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.

The Bench-Warmer

What kind of follower of Christ are you? Do you jump at every opportunity to get involved in your church, volunteer to help any time you can lend a hand? God knows what kind of Christian you are, and whether you're just warming a bench at church or if you're committed to following Him and doing all that you can to further the kingdom of God.

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is a liar. Too often, someone who appears sincere in their worship is simply putting on a good show for those around them. No matter how sincere you appear to be, God knows the intention of your heart, and you aren't fooling Him, even if everyone around you falls for it.

The Bible goes on to say in Jeremiah 17:10 the God searches our hearts and minds and will reward us according to what we deserve. Matthew 6:1-2, 5, 16 tells us that if we are just putting on a show for men, then the recognition of men is the only reward we'll have; Matthew 6:3-4, 6, 17 shows us that if we are sincere with God, then our reward will come from Him.

God is not pleased with our praise when we do it for the recognition of men. God only recognizes and rewards us for our praise to Him because we love Him and want to serve him. So will you be a bench-warming hypocrite, looking only for the praises of men, or will you be on fire for God, simply because He died to save you?

Dwelling with God

What are the advantages to living close to God? Too often, we "serve" God from habit, or we only serve God when we can clearly see that it's beneficial to us. However, serving God is always beneficial to us. In Psalms 5:4-6 we find that no evil person can be close to God.

David says in Psalms 5:7 how we are to approach God. First, David recognizes God's complete control. It is only by God's mercy that we are allowed to approach Him. Second, David shows humility in bowing down. Bowing down is an outward way to show servitude to another. This is how we should always approach God: recognizing His supreme authority and showing our humility in service to Him.

Then, after showing the manner in which he has approached God, David makes his request in Psalms 5:8. David asks for only one thing: guidance. He asks God to lead him. He doesn't try to tell God where he wants to go. He doesn't ask God to lead him to a particular place. He just asks God to lead him and leaves the destination up to God.

These are two of the greatest advantages of serving God: protection and guidance. By living close to God at all times, we know that we are protected from evil; we're protected by God because in His presence no evil can dwell. By living close to God at all times, we are able to follow Him where He leads us. There is nothing more important in our lives than following God's will.

Justification and Reconciliation

As children, most of us at one point or another stole some insignificant thing from a store while we were out with our parents. And most of us got dragged back into the store, made to apologize begrudgingly, our parents had to pay for our stolen candy bar that we had already opened, and then if they didn't think that we were really, REALLY sorry, we got a nice thrashing for it, too.

Romans 5:8-9 tells us that the blood of Jesus has given us justification. That's the payment that our Master made for our sins. This "saves us from God's wrath". This is where our parents have gone in and paid for our stolen goods. It's what keeps us from having the store owner press charges against us for shoplifting. According to Wikipedia, "When an act is justified, a person is not criminally liable even though his act would otherwise constitute an offense."

Justification, however, is only half of the equation. Now that the shop owner knows we steal, he's going to be suspicious every time we come in. But Romans 5:10-11 we see that we can also have reconciliation with God as well. This is where our parents tell us to apologize, and we can either give a true apology, or we can be snide about it. We now have an opportunity to be reconciled, or "have cordial relations reestablished". However, this takes not only the reconciliation and justification of the parent for us, but also our sincere apology for the wrong that we've done.

It takes both parties in a relationship to be in agreement in order to have reconciliation. We can have complete justification, and still be the enemy of God. There is no way that we can make restitution for our sin, there is no self-justification. We've already seen in Romans 5:8 that God has reached out to us. Our responsibility is that of reaching out to God with an open heart, being truly sorry for the sins that we've committed, and asking for reconciliation with Him. Jesus has opened the door for us to have a great friendship by offering the opportunity for reconciliation. Will we be snide, or will we with open arms cry out for our forgiveness?