Review
In our study of the Jesus Famous man, we have already considered two important and often overlooked elements. We began by thinking about how the Jesus Famous man loves God because he first loved him—that our lives should be a response to Christ and his gospel. We thought about this concept from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:15-22. There, Paul prayed for us to have an epiphany about the hope of Christ's calling, the wealth of his inheritance, and the greatness of his power toward us. With these perspectives firmly entrenched in our hearts, we can move forward in response to Christ's goodness.
We then considered how the Jesus Famous man is being restored by Christ—that we cannot transform ourselves but must allow the Spirit to reshape us into the image of Christ as we worship Christ. We thought about this concept from Paul's teaching in 2 Corinthians 3:18. There, Paul told us that we could be transformed into Christ's image by stages as we spend time beholding his glory.
Tonight, we come to the next stage of development. The Jesus Famous man walks with God all life long—we will commit to a lifetime filled with the pursuit of God. We will think about this concept from Jesus' teaching to his disciples in John 15. Let's read:
John 15:1–5 (ESV) — 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
Final I AM Image
In Exodus, at the burning bush, God told Moses to go to Egypt to set his people free. When Moses asked who he should say sent him, God revealed his name to him:
Exodus 3:14 (ESV) — 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
In John's gospel, Jesus takes God's name as revealed to Moses at the burning bush:
John 8:58 (ESV) — 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
And all throughout the book of John, Jesus builds on this title—I am the bread of life (6:35); I am the light of the world (8:12); I am the door of the sheep (10:7, 9); I am the good shepherd (10:11); I am the resurrection and the life (11:25); I am the way, the truth, and the life (14:6). The passage we just read is the final one—I am the vine (John 15:5).
This statement displays the pure genius of Christ. I can't think of a better metaphor. The grapevine is well known in almost every culture on earth. With this timeless picture, Jesus helped us understand his nature and role with us.
This picture was also well known in the Bible. In the Old Testament, God described Israel as his beloved vineyard, one that yielded wild grapes through its disobedience. The fruit that came from Israel wasn't what God wanted. So now Jesus comes along and, speaking not to the twelve tribes but his twelve disciples, explains to them that he is the vine and they are the branches in God's vineyard.
Abiding Defined
The thought I want to expand on tonight comes from v.5:
John 15:5 (ESV) — 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
So the key to fruit, according to Jesus, is to abide in him. Abide is a word John used 67 times in his writings. To abide means to stay in a particular place or station, to remain, to reside, to continue, or to exist in a place. So Jesus is telling us that the Jesus Famous man—the one who is responding to Christ's gospel epiphany and who understands that transformation comes from Christ—will commit to abiding in Christ.
What does this mean?
The Jesus Famous man remains in a constant life-receiving relationship with Jesus Christ for the purpose of bearing more fruit and much fruit, which glorifies the Father and blesses others.
Bottom line: abiding is a life-giving connection. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit without being connected to the vine, so we cannot produce the fruit of good character and good works without being connected to Christ. Practically, what this means is that we cannot expect to be good men, good husbands, good fathers, good churchmen, or good leaders without a steadfast connection to Jesus.
The main focus of the branch is to remain connected to the vine because that's where life-giving nutrients can be found. In the same way, the main focus of a Jesus Famous man is to remain in relational connection to Jesus. Fruit can only be born while abiding in him.
The main focus of the branch is not fruit. Fruit is the natural result of a connection to the vine. In the same way, the main focus of the Jesus Famous man is not fruit. We want fruit. God wants fruit. But we know the way to fruitfulness is through our connection to Jesus.
These distinctions are important, especially since many of the things we might do to abide are also the things people do to try to bear fruit on their own. You can attend church, read the Bible, or lead your family without a strong relational connection to Jesus. But if these things are done as a way to build your own character—to produce your own fruit—and not as a way to connect more substantially to Christ, then they will ultimately be fruitless experiences. This helps explain why some men can attend church or read their Bibles for decades with no true character transformation or impact on society—they have not done these practices as a way to connect to Christ, so his life does not flow through them as it could.
The Jesus Famous man sees practices like Bible study and prayer as ways to enjoy Christ. Just as a faucet connects us to a water supply or a tap connects us to a keg of beer, so practices like Bible study and prayer connect us to Jesus. No one is fascinated with the faucet for the faucet's sake. No one, while drinking a quality beer, says, "Hey, have you seen this tap. Amazing!" Our focus is on what we get to drink of Christ while in Bible study and prayer.
When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus said it was to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength (Mark 12:29-30). The concept of abiding in Christ picks up this theme. What does the branch want most? The vine. What do Jesus Famous men want most? Christ.
Brothers, know your role! You and I are only branches. We are fully dependent upon the life of the vine. And if anyone partakes of anything good—any fruit—from our lives, we must know we are merely conduits for the life of Christ to flow through. His life, working through us, produced the fruit!
The Apostle Paul cataloged his battle with his flesh in Romans 7, saying he found there were times he did what he didn't want to do and times he didn't do what he wanted to do. He battled until he asked the question, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" The glorious answer?
Romans 7:24–25 (ESV) — 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
How?
So the Jesus Famous man understands who he is—a branch to Christ's vine. He makes this his anthem: I am a branch! He becomes fully dependent on and thirsty for an active, abiding relationship with Christ. And he becomes consumed with the pursuit of Christ.
But now, I need to turn our attention to how this abiding relationship works. How does this personal devotion to Christ work? What does it look like? While the Bible commends public worship and participation in a local church community, it also emphasizes personal devotion to God. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. Enoch and Noah walked with God when others would not. Abraham knew God and received his promises. Isaac went out to the fields for times of meditation on God. David wrote and sang personal prayers and songs to God. Peter went to rooftops alone for times of prayer.
And Jesus modeled this abiding relationship best of all. He was constantly connected to his Father. He went to the wilderness to be alone with his Father. He went out before sunrise alone to be with his Father. He went to the mountaintops alone to be with his Father. He went out on the lake alone to be with his Father. Time and time again, Jesus turned to his Father for direction, help, energy, power, and affirmation.
This personal relationship with God in Christ utilizes the word and prayer. This should be expected. You cannot have a good relationship with someone without hearing from them or talking with them. The word and prayer give us both with Christ. So, tonight, let's consider both.
The Word: Hear Him
First, consider the importance of hearing Christ in his word. In our John 15 passage, Jesus said:
John 15:7 (ESV) — 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
So when we abide in Christ, his words also abide in us. We cannot be connected to Jesus without being connected to Jesus' word.
In our modern time, people are prone to say they are spiritual, not religious. But it is telling when you probe their spirituality—it rarely challenges them. Usually, being spiritual agrees completely with all their previously fashioned opinions. What this tells you is that the "spiritual, not religious" crowd has a Holy Scripture—it is their own thoughts and opinions.
But, though the modern believer agrees that dead religion is worthless, we believe Christ brings us into a life-giving relationship with God through his cross. In that relationship with God, we are often challenged and confronted because God speaks to us through his word. To be in dead religion, one needs mere ceremonies and moral guidance. To be in a life-giving relationship with God, one needs God's word.
God speaks today through the Bible. Its words are his words, its message his message, its power his power. -- Tim Challies, Run to Win: The Lifelong Pursuits of a Godly Man
As the psalmist said:
Psalm 1:1–3 (ESV) — 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
So putting your mind in meditation on the scripture leads to an abundant and fruitful life. Everyone loves a man who is fruitful in this way—wives, children, friends, girlfriends, churches, coworkers, employers, and many are others benefit from a man of the word.
I long for you to know the word of God. I have been blessed with the opportunity to study the Bible as part of my job since I was twenty years old. It has been a wonderfully edifying experience. I am thankful to God for putting me into a church family that appreciates expositional teaching at all levels of the church. Still, nothing could replace my personal time studying the Bible for my own benefit. I need it desperately. My marriage, family, friendships, and church family are better off when I am consistently in the word on a personal level. Since I believe the same for you, here are some ways your time with God’s word might be helped.
Daily Read The Word
The Bible contains sixty-six books with 1,179 chapters. It is divinely simple enough to receive from on your first reading and divinely complex enough to require a lifetime to master. And just as a wife cannot know her husband's heart and mind unless she considers his words, so we cannot know God's thoughts, mind, heart, nature, or priorities unless we consider his words. Daily, read the word.
Men, your church, your wife, and your children need more than a man who dutifully shows up on Sunday. They need a man who knows God. They need a man who makes time to meet with God in his word each day. -- Tim Challies, Run to Win: The Lifelong Pursuits of a Godly Man
If you are not a Bible reader right now, there are many great Bible reading plans that can help you get on track. Some of them are highly ambitious, and others allow a margin for error. But I encourage you to download a Bible app with a Bible reading plan and begin (you certainly do not have to wait for January 1!).
While I'm on the subject of simply reading the word, I also encourage you to read straight through various books of the Bible. Sometimes Christians will sit down and read the Bible dissimilarly to the way they read other books. We generally read fiction and non-fiction books cover to cover, straight through, without skipping any material. I encourage the same with Bible reading. Read it simply and straight through.
Read The Word With Others
If you want to really make this stick in your life, I would encourage you to start or join a Disciple Group (d-group). These groups select a Bible reading plan they commit to together, talking about how the word impacted them every week for six months (at least). Hearing the insights of other men and knowing you'll need to share insights of your own are a tremendous motivation for daily Bible reading.
Pace Yourself In The Word
If you are new at this, I encourage you to start small (but not too small). If you become tremendously hungry for the Bible and want to read it in four months, you can—this is far from impossible. But the wisest way forward will be manageable portions on a manageable schedule. Many Bible readers have become overly discouraged because they couldn't sustain the pace they thought they could.
That said, don't make your commitment too small either. If you are on pace to read the Bible in over three or four years, you might not ever get it done. My standard recommendation is a chapter of the New Testament and two or three in the Old Testament every day. With this pace, you will read the Bible in around a year, and every day you will encounter the refreshing pages of the New Testament gospel, even on days your Old Testament reading takes you to a list or genealogy.
Write About The Word
I would also encourage you to write or journal about the Bible when you read it. I like to jot down words or phrases that stand out to me in my reading, perhaps including an action item or prayer to God in response. When I do this, the message of the Bible is reinforced in my heart as I write.
My style of journaling is not a long-form letter to God but a bullet point notation system. An entry could look something like this (taken from a recent journal):
Scripture: Jeremiah 2:2 (ESV) — 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
My Journal: I long to have a youthful devotion to Christ all the days of my life. Help me, O God, to be passionate for you all my days. Would I follow into the wilderness, into obedience?
Scripture: Jeremiah 2:8 (ESV) — 8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.
My Journal: God looks for those who handle the word to know Him. We must know him personally. How can I know God more this year?
Scripture: Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV) — 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
My Journal: What broken cisterns have I turned to? Or do I tend to turn to?
So, upon sitting down, the first thing I do is open up to the Psalms, where I have a bookmark. Quickly, I read the next psalm, trying to allow the prayer of that particular psalm to be my heart for that morning. This usually takes five to ten minutes. I will usually jot down a couple of journal entries at this point. Often, since these are my first thoughts of the day, they might be about something I woke up burdened with, perhaps regarding the events of the previous day, and are not necessarily always directly related to the psalm.
See The Lord In The Word
Unless you were born with a seminary degree, there will be much in the Bible that does not make sense to you as you first read it. Additionally, there will be much that does make sense to you but doesn’t seem to be highly applicable to your own life. While reading, I’ve found it helpful to look for the attributes and characteristics of God in any text I’m reading, especially when reading at a faster pace. There is always something to learn of God in the text, and this, after all, is what the Bible is about.
And although difficult in some passages, I would encourage you to try and find the connection with Jesus in any portion of scripture. Most Bible passages are preparing for the gospel, foreshadowing the gospel, declaring the gospel, or teaching about the results of the gospel. Seeing how all scripture points to Jesus is a wonderfully edifying experience. Attempt to find Him in every passage.
The key to real power and growth is to somehow behold the glory of Jesus in a real encounter with him and his gospel. So it stands to reason that if we want our Bible study to change us—if we really want to feel scripture in the way that ultimately matters most—we have to be looking for Jesus in the Bible’s pages. -- Jared C. Wilson, The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can't Get Their Act Together
A great example of this is the story of David vs. Goliath. Many modern readings of this story highlight how there is no giant too big for us—we can conquer our giants! Some will even add God into the mix—with God's help, we can conquer our giants! These messages are decent, but the truest way to read the story is to see David as representative of Jesus (who is known as the Son of David) and Goliath as our greatest foe, sin. Jesus conquered that which none of us could conquer, and now we are running in his victory.
Listen To Teaching Of The Word
I have been greatly aided over the years by the audio teaching from various pastors and teachers. Modern technology has enabled vast amounts of teaching to be found online, streamed or downloaded to your device. Use that device to find good Bible teaching that will enable you to accelerate your pace of learning.
Most good churches distribute their weekly teachings online. My advice is to find churches or teachers who provide teaching through the whole Bible or (at least) various books of the Bible—listen to them all the way through. This way, you are mostly connected to the word and not to a personality who is teaching topical messages.
For your benefit, here are some Bible teachers I currently find helpful:
- David Guzik, Enduring Word
- Justin Thomas, Calvary The Hill
- Tim Keller, The Gospel In Life
- J.D. Greear, Summit Church
Read Commentaries About The Word
While we're at it, I would also encourage you to accumulate and reference commentaries about the word. Commentaries are study aids written by scholars who have done work to explain the biblical text in various ways. They are not generally meant to be read straight through but as a resource to accompany Bible study and reading. They can help explain the scripture to you but are not as good at applying the scripture to your life.
Here are a few I recommend you acquire:
- The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by John Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck
- Expositor’s Bible Commentary, abridged edition (Old and New Testament) by Kenneth L. Barker
- enduringword.com by David Guzik
Learn Doctrine From The Word
This leads me to say that it is godly for a man to learn God's doctrine from God's word. We should not approach the Bible as a mere devotional tool that gives us the encouragement we need for today. The best devotional and inspirational material is built on the infrastructure of good doctrine. A body without a skeletal structure cannot stand, and inspiring thoughts without a doctrinal warrant cannot stand either.
Unfortunately, people think doctrine is divisive, boring, or unimportant. It is true that the Bible has been used to unnecessarily divide God's people (it has also been used to necessarily divide people as well). It is also true that it can be presented in a lifeless way. And while it is true that God is interested in our acts of love and sacrifice, this doesn't make doctrine unimportant. The Bible commends doctrine as good and important for every Christian. You cannot really consider yourself a Christian without it. Christianity is much more than head-knowledge. But it also doesn't exist without it.
To help you grow in doctrine, here are a few theological reference books that can help you grow in your doctrinal understanding of the word:
- Systematic Theology Podcast, Wayne Grudem
- Systematic Theology by Thiessen
- Baker Encyclopedia Of Apologetics by Norman Geisler
- Knowing God by J.I. Packer
And Prayer: Talk To Him
But now, we must turn our attention to prayer. There can be no true abiding relationship with Christ without it.
Going back to our John passage regarding the vine and branches, Jesus said:
John 15:7 (ESV) — 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Volumes have been written about prayer—and for good reason. It is difficult to move through even a few chapters anywhere in God’s word without coming across the subject of prayer. God is about prayer. From the front to the back of the Bible, God appears as a Father who longs for his children to cry out to him in prayer. He appears as a lover who desires his wife to call out to him in prayer. He appears as a sovereign who calls his people to petition him. Prayer is important to God.
We speak to God through prayer. Our words do not ascend to an empty sky but reach the ear of God, warm the heart of God, and bring about the will of God. -- Tim Challies, Run to Win: The Lifelong Pursuits of a Godly Man, pg. 42, loc. 443
You don't have to be a super-spiritual man to be a man of prayer. You don't have to be a soft-spoken waif to be a man of prayer. You don't have to like Hallmark movies to be a man of prayer. When James wrote about prayer, he used Elijah as his example. He said:
James 5:17–18 (ESV) — 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Elijah had a powerful and remarkable prayer life. But who was he in James's mind? A man with a nature like ours. He was skin and bones just like you and me. But, because he prayed in faith according to God's will, things happened.
So God is looking for men who will cry out to him. He is looking for men who will express their dependence upon him through a life of personal and passionate prayer. Here are some simple ways to urge and encourage your prayer life along.
With Worship
When a man loses his fear, reverence, or wonder for God, he is bound to dry up and either shift into the prodigal son's wildness or the older brother's rigidity. But we don't want to be like the tax collectors and sinners, nor do we want to be like the Pharisees. Instead, we want to have an awe for God that drives us forward. Prayer is one avenue for worship.
Jesus said the first request from the lips of the disciple is almost not a request. Many have moved quickly past it. But it is there: “Hallowed be your name" is the prayer from which all true prayer flows (Matthew 6:9). God is no genie in a bottle, and this first prayer protects the believer from the “genie” mentality.
But what does it mean for God’s name to be hallowed? To hallow is to treat something as sacred or ultimate, as crucial and supreme, to begin with worship. So the believer’s first prayer is for God’s name, His reputation, to be held in the highest regard. We want God’s fame to increase, for His honor to expand.
Worshipping God this way protects our souls. The danger is to become concerned about the hallowing of our own name and reputation. Much prayer, in fact, is often a misguided attempt at getting the name of the person praying to be honored. We want to be proved right, proved successful, or proved good. So when we are able, with honesty, to pray for the hallowing of God’s name, it shows we are inwardly healthy before God.
With Confession Of Sins
When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Part of our prayer life should include honest transparency before the Father. Tell him your faults. Ask for his cleansing and help to overcome. And talk with him about a solution.
The acknowledgment of sins is also a request for protection against future temptation. Jesus also said we should pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13). Jesus knows temptation is a constant threat to the believer. It is a prominent part of the human experience.
So Jesus tells believers to ask the Father to lead them not into temptation. The wording might make us think of the possibility of God leading us into temptation, but we don’t need God’s help with that, for we lead ourselves into temptation just fine all by ourselves. Instead, what we are to ask, is for God to lead our lives. When he does, he will lead us out of temptations that will surely come.
Additionally, times of confession should yield naturally to times of prayerfully planning protections lest you enter into temptation again. So, attached to confession, you might also find yourself committing to accountability with others.
With Conversation
One of my favorite aspects of prayer is simple conversation with God. As a man, husband, father, pastor, and leader, there is much I need God's help in. I find that my mind becomes clearer, my faith becomes brighter, and my resolve becomes stronger after times of prayer. Much of my prayer life includes bringing problems and questions to God with the hopes that he will grant me his perspective and mind on a matter.
I love this aspect of prayer because it takes my care and burden and casts it firmly upon God (Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7). Rather than sit down with a pen and paper to make my plans, I am going to God for his plans. This doesn't mean I never plan, but before I plan, while I'm planning, and after I've planned, I go to God for his affirmation or direction.
Achievement becomes dangerous when it tempts us to replace prayer with planning. -- Paul David Tripp, Lead: 12 Gospel Principles for Leadership in the Church, pg. 48, loc. 643
With Thanksgiving
If your prayer life is dry, spend some time thanking God for his work in your life. My prayer life and attitude before God has been reinvigorated thousands of times by concentrating for a while on things he has done for me. This begins with the gospel and life itself but branches out into thousands of blessings God has given me in life. Sometimes I have to go all the way back to the beginning of my walk with him, but when I do, I am refreshed in thanks for who God is and has been towards me.
Psalm 69:30 (ESV) — 30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
By Making Requests
The Bible says we should let our requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). Jesus also said we should ask God to "give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). Jesus knew, especially due to the incarnation, the needs of humanity. He would quote from Deuteronomy when tempted, “Man shall not live by bread alone” (Matthew 4:4). But he also knew of hunger and need. Though his prayer launches in the spiritual dimension, he fully expects heaven to meet earth, so he tells us to pray for our daily bread.
This simple prayer releases the believer into prayer for the physical and practical provision of God, the daily affairs of life. Our Father is not too important to be bothered with. He is high and exalted but also infinite, omnipresent, and personal, meaning he has every interest but also all ability to help us in our personal and daily experiences. He loves for us to run to him, for he has already run to us.
We might think it foolish to pray for the practical and physical before God. He is spiritual, we say, forgetting that He became flesh and dwelt among us. He cares for the souls of men, we say, forgetting that He came loving, partly by feeding and healing. He only does the critical things, we say, forgetting that even in the important work of atonement, he took steps to secure his mother’s future. Jesus shows us the Father’s heart, and Jesus shows us a God who cares for our daily needs.
In Solitude
So much of life is spent with others, especially in our modern time. When you bring your phone into your prayer time, thousands of people are a moment away. I would encourage you to have moments when you leave your phone behind and head into prayer with God. I have enjoyed going on walks with God for many years now (it is still a practice of mine on most days). Much of my life is spent pouring into others, so it is God's kindness to have time alone with him alone.
In A Journal
Simply jot down as many of His attributes as you can think of, pausing to write or say aloud your praise concerning each one. What about His power is majestic to you today? What impresses you about His foreknowledge today? How does His faithfulness toward us in the sun, moon, stars, and seasons move you today?
With Others
One of the best ways to learn prayer is to pray. And one of the best learning prayer times is with others. If you are married, I encourage you to begin praying with your wife (if you haven't started already). I suggest beginning with a thirty-minute time each week where you can—together—unload your burdens onto God. You are building a life together, and there will be thousands of relationships, issues, and questions that you'll need to bring to God over the years.
Prayer with other brothers in Christ is also a powerful place for prayer. Attaching prayer with brothers to a discussion on your walk with God, complete with open confession, will revolutionize your Christian life. Sometimes it's so simple we think it cannot work—but honest prayer and discussion with brothers in Christ on a regular basis will change you.
In Silence And Out Loud
Pray out loud. Praying out loud helps us remember that this is simply a conversation with God. Additionally, I find that a distracted mind is helped through audible prayer.
Pray silently. There are often times when it is good to remember that we are praying to an invisible God who knows our thoughts. Silent prayers enable us to, perhaps, pray more quickly, earnestly, and spiritually than when our prayers are verbalized.
With Varying Bodily Postures
Speaking of walking, I encourage you to pray with varying bodily postures. Admittedly, walking is my favorite posture since it keeps my mind engaged and alert. If I were to spend some time talking through an issue with a friend, I would prefer to walk and talk.
But it is also good to kneel or bow or raise your hands to God in prayer. The Bible references many bodily postures in prayer and praise—the only one not mentioned is bowing your head, folding your hands, and closing your eyes! There are moments when the casual nature of walking or sitting cannot sufficiently communicate the attitude of our hearts. And sometimes, a stiff heart needs to follow a bowing body—saying, "Yes, I will surrender to God just like my body is bowing in subservience to him right now."
Through A List
I also encourage you to produce a prayer list from time to time. Far from a rigid document that one must pray from, if it is created thoughtfully and prayerfully, it should be a wonderful stimulant into deeper areas of prayer. Additionally, you will be incredibly encouraged when God answers a specific prayer.
Extemporaneously
I also encourage you to become a man who prays extemporaneously. I don't mean that I want you to pray suddenly and loudly in the grocery store aisle, but that when issues and burdens come up you pray about them on the spot. Ask your kids and wife if you can pray for them. When friends share difficulties with you, pray for them. If you are looking, there will be thousands of opportunities for prayer.
Conclusion
The Father Looks For Fruit
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Make no mistake, men, God is looking for a deep and abiding relationship with you. An intimate relationship with God is not reserved for the women in our families and churches. The bravest and greatest men in human history demonstrated a deep connection with God the Father.
Our ultimate example of this is found in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). He did nothing outside of his connection to his heavenly Father. He was always about his Father’s business. And Jesus prayed for us to experience unity with himself in a way similar to his experience with the Father (John 17:20–23).
He describes our relationship with him as an abiding relationship. Just as the branches continue in the vine and receive all of their life and nutrients from the vine, so Jesus longs to provide us with the life we need as we continue in relationship with Him. He longs to pour his life out into yours. He longs to make you more like him. He longs to strengthen you, enable you, and make you fruitful in this life.
This fruitfulness is only found through a strong relationship with him. Go on this journey with him. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8)! Enjoy Him. Partake of him. The dividends are endless.