We don’t have to guess about how to get men praying together. Paul tells us right here. Our reading from If Men Will Pray for today is found on pages 36, 37:
“In order to get men praying, Paul approached their pastor. Timothy was probably the main pastor (later to be called ‘bishop’) of all the churches in Ephesus, just as John would assume that role toward the end of the first century. In order to get men praying, Paul went to their pastor. Paul considered men praying in this way to be an important component in the right ordering of a local church, whether at the house church or community church level.
“So while we who are men should take up this challenge as it comes to us, and while we should also encourage other men to join us in such prayers, we should in particular, it seems to me, urge our pastors to work with their men, train them for discipleship and prayer, and enlist them in the task of praying in every place for God to bring revival and renewal to His churches and awakening to our culture and society.
“Pastors are continually sending messages to the men of their church. If the message they are sending is, ‘Good to see you again this week; glad you’re here for worship; thanks for your offering and for keeping your nose clean again this week; see you next Sunday,’ then that’s the message his men will hear, and the one to which they will continue to respond.
“But if the pastor calls his men to pray, if he leads them in prayer and teaches them to pray as Paul instructs, if the pastor will insist that being a man in his congregation means that you are expected to pray for revival, renewal, and awakening as the most important thing you can do each day – if pastors will take Paul’s instruction to heart and put it to work in their own lives and ministries, then we just might begin to see God
answer such prayers in ways more transforming and dramatic than we’ve seen in our lifetimes.”
For Reflection
1. Have you talked with your pastor about helping men pray together? Should you? Explain.
2. What could happen in your church if the men were more vitally active in prayer?
Getting men to pray together doesn’t just happen. It takes prayer, patience, and leadership. You can lead part of the way, and perhaps you can help your pastor to lead further ahead. Share today’s podcast with a friend. Perhaps the two of you should visit with your pastor about helping men pray together? You can order If Men Will Pray from The Ailbe Bookstore.
T. M. Moore
