wanted me to be. I actually see that his hand was in that whole thing. And looking at it that way encourages me to remember and to believe in the future that God can do that again. It actually has helped me trust Him more to go through that hard thing. And that was amazing to me to see that He had grown and matured in His faith that way. But it works that way for us too. As we look and see what God has done, as we choose to remember what God has done, we can trust Him and feel less afraid.
Rachael Adams (32:42.037)
You know, you mentioned that it’s our hearts that change. And I think that’s really important to talk about that. It’s not always the circumstances that will change, but it’s us and maybe our perspective and talk to us about answered prayers. And sometimes it’s not, it’s just not going to happen in the way or the time or as quickly as you want. And so talk to us a little bit about that.
Brooke McGlothlin (32:52.782)
I’m really glad that you phrased it that way, Rachel, because I get asked some variation of that question almost every time I do an interview, but you phrased it well. Most people will say something to the effect of, tell me your answered prayers. Tell me what God has done through your prayer life. And I get why they’re asking that. When something is as precious to you as your children are, to open your hands and say, Lord, you can have them feels like a big deal because while we intellectually know that God loves them more than we do, like, I don’t know how that’s possible, right? Like I know it, I know God loves them more than I do, but it feels like that’s not true. So what we want, what they’re asking for when they ask that question is proof that God’s going to be good to their kids. But the reality is that prayer is not a vending machine. And so I don’t have this big, like mental file folder of all the ways that God has directly answered my prayers for my kids. I do have some stories that I share from time to time on really cool ways that God has specifically answered some prayers for my kids. But a whole lot more of my prayers for my kids are the long game. They’re the waiting game. And so, I look at prayer and I say there’s generally speaking three answers to prayer. There may be more, but these are the ones I see most often. One is yes, God can say yes, and that’s fantastic when he does. God can say no, and we often, at least in the beginning, have to struggle through that and struggle to allow him to say no because we don’t want him to. Or God can say wait. And most of the answers to the prayers that I have prayed have been wait.
Brooke McGlothlin (34:59.028)
It hasn’t been an absolutely not. I’m not going to do that. Although there have been some that have been absolutely not. I have actually prayed for something that was very important to me concerning one of my children. And God didn’t just say no, he actually did the exact opposite of what I prayed for, which was difficult and humbling for me. But God will say wait more than anything else. And I think part of the battle of the whole issue of answered or unanswered prayers is giving God the right to be God in your life. He invites us to join him in prayer for our kids, which is amazing if you think about it. I don’t know why he did it that way. don’t know. I can’t explain why he needs me in that way, but it’s really awesome that he gives me the privilege of joining or partnering with him that way for my kids but he’s still God and I’m still not God. And so I have to trust that whatever his answer is, is the right one in that moment. And it kind of relates really directly to that, what we just talked about, which is Lord, thy will be done. You know what’s best. And so thy will be done in the heart of my kid. And it’s just, it’s not always an easy thing to let go of, but there’s just so much freedom when we can.
Rachael Adams (36:19.903)
So tell us, you think that there is a biblical concept of love that you think applies to this topic?
Brooke McGlothlin (36:25.762)
Yeah, I love to share about that. It’s an interesting concept. There’s a verse in, it’s in Romans 5-8 that has been really important for me over the years. says, God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And one of the phrases that my husband and I have said to our boys since they were little and still today, over and over and over again is there is nothing you could ever do to make me not love you. I might not always like you. I might not always like the decisions or agree with the decisions that you are making, but there is absolutely nothing you could do to take away my love for you. And when I say that, I hope that it’s modeling that verse from Romans for my kids that even in the midst of your sin, God looks on you with love. Not when you got it all together, not when you figured out life, not when you got a good job and you’re being able to provide for your family or you’re making good grades or you hit the home run or whatever. That’s a pleasure and a privilege that God gives you, but he loves you even when you have the lowest batting average on the team or when you’re flunking out of college or when your girlfriend dumps you or when you get in trouble at school or whatever, while you are yet a sinner, God loves you and gave up his son for you. And I think that translates beautifully into just being able to say to our kids, we’ve got you, no matter what, we’ve got you.
Rachael Adams (38:04.021)
I’m so thankful for that truth, too. And we say something similar to our children. And so I love that. What a beautiful reminder. tell us something that you are loving right now.
Brooke McGlothlin (38:13.89)
Well, I am loving having my adult son home for the summer. He left us four days after he graduated from high school. He’s been out of school now for two years. And he left four days later, which should pain all of the mamas who have kids that are getting ready to graduate. It was painful. He moved out of state and went and played collegiate baseball for the whole summer. And we have not had him in our home for more than like just Christmas break or Thanksgiving break or whatever since he graduated from high school. So he actually is moving to a different school in the fall and will still be playing baseball. So he decided instead of doing another collegiate league, he was going to come home and be with us over the summer. And we are so grateful to have all of our children, both of our children, our whole family under one roof for the entire summer, it’s just gonna be a sweet, sweet thing. So yeah.
Rachael Adams (39:10.825)
Yeah, that hurts my heart just thinking about that. I mean, I’ve got three years left with Will and four years left with Kate and just the thought of that. I know that’s it’s good for them. You’ve raised a good and independent son and that’s what’s best, but it’s hard to let go.
Rachael Adams (39:26.813)
All of us mamas know. And so I know too, we had Stacey Thacker on the show. She is both of our mutual friends. She wrote Praying for Teen Girls. So she’s been on the show. So if you’ve not listened to her episode, go back and listen to that. But tell us about just your all’s friendship and, I just love that the pairing of the two, you know, I have both children and so I have both books and I’ve actually been sharing them with a lot of my friends because this is just something I was actually thinking about starting a group where us moms get together and like what, because the world is scary, honestly. And, and how can we come alongside and intercede for our children so that it’s, we’re creating these circles of influence around them. They’re just such power and prayer and moms and parents just coming alongside each other. So, tell us a little bit just about your relationship with Stacey and just this whole, concept of just praying for your teen child and even sorry before I keep, but I’m thinking about.
Rachael Adams (40:24.789)
You don’t even have to be necessarily, this could be grandmas. This could be spiritual moms. any of it, if you could be teaching. Yes. Um, so talk to us a little bit about that, whatever comes to your mind. That wasn’t really a question.
Brooke McGlothlin (40:27.725)
Teachers. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That’s okay. I’ll ramble for a second. I’m good at that. No. First of all, I want to say that I think moms like you, Rachel, that have one of both are actually kind of the lucky ones. Stacey and I did not talk, other than the format, where we would have the two chapters at the beginning that were really directed toward the mom and then the seven chapters at the end that were directed toward praying for the needs of your son or your daughter in this season of life. Other than that, we really didn’t talk about the content of the book at all during the process of writing them. We had the opportunity to read each other’s books well after they had already been edited. Like it was pretty much set in stone at that point. And I remember as I was reading her book, I was like, wow, this is so cool that God did this because I feel like you guys that have one of each almost get this really
It’s almost like imagine two parts of a heart, like you’re putting it together and you get this more complete picture of what it means to be a praying mom. And Stacey’s experience of being a praying mom, plus my experience of being a praying mom, I kind of think it’s cool if you get to read both of them. I think you’re better off than maybe others of us. It’s a fun little thing that God did with these. But Stacey and I have been friends for a very long time. We actually met on Twitter, which is now X as you know years and years ago, like maybe 15 years ago, something like that. And God just knit our hearts together immediately. And we have written several books together. We actually have co-written books together. And we didn’t do it for this book. We did not co-write. They are complementary, but they are, you know, they are two separate books. And the reason for that is because, first of all, I will say I was kind of the impetus behind both books got, I wanted to write Praying for Teen Boys, but I didn’t want to do it without someone who could co-write Praying for Teen Girls. And there was just nobody else that I could think of that I wanted to write that book anymore than Stacey. So she was the person to write it. it’s a wonderful book, but we did it intentionally. We separated it instead of just having a book called Praying for Teens, which we could have done. We separated it for a few reasons. One, selfishly, I kind of wanted to just write one that would be for my boys. In many ways, I see this book kind of as a keepsake for my own children, and I wanted to have that singular voice in that for them. But also because we wanted to take the opportunity to recognize that boys and girls are different, that they have different needs, they have different emotional needs and physical needs and spiritual needs at times, and that God made them male and female on purpose. And so for us, was kind of like this opportunity, this subtle opportunity to affirm the way that God has made them and try and get really specific on the issues that they are dealing with today. For example, teen girls are dealing with an epidemic of anxiety. It’s not that teen boys don’t deal with anxiety. They do, but girls are dealing with it on epidemic levels way more advanced than boys are dealing with in today’s world in general. And so that gave Stacey the opportunity to really dive into some of that in her book, but it wasn’t an area necessarily that I felt like needed a lot of attention in mine. So it just gave us the freedom to really get specific with those. And I think it was just the right thing to do for everybody. So we’ve been really excited about that. Stacey is just an amazing woman of God and every time I get to partner with her in any way, I am better for it. So I’m very, very thankful that we got to do this together.
Rachael Adams (44:26.003)
You know, we keep talking about moms praying for, you know, like the dads are in the picture too, you know, like there is such these, can imagine even just the, you know, the dads getting one of these books and gleaning so much too.
Brooke McGlothlin (44:41.4)
Absolutely. I actually think it could be a really good thing for you to do, to actually come alongside your wife and look at what is she seeing? Because the things that are in this book are my, it’s me looking at my children or their friends or teenage boys in general. It’s me as a woman looking at what teen boys need today and making a decision about what I need to pray for them. But I think it would be really awesome if the dads could come alongside and read through that, at least topically kind of look over it and get an understanding of what we’re praying for and maybe even fill in the gaps and say, as a guy, I could add to this that maybe you would want to pray for this as well, or we want to pray for this as well. What a beautiful completion that would be. So yes, if you happen to be listening and you’re a dad, don’t be afraid. I promise it would be a great thing for you to do as well.
Rachael Adams (45:44.714)
Yeah, I’m just thinking of all the mamas and the bleachers, know, there’s as we’re all trying to keep our mouths shut for our boys. Well, I know I want to stay connected with you. I’m sure listeners are going to want to go to want to purchase both of these books. And so tell us how we can best do that.
Brooke McGlothlin (46:02.7)
Yes, you can find anything about me that you want to know at brookmcglockland.net. You can follow the Ministry of Million Praying Moms more closely at millionprayingmoms.com. But the books are there in both places or you can just pick them up anywhere you want to. My favorite place to be is Instagram and that is at millionprayingmoms. And you’re welcome to hang out with me there. Right now I’m sharing a lot about being a mom of teen boys and how to pray for them and encouraging moms in that season. So it would be a great time to come hang out with me there.
Rachael Adams (46:35.455)
Well, perfect. Well, would you do the honor of praying for us as we close?
Brooke McGlothlin (46:39.766)
I would love to. I’d love to. Lord, thank you so much for Rachel and her heart to be an offering of love that represents your kingdom well to those around her. Lord, she exudes the love of Christ and the things that she says and the things that she does. And she’s a gift to so many people. So thank you for her and bless her endeavors, Father, to move and work on behalf of your kingdom. But I also just want to pray for the mom who’s listening right now who maybe is the mom of a teen boy and is struggling and doesn’t know what to do and feels maybe like she’s fighting against him more than she’s fighting for him. Father, would you connect her heart deeply with the concept of becoming a praying mom? Connecting her heart to you and going to you in prayer is one of the very best things that she can do for her son because, you know, there will be times when and limits to what we can do for our sons. We may run out of things that we can do for them, but there will never be any limits to what we can pray for them. So I pray, Father, that you would connect the hearts of the moms with this message and that you would use the praying mom who is listening right now to change the course and direction of her children’s lives in a way that affects generations to come. Would you do that, Father all to bring yourself glory in Jesus name. Amen.
Rachael Adams (48:12.357)
Amen. Thank you so much Brooke. I just always get enjoy getting to talk with you and appreciate your inspiration to continue to pray and that it really does work. It really does matter. So thank you so much.
Brooke McGlothlin (48:24.302)
Thank you for having me.
Rachael Adams (48:26.409)
Thank you so much for listening to the Love Offering Podcast. I hope today’s conversation encouraged and inspired you to love God, love others, and even love yourself a little more. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and leave a review. It helps others find the show and spreads the message of love even further. To connect with me, visit me on my website at rachelkadams.com. While you’re there, be sure to download the Love Offering Calendar, a free resource filled with simple daily ways to love those around you. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of my book, Everyday Prayers for Love, and Brooke’s book, Praying for Teen Boys. are available now wherever books are sold and we pray they are meaningful resources for your faith journey. special thank you to Life Audio for supporting this podcast and making it possible. To find more great podcasts visit LifeAudio.com. Thanks again for joining us today. Until next time, let’s make our lives an offering of love.
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Brooke McGlothlin | Million Praying Moms
