Another Tozer devotional...
http://lmi.gospelcom.net/tozer.php3?date=04-09-06
Prayer: Men Who Do Not Pray
Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. --Acts 6:3
Let us watch that we do not slide imperceptibly to a state where the women do the praying and the men run the churches. Men who do not pray have no right to direct church affairs. We believe in the leadership of men within the spiritual community of the saints, but that leadership should be won by spiritual worth.
Leadership requires vision, and whence will vision come except from hours spent in the presence of God in humble and fervent prayer? All things else being equal, a praying woman will know the will of God for the church far better than a prayerless man.
We do not here advocate the turning of the churches over to the women, but we do advocate a recognition of proper spiritual qualifications for leadership among the men if they are to continue to decide the direction the churches shall take. The accident of being a man is not enough. Spiritual manhood alone qualifies. We Travel an Appointed Way, 16.
"Lord, don't ever let me have leadership that I don't deserve. Don't ever let me become careless in prayer. Don't ever let me rely on the women to pray while I lead. Amen."
3 comments:
Jesus said "My Fathers house shall be called a house of prayer". It is never more needed than men praying fervently in all churches. The church needs men that will go to battle and fight on their knees. Men need to set the example at the altar before during and after services. These dangerous men are vital to our church survival. Bless you brother!
Donny,
You are absolutely right. In so many churches and families, the Moms are the pray-ers. (Thank God they have picked up the ball that the men have dropped).
Check the prayer team’s rosters. I bet that 90% of the people are women in most churches.
Do us men have something more important to do than be at the frontlines of spiritual battles going on? I can just hear the thoughts. "Leave the praying to the ladies, I will do something that gets results..." or something even worse, the men are so disillusioned that they think that the ladies are more 'spiritual', or 'in tune with God', 'God hears their prayers more than mine'.
I have sometimes fallen into the latter group.
The devil defeats you by making you think that you are all alone when you can call for backup anytime. The help is right there for the asking.
What a sinister move!
You're right! It is a sinister move of the enemy. What I've found at my church is that it only takes a small group of men praying together before service and outside of church to get men's groups started. My praying men that I am a part of hooked up through the Wild at Heart study and formed a band of brothers. There's something contagious about it because we have seen it replicate. We need to pray for an uprising of men to take the spiritual reigns and spur the horse on!
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