Real Men Pray

"I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling"

Paul’s addresses men in this verse. He desires that the men pray in every place. This may seem a bit embarrassing to men. Let’s face it in today’s culture Christianity is dominated by females and has a very feminine exterior. As Mark Driscoll puts it the church has produced "a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickified church boys. … Sixty percent of Christians are chicks," he explains, "and the forty percent that are dudes are still sort of chicks." So men have a tendency to not want to identify themselves with Christianity that is so overtly feminine. That is why it is so important for men who are not “chickified church boys” to step up and lead the way for their families and churches. One of the places to begin is making sure that men are praying in every place. There are two reasons for this.

First, too often we separate our life on Sunday from our life the rest of the week. We may “pray, lifting holy hands” at church but are we doing it in the other places that Paul mentions? Do you have a disconnect between your “church life” and the rest of your life? If so, repent and give Jesus your whole life, not just Sunday from 10:30-12:00. Praying in every place means just what it says. Wherever you go, pray. If you’re out to eat, pray. If you’re at a ball game, pray. If you’re at work, pray. If you’re gathered with friends, pray. Praying in “every place” ties in with the second point I have.

People everywhere need to see real men, not feminine men, worshiping Jesus. We are to pray in every place as a testament to what Jesus has done for us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should pray as a show so that other would see us and praise us. I’m saying that real men realize that “to the King of ages…be honor and glory forever and ever” and we give thanks to him in prayer everywhere we go because that is the desire of a renewed heart. As a result, our lives will be preaching a gospel to those around us who need to see that Christianity is not led by “chickified church boys” buy strong, tough, dedicated, loyal, manly men.