I find it oddly interesting that there are very few men involved in intercession, spiritual warfare , and prayer meetings. Why is that?
I am so tired of coming together for prayer to see majority of the people are women; where are the men?
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely appreciate all the prayers of all the women I gather with... I just wish more men would get off their arse and show up to pray too.
I read in the Word that spiritual warfare...is WARFARE...a call to arms and a call to muster in FORCE and yet, what would seemingly be a male, masculine, endeavour is populated by women... WHAT THE HECK!
The Bible is full of prayerful men, as prophets, intercessors, healers, etc and yet look around the church and most of the prayer and spiritual warfare is done by women, what a contrast!
PRAISE GOD for the women who are protecting, defending, and even advancing the Church...where are all the men?
How is prayer viewed by the average man? Is it more about men are generally lazy; too busy; don't see the value?
With all the color, drama, and imagery of prayer being a battle, to fight, and such, I have always wondered why the prayer pews, benches, knee boards, prayer closets, and meeting space is filled with so many women: grandma's, wives, young women....huh?
Do YOU have any suggestions as to how to get more men down on their knees in battle?
Do YOU have any other thoughts?
12 comments:
I definitely agree with you Keiger...I think you make a good point that prayer should be viewed as masculine, but for whatever reason, being a spiritual and prayerful man is often not viewed that way in our society. Men are supposed to be the spiritual leaders...maybe we need to have a men's retreat at our church...you should organize it!
ironically, i frequently wished i had been born a man growing up. i loved all the chivalry of robin hood, the 3 musketeers, etc, and longed to be the daring swashbuckling hero. I never *ever* desired to be the quiet damsel off to the sidelines doing needlepoint and hoping their man would be alive by days end. ah, give me a 2-handed broadsword and set me against the enemy! that's *totally* how i view spiritual warfare!
I am in TOTAL agreement Keiger! It is a mystery I have pondered for a few years now! A couple of years ago God impressed on me to write an email to every male friend I knew encouraging and challenging them to rise up and kneel down. Perhaps the time is coming, as men such as yourself are rising and kneeling! Go forth and inspire!
"Men like doing stuffs more than 'speaking'?"
En....en...oh, being sensitive to the other(or others') situation and expressing the truth with Power are more like a women's gift! (sorry for the jumping logic and generalization...)
Thus, if women are more gifted at prayer is true (generally), men who keep praying should be the best, since they conquere the weakness of the nature and will bring out more fruits and Power.
as we know, Jordan and Keiger are definately the best...(sorry Jordan and Keiger, I didn't mean to put you guys in the front, for "the first is the last.")
Is it just me, or are all of the comments from women?? :-)
On behalf of my husband, who does not have the gift of typing...
Ike says..."I myself and some other men have been in a prayer group for several years now...we meet once a week. Keiger has a good point, there needs to be more men involved with prayer groups, I think it may have a lot to do with location and work shedules. Men get off work and think they are too tired for another 'meeting'. Even as a teacher when I held meetings for parents it was usually the mothers that would show up and volunteer. It was tough even getting the Dads to help out in a secular arena. It does help when the women encourage their male friends to get involved in prayer and intercession. One of the main reasons I think my men's prayer group has stayed alive so many years is because we generally do not have women attend, though we have invited women and not excluded them, the fellowship and prayer time is different when it is just the guys. Men do not always feel comfortable talking about certain things in front of women, or weeping or crying in front of women. As a man it is a little difficult to be vulnerable in front of women, even though they are our sisters in Christ."
Ike
I must whole-heartedly concur with Keiger on this one. Unfortunately, intercessory prayer is not something that is often done by men of this society (and perhaps elsewhere, I am not certain). I am not really sure as to why this may be the case. I can speak from my experience that the vulnerabilities that come with prayer often become associated with weakness. My pride tends to convince me that such a thing cannot be publicly expressed. I am not fully certain, but I do agree with Marissa that a men's retreat would be very beneficial ...
very interesting observation...
i personally am not much into battles. i'm sort of like callie, except the opposite (and i don't think i ever actually wanted to be a woman). anyway, as for myself, battles/fighting/weapons seem like pointless things to be avoided if at all possible. spiritual battles on the other hand would actually be worth fighting, but then i don't usually think of kingdom work quite like this. i could get sidetracked on this, but i have another point... which is that (at least nightlife) tends to draw fewer males then females. and the males it does draw are often weirdos like me. not sure why this is, but i think most would agree it's true, or at least it has been in the past.
is this just a reflection of the fact that christians tend to view themselves as not of the world, set apart, and counter-cultural? thus, men are more likely to be meeker, while women are less likely to play the submissive role?
fascinating! Father, bless the men who have responded. That in itself, regardless of the response, is a strength. Thank You Lord for these men and how You have created them and worked in their hearts and lives. Continue to do so!
it is true that God's strength shines more in our weakness. i can totally understand this being a difficult point for male pride, though i'm sure i'm not the only female who struggles with that either. since pride keeps us from all the good stuff God has in store i encourage us all to keep wrestling with the pride that would hold us captive and submit ourselves to His leading!
(and i'm really not all that into fighting for the sake of fighting, modern weapons, or modern warfare as of the time of gunpowder. hollywood fiction tends to glamorize the swashbuckling hero, camelot knights, and such. it resonated with something inside, more like a sense of fighting injustice than fighting people. just to clear that up so y'all don't run and hide thinking i'm carrying around weapons... :))
and women, i would encourage us to build up the men and encourage them to get more involved in a loving, non-judgmental way as was suggested. even if it means not barreling through and taking the lead, and instead stepping back and letting the men take the lead even if it looks different than we might have envisioned it. supporting their decisions even if we think it should be a different decision. supporting them when they show vulnerability and not using that against them with humor or sarcasm. the Church will never be as strong as it can be until we are all laboring together on our knees at the foot of the Throne. it has never been our job to drag the men along. what if we sought to build up our male friends and husbands as much as we seek to build up each other? it will look different, yes. but this, i am certain, will be pleasing to our Lord!
love to you all,
Callie, those words really cut through to my heart, cause my first response to your call for we women to let our men take the lead was "Oh crap!" That is a tender spot for me,but yes, you are right here, and I will knock my stubborn pride chip off my shoulder and do it since that is what God requires. Darn it though, it is tough to hold on to selfish vices when you guys call me out on stuff! Guess that is why I need you all in this Body of Christ, so we can support each other in growing to become more of what God wants for us. This is a tough one but I'll give this one up to God too (just don't ask me submit yet...).
Here is an interesting experiment to try:
Without much thought or processing, write down the name of 4 people who you would turn to for prayer: effective, committed people of prayer.
write them down....
Now, take a look at who you selected off the top of you head...
I bet most if not all of them are women....
Why is that?
HMMMMMMM!
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