Prayer

Many years ago, I was part of the Promise Keepers movement. I remember the power and emotions of being one of 60,000 men sitting together in a stadium for the sole purpose of worshiping God. I was there with a great diversity of men: old, young, white, black, Hispanic, Native American, Baptist, and Presbyterian. You name it, we were there. I even had the great joy to attend one time with my father, at the Pontiac Silverdome. It was incredible. One of the great take-aways for me was the power of prayer, especially prayer for your family. The leaders of the movement had developed an acronym for this type of prayer: P.U.S.H. or Pray Until Something Happens. 

Prayer is Blessed Work

Fathers, prayer is work. It is blessed work, but it is still work. It requires you to put forth effort and give up some of your pleasure to bring pleasure to another. Perhaps, the biggest sin of the church today is laziness. We are lazy about our prayer. God has made available to us incredible power to change our world, yet rather than pray, we complain about the condition of the world around us. Just think what would happen if men made a commitment to Pray Until Something Happens? That would be a serious force.  Do we really believe that Jesus has risen from the dead? Do we believe that he is alive and hears us? If we do, it should shape our perspective when we come before God with our prayers. 

Don’t Complain, Pray

Men don’t complain about your wife, your children, your job… pray. Men, pray for the children in your life. I’m not talking about a simple, generic, “now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. You need to be specific, which means you have to know what is going on in their lives. If you don’t know, ask them. Talk to them. Make it a habit to get to know what is important to them. Ask about their friends? Get to know their friends’ families. Don’t quit praying when God doesn’t answer the first time, or the second, or third time. Be persistent.

Don’t wait until your children are adults to pray for the man or woman they will marry. My daughter fell in love with her husband in fourth grade, at summer day camp. Yes, they lost contact until many years later when they met again in college. She did not even remember him. Her sister had to retrieve the diary and remind her of who he was. 

Prayer works! The lesson is… pray early and often.

Also, see Persistent.

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear