Let me stop here and challenge our Christian dads: your daughters, your sons, they have friends. And I will dare to say that with the state of the American family today, most of the kids that your kids bring into your home do not have the type of parental figures that point them to the loving truth of Jesus Christ. I challenge you right now, as you're reading these words, to be the salt and light of the world, to be a father-figure to those lost children, so that they have someone to look to and to say, "Maybe that's the kind of father that God is." Moms, this applies to you too, but to a lesser degree. All kinds of studies back up what the Bible makes common sense: when a man points a child to Christ, they are exponentially more likely to give their lives to Christ. So moms, are your husbands the kind of man who you trust to lead your children and the children of your friends to the Lord? And girls, are your boyfriends the kind of man who will lead your family and your friends to the Lord?Our father-figures are so crucial to helping people see the love of Christ. If Christians make the best fathers, it's going to attract people to the faith. For example, I have a friend who comes from a terrible home life. Her parents are domineering, rude, unloving . . . they're terrible parents. Hanging around my family made her open her mind to the idea of Christ being a good thing. She said to me, "Why are your parents so much kinder than mine?" I told her the truth: my parents are good parents because they follow Christ. Christ taught them how to love their children.
So when you're praying to this God guy, it goes from being an irrelevant, one-out-of-seven billion nothing-to-see-here human being shouting into the void at this tyrant all-powerful God to help him out to a one-on-one loving relationship where conversation is easy and relaxed and you're simply talking with God like you would talk to your dad. Except he's like the coolest dad ever and has saved you from eternal death.
I love the way our campus pastor, David Nasser, described intimacy in prayer. He said intimacy means into me, see. You're asking God and allowing God too look into your inmost being, you're allowing him to see the worst of you and you're asking him to move stuff around. You're making yourself vulnerable and trusting God to be good as He always has been and you're handing over control to this God. And who better to hand over your life to than the One who saved it?
So this is a two-part post. This is a call to action for our men (and our women) to have their households, their parenting style, and their lives reflect Christ. Remember that every single thing you do is being watched by little eyes (and grown-up eyes too!) who are looking for what makes you different. But this is also a reminder to us that our prayers are not our duty to God. We should never come into prayer with the attitude of, "Oh yeah, I have to pray today . . . great. I have so much I need to get done so I'll just do what I have to do and get on with my day." Prayer is so so sweet, you guys. You have direct access to the ear of the Almighty, the One who loves you more than anyone on this planet. Enjoy prayer. Open yourselves to Him and just rest in His loving comfort and his presence. Make time to rest, friends.
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Matthew 6:5-8 NIV
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