Praying Through

Praying isn't just saying a few words to some being you can't see and hope exists; prayer is intense conversation with the Creator of the universe, and your Redeemer. Jesus repeatedly admonished His disciples and followers to pray. He asked His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. When He found them sleeping in Matthew 26:40, he asked Peter, "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?"

While the disciples were sleeping Jesus was praying so earnestly that the Bible says in Luke 22:44 that His sweat became like drops of blood. I doubt that anyone has ever struggled and prayed in the fashion that Jesus did at that point. He didn't just pray a little prayer and then come back to get the disciples and wait for them to come and arrest Him. He prayed for an hour, then checked on the disciples, then prayed some more, then checked on them again, and then prayed some more. He prayed all the way until his betrayer was close at hand; until it was time to go.

We as men should follow the example that Jesus led us in here to be leaders at prayer time. We should be the first to hit the altars at altar call, and the last to leave. We shouldn't be waiting for everyone's heads to be bowed so nobody will catch us going up to pray, and we shouldn't try to sneak away from the altars while everyone is still praying to go back to our seats. Prayer is never a thing of shame; it's our opportunity to approach God's throne and talk to Him.

Also, we should be staying in prayer until we're through praying; until the conversation with God is over. We don't have to quit praying because the guy beside us got up from the altar. What greater thing could we do, and why would we be so afraid and try to hide it? Men, I urge you to get in the altars and seek God. Make a prayer time at home and seek God. Let Him speak to you through prayer, and you will never regret it.

Asking for a Hand-Out

Men often have a serious issue with asking for help when they need it. We're stereotyped by not stopping for directions, not reading the instructions, and expecting to be able to work things out for ourselves. Looking again at Peter in Matthew 14:25-31, we are likely all familiar with the story of Peter walking on the water with Jesus.

Let's look carefully though at what exactly Peter was doing here. Peter was the only disciple who asked for permission to walk on the water with Jesus. After Jesus said, "Come", Peter was the only disciple who stepped out. Peter was the only disciple to have been recorded to have ever walked on water.

Then Peter noticed what was going on around him. He lost his fixation on Christ and got started looking at the waves, and feeling the wind blowing on him. He met with some resistance, and he began to doubt. We often cover up and say we don't doubt, we believe God is all-powerful. Peter was walking on water with Jesus, and began to doubt.

Which leads us to Matthew 14:30, where we find Peter beginning to sink, and crying out to Jesus, "Lord, save me!" He didn't wait until the water was over his head. He didn't wait until he was floundering around drowning. He called out for Jesus when he was beginning to sink. He asked for help, and Jesus reached His hand out, and caught Peter.

Jesus immediately asks Peter, "Why did you doubt?" He didn't ask why Peter had called out for help; He didn't question Peter's need for Him. He only asked why Peter had doubted. As men, we're prone to fall into this trap of doubt, even when so close to Jesus as walking on the water with Him. We need to remember that we need to call out for help, for prayer, and for assistance immediately, when we begin to sink, and not wait until we're blubbering and wallowing in our failure.

Friendly Wisdom

Do you listen when God speaks to you? You may say, ...but God doesn't speak to me." God speaks to those who are willing to hear His voice. Last week we read in Proverbs 2:1-2 about listening to the voice of wisdom, seeking it as a treasure. Proverbs 2:10 carries on this message about seeking wisdom. It says you will find wisdom, and knowledge will be pleasant to you. This parallels Matthew 7:7 as well as Luke 11:9, where they both say "seek and you will find".

The next verse, Proverbs 2:11, gives the basic result of this wisdom and knowledge. With wisdom comes discretion; with knowledge comes understanding. Could a man without wisdom know when to be discreet, or a man without knowledge understand even the most simple of things?

Next, we are given two sets of examples of this discretion and understanding. We're only going to look at the first one this week, and come back to the second one next Friday. Proverbs 2:12-15 talks about wicked men that wisdom will save us from. Proverbs 2:16-19 tells us about wicked women that wisdom will save us from.

If we're claim to be saved from wicked men by the wisdom and knowledge that comes from seeking God, how can we defend having close friends fitting the description of wicked men in Proverbs 2:12-15? Likewise, if we're close friends with other men fitting that description, how likely are we to spend time earnestly praying and seeking God? We often say things like "don't judge me by the people I hang out with", but truly, the people we hang out with shows a lot about our own character.

Let us learn and strive to seek out other Godly men as our closest friends. We don't need wicked friends drawing us into things we wouldn't otherwise be involved in. The wisdom of God makes all the difference in discerning who are truly friends worthy of our friendship, and friends that are not.

Preparing to Run

I've recently decided that I should spend more time exercising than what I have been. One way that I thought of to do that would be to increase the amount of walking that I do until I'm in good enough shape to run. After stepping up my exercise routines for a very short time, I decided it was time to test out the new strength in my legs and see how far I could run.

Surprisingly, I was able to run a considerable distance further than I had been able to previously. When I got home that night, my legs were on fire though. The next day, my ankles hurt so bad I could hardly walk. Apparently, I had done tendon damage by not being properly prepared to run. In all my preparations to walk, I got my media player out, headphones, etc.; stretching was never on my list.

When I decided to run, I stretched first, but because I hadn't made it a habit before exercise to stretch, my body was unprepared to deal with the added stress. My legs were strong enough, the muscles could handle it. I'm reminded of our daily dealings with God in all of this. We pray a little every day, read our Bibles; we're just walking along with God. Then, we come upon a hard time, and have the need to run, and we falter or we injure ourselves because we weren't used to stretching our spiritual lives that far.

1 Timothy 4:7-8 says to exercise yourself to Godliness. You exercise normally by practicing what you want to do at the top of your training routine and you'll always be ready to do your best. If you do the bare minimum for the stage you're on, you'll find yourself injured trying to reach the next phase.

Treasure Hunting

I've seen many times on the beach men walking along with metal detectors for hours up and down the beach. I've never seen one of them find anything of value, yet they persistently walk in unique patterns trying to cover every square inch of the ground. On occasion, the detector will give a beep, and the treasure hunter will excitedly drop to his knees and dig up some small metal object from the sand. Disappointedly, they reveal a pop tab or some other refuse left on the beach by some person too lazy to take it to the trash bin.

Proverbs 2:1-5 gives us a spiritual parallel to this search for treasure: a search for wisdom. Proverbs 2:4-5 says that if we look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, we will be rewarded with finding the true treasure of understanding and knowledge. What greater thing could we seek? What other thing could we search for with a guarantee that we will find what we're looking for and not be disappointed.

Proverbs 2:6-9 says that God gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He grants those who seek Him victory and protection. Let us all seek the wisdom that comes from God. Let us all look for His wisdom in the same manner that those treasure hunters on the beach look for their earthly treasure: with enthusiasm and resolve. We know that we will find what we're looking for, unlike the beach treasure hunter, we should have even more enthusiasm than they do!

What Are You Looking For?

You get what you pay for. You get as much out of it as you put into it. As you make your bed, so must you lie in it. These are all sayings that most of us are probably familiar, and there's quite a bit of truth in them all. What I want to focus on though, are the questions: "What are you looking for when you study God's Word?", "What are you looking for when you go to church?", and "What are you looking for in your relationship with God?"

Jesus asked the people that were following Him about John the Baptist, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet." (Matthew 11:7-9) A lot of people went out to see John the Baptist, but there were a lot of reasons that they went. Some went to see the crazy guy eating locusts and honey, some to see a prophet.

All of the people found what they were looking for, but because many were looking lower, they were disappointed when they found the very thing they expected to see. Had they all been looking to find a prophet, they all would have found a prophet, and would have been amazed by God's presence in him. John the Baptist ended up in prison and beheaded because of this. Is this the attitude we take with us into prayer, into church, and into reading the Bible? Do we see what we expect to see, or do we open our hearts to receive the Word of God in a way that changes our lives?

Here's one we don't hear as often: "A bad workman blames his tools." If you're looking to find fault, if you're looking for something to give you an excuse for your attitude and behavior, look inside. The people around you can't make you into something that you aren't. As Hebrew 12:2 says, we need to keep our eye on Jesus, and not forget who He is. That is the only way we will be able to rightly see what we're looking at, and to receive the joy of the Lord, instead of being disappointed at finding what we sought.