Pray for the Man Next to You

Sunday morning I sat in the men's class at church with a cup of black coffee and a Bible open on my knee.

The lesson that morning turned toward prayer.

Not prayer in general. Prayer for each other.

The man teaching said it had been on his heart that the men in that room needed to start praying for one another. He said there are needs sitting in every church that only God can meet. Then he looked around the room and included himself in that.

I have been in a lot of rooms with men. Barracks. Boats. Search lines in the woods. Job sites.

Men will carry a lot before they ask for help. We carry it in the truck. We carry it to work. We carry it to church and set it on the pew next to us and nobody knows it is there.

That is why the lesson landed.

Four kinds of prayer, in order

The class walked through the kinds of prayer the way you would walk a new man through a checklist.

First, worship. Start with who God is before you get to what you need.

Second, confession. Get honest about your own mess before you ask for anything.

Third, thanksgiving. Say thank you for what you already have. With Thanksgiving coming, that one sat right.

Fourth, supplication and intercession. Asking for your own needs, and then lifting up the people around you. Your family. Your friends. The man sitting two chairs down.

That last one is where the teacher slowed down.

Why pray for each other

He asked the room why we would bother.

The answers came back simple. It strengthens us. It builds fellowship. It brings unity.

Then he said something I have been chewing on since. Your life influences everybody around you. Your neighbors. Your coworkers. The people who watch how you handle a hard week.

I believe that. I have seen it on the water and in the woods. When one man on a search line stays calm, the line stays calm. When one man in a room admits he is struggling, two more find the nerve to say it too.

Prayer works the same way. Somebody has to go first.

What I am doing with it this week

I left that class with a short list in my head. Not a long one. Just a few men I know are carrying something.

I am praying for them by name. Then I am going to do the harder part. I am going to tell them.

Not a speech. A text. A phone call. "I prayed for you this morning. Anything you need?"

That is it.

It costs nothing. It takes a minute. And in my experience, it is the kind of thing a man remembers for years.

Something you can do today

If you are a man in East Texas reading this, here is the ask.

Pick one man. A neighbor, a coworker, an old friend from church you have not talked to in a while.

Pray for him today. Then let him know you did.

If your church has a men's class or a Bible study, go. Sit down. Listen. Most of them meet early and keep the coffee hot. You do not have to say a word the first week.

And if you are the one carrying something heavy right now, tell one person. Let somebody pray for you. That is not weakness. That is how the body of Christ was built to work.

East Texas is full of good men quietly holding the line for their families.

Let us hold it together.