Original Entry:
September 12, 2011
McMinnville, OR
In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am
a man of prayer. Psalm 109:4
Pray continually. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
The man who believes
in gods other than Jesus can model manly traits. He can lead his family, support them
financially, serve in his community and often attend church. I know men that are examples of one or more
aspects of manhood but cannot achieve all that he was made to be as a man apart
from total dependence upon Jesus Christ.
There is something
deeper, spiritual, to being a man than meets the eye .One of those intangibles is
prayer.
Paul admonished the men
of Thessalonica to, “pray without
ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:7)
Jesus modeled a godly
prayer life teaching his followers how to pray in Matthew 6:9-14.
Yes, there is more to
manhood than meets the eye. Underneath
the surface of a true man, a godly man is the hidden life of prayer.
He comes before the Creator
daily to beg for divine mercies and blessings over his wife, children, family
members and friends.
As men we tend to
compartmentalize our lives. We literally
focus on one task at a time. Where women
can be partially engaged in many tasks at once, a man gives laser-like
attention to one of two tasks at hand. I once heard that men are
compartmentalized like waffles and women are interconnected like spaghetti.
Do not hide a weak
prayer life behind this solo verse in Scripture. Prayer is not this way. The man of prayer must have his daily time of
focused prayer, but something more must happen.
He must immerse himself in the presence of God. He must be aware of Christ at all times. He
must, as Brother Lawrence once wrote, “Practice the presence of God.”
