Theme of the Week: Godly Masculinity
Bible Verse: “Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.” 1 Timothy 2:8
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
“He’s a prayer warrior!” That was a phrase I said to someone else . . . that I wanted said about me. Of course, being a prayer warrior is not a bad thing, far from it. But my desire to be known as one instead of simply being a person of prayer revealed a bit about my heart. My focus was on how other people saw me, not on my actual practices or character.
Hopefully, I’ve grown up a bit since then (that was about 25 years ago); although sometimes I’m not so sure. Prayer is an important part of the Christ-follower’s life. None of us should ignore the privilege and responsibility of prayer. It should characterize a life that follows Christ.
Paul was, is, a giant of the Christian faith. He’s responsible, in some fashion or other, for most of what we read in the New Testament. He wrote everything from doctrinal treatises (see the letter to the Romans) to personal letters of instruction (the two letters to Timothy) to letters to churches addressing specific issues the churches were facing (1&2 Corinthians, Ephesians, etc.).
In one of the personal letters (the first of two to a young pastor in Ephesus named Timothy). Paul gives some instructions to Timothy specifically about the actions of men. He says that he wants men everywhere to pray. To be clear, prayer isn’t only for men, women are recognized as pray-ers elsewhere by Paul himself (see 1 Corinthians 11:5). But here to Timothy, Paul encourages men everywhere, in other words, all men, to pray.
One way to evaluate whether or not you are working toward godly masculinity, emphasis on godly, is to examine your prayer life. Are you communing with God? Are you speaking with him about your life and about His work in the world? Paul describes some specific ways to pray that are perhaps more pertinent to a man’s disposition; we’ll look at those tomorrow. Today it is enough to know that men are called to pray.
Prayer: Father God, this is what I am called to do. To speak with you. Help me to make prayer a habit and not just to tell you about the things that I want or think I need. Help me to learn to really pray.
Reflection: How often do you pray? What do you pray about? Spend 5 minutes today simply thanking God for some of His characteristics.
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