When I was 12 to 16 years old we lived on a farm out of Myrtle Creek, Oregon. We were the second to last house on our road before everything was BLM forest land. We were 13 miles out of town and the nearest neighbors were a mile in either direction. The family that was the last house on the road had seven kids about the same ages as us five kids in our family. The dad’s name was Hank and he owned and ran the feed store in town. Because he was the last house on our road he would deliver animal feed and supplies to people all along the road on his trip home in the evening. He often delivered supplies to us, and when he did my Dad would always invite Hank in. He wore rubber boots because he was often in barns as he made his deliveries, and he would take them off on the porch before he came into the house. Feet that are in rubber boots sweat a lot, Hank’s feet sweat a lot, and his feet had a very strong aroma. He would not sit on the furniture, but always sat cross-legged on the living room floor. Mom would bring him a cup of coffee and he would stay and visit. He often told stories and he was the best storyteller of anybody I have ever known. We would all sit around him enthralled by his stories, most of which were about hunting or fishing. It is kind of funny, but the smell of Hank’s feet became one of my favorite smells, and even after all these years the smell of someone’s sweaty feet will bring back many good memories of Hank. Hank was my hero, I wanted to be just like him, I would imitate his walk, and his laugh. More than anything I wanted to be able to hunt like he hunted. It seemed like he knew all the deer in the woods by their first name.

One of the Biblical principles in the Bible is that we all need good examples, models of how a Christian ought to live.

Philippians 3:17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

I often hear well-meaning Christians say that we ought not to have any models in our lives except Jesus, but it is impossible to use Jesus as a model because we can’t see Him or hear Him. We can follow His teaching, but we need real flesh and blood people to have as examples to follow.

All around us are people who are ahead of us in character growth. We need to imitate their way of treating people, talking, and dealing with trials. People often are strong in certain areas so we can follow their example in those areas. My wife is the most gracious and gentle person I know so I often ask myself, “what would Patty do or say in this situation?” I have a long list of friends and acquaintances who I admire greatly for certain character traits and I ask the same question about them. Wise people pick good people to model their lives after.

One of the scariest, but also one of the most motivating verses in the Bible for me over the years is Peter’s admonition to Pastors in 1 Peter chapter 5 to be an example to the people in their church on how to live the Christian life, though my strongest motivation in my life was to be a good example for my kids on how to live righteous lives for Jesus, and now for my grandkids.

In Matthew chapters 5 through 7, Jesus is teaching what is often called the “Sermon on the Mount.” He begins the sermon with what is called the “Beatitudes,” nine qualities that God blesses. The third is “blessed are the meek.” A better word for meek would be the word gentle. Gentleness is a character trait that is valued and highlighted in the Bible in many different places and many different ways, the most impactful probably being in Matthew 11:28-30 when Jesus invites us to serve with Him, ”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
During the time of Jesus, farmers would train a young ox to pull a plow or wagon by yoking them up with an older experienced ox. The older one would do most of the work, but the younger one soon learned how to pull and work by walking with and working with the older and more experienced ox.
”Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Wow, that is such an attractive invitation. Almost everyone is ”weary and heavy-laden,” and the promise is that Jesus will give rest to those who come to Him. The invitation to ”come to Jesus” is an invitation to be yoked up with Him, to walk with Him, to work with Him, and to learn from Him; then, we will find rest for our souls. What do we learn when we spend time with Jesus? We learn to be gentle. Not many people make ”learning to be more gentle” a personal goal, especially not many men. Still, acquiring gentleness appears to result in a life free of weariness.
There are many counter-intuitive principles in the Bible that God declares to be normal when He said, ”My ways are not your ways, nor is your wisdom My wisdom.”
The more we grow in the character trait of gentleness, the more restful our souls will be. ”Rest for our souls,” what exactly does that mean? I like to take ”rests” periodically during the day, and the harder I work, the more frequent the rests are. The purpose of a rest is to get re-energized. Jesus said, ”I will give you rest”, or another way of saying it, ” I will give you energy, strength, passion, vision, drive.” When?
Gentleness is a relational character trait; you do gentleness with people. Gentleness is being quick to forgive, not answering rudeness with rudeness, not paying back hurt for hurt, and working at making people feel unique, appreciated, and valued.
So, the simple, counter-intuitive principle is this; ”When we choose to be gentle with another person, God who sees and hears everything rewards us with strength, but if we act grumpy, irritable, return rudeness for rudeness, and are insensitive to those around us we become weary.”

I enjoy very much the NCAA basketball championships called “March Madness.” Many basketball enthusiasts fill out their “bracket,” that is, their predictions for every game played in the tournament. I have never done very well on my card and forgot to fill one out this year. There are 68 teams at the start of the tournament, and on April 8th, the two teams that have survived that rigorous tournament will play for the National Championship. The teams that play in the championship game will have played in 6 games, all against the best teams in the nation. It isn’t just a physical marathon for those final two teams. It is an incredible display of managing pressure. These games are all on national television, and there are possible multi-million dollar contracts with NBA teams in the balance.

When the tournament ends, all the experts will try to figure out why specific teams won and others lost. There are always several significant upsets in the tournament. Why did certain players do well while others flopped? There is already all kinds of discussion on why third-seeded mega basketball powerhouse Kentucky lost to 14th-seeded, no-name, dinky college Oakland, who won an NCAA tournament game for the first time in the school’s history.

I wonder that all the time when I see certain people grow like weeds in their Christian walk, others in the same environment plateau and backslide. What is the difference, and what factors made the difference? The apostle Paul used athletics often in his epistles, describing our life as Christians and our service to Jesus as His disciples.

2 Timothy 2:5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Some key principles gleaned from the above verses on growing rapidly as a Christian and being hot, not lukewarm is;

discipline is essential as is self-control.
The desire to win makes a huge difference.
Endurance is the key factor in finishing well.
Those who have goals do exceptionally well.
There are many non-essentials we need to get rid of if we are going to run fast.
There are many other verses and principles; see if you can find them, and then live them.

Psalms 67:1-2 God be gracious to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us—
That Your way may be known on the earth,
Your salvation among all nations.
Psalms 67:7 God blesses us,
That all the ends of the earth may know Him.

What does it mean to be blessed by God? It primarily means to be filled with His joy in spite of circumstances. The more we pray the more God blesses us with joy. God blesses us with joy so that we will attract other people to Him. God blesses us with joy so all the ends of the earth may know Him, so that Your salvation will be spread to all the nations.

That purpose seems more than strong enough to motivate people to come and pray at our “Five Days of Prayer.” Seems like it.

I love corporate prayer times at our church. There is such a powerful sense of God’s presence and pleasure in them. We started getting serious about prayer in 1989. Since then, we have had many ten-day prayer events, multi-day prayer retreats, all-night prayer events, fasting and praying, many prayer walking trips in other countries and our own neighborhoods, and our present five days of prayer. In them all, we have emphasized unity and agreement based on Jesus’s words in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Corporate prayer is God’s will for a church; the more there is, the more blessings we receive from Him. God’s blessings mean more people coming to Jesus, more lives healed from sin, more marriages being put back together, and more glory for God.

In all of this praying in the last 35 years, the big problem and disappointment for me has been my poor hearing; I only hear about half the prayers, even with my hearing aids. I have nagged at people to pray loud; I have yelled, cried, and begged on bent knees, but nothing has worked; they still pray soft with their heads bowed. It is enough to make a grown man cry.

Hallelujah!! One of our smart tech people put table microphones on all the tables for this five-day prayer event, and they have wireless headsets with independent volume control. With one of those headsets on, I can hear every single prayer, even those from the quietest person. I feel like I have been born again, corporate prayer is so much more enjoyable now that I can hear and agree with each person praying.

JBC’s “Five Days of Prayer” started yesterday. We pray from 5:00 to 10:00 am and 5:00 to 10:00 pm Monday through Friday. We pray that many people get saved this next year through the people and ministries we have as a church. The more people who pray, the more God works; I believe that with all my heart. “Much prayer = much blessing, little prayer = little blessing, no prayer = no blessings.” That saying has been one of the central foundation stones in our church since 1990.

Every believer will stand before Jesus at the end of their life and give an account of their life and be rewarded for what they have done with their life for the Lord, especially what they have done to reach lost people and to edify the church, the Bride and Body of Christ. I believe that one of the most rewardable activities we can be involved in is prayer, especially prayer with others.

The corporate prayer life of a church drives it, energizes it, and brings God’s blessing to it.

In the last blog, I said I used seven questions to help me prioritize my various activities. Time management is mostly about doing the most important things most of the time. I gave the first three questions in the last blog, and here are the last four.

4. Will this activity contribute to accomplishing one of my goals. I wrote my 75 goals for 2024 to express my highest priorities and what I believed was God’s will for my life, so I need to devote much time to accomplish them. One of the significant benefits of goal setting is that our goals help us prioritize how we use our time and spend our money.
5. Will this activity enhance my relationship with Patty, family, or friends?
6. Will this activity make me wiser?
   Proverbs 2:2-4
   Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
   Incline your heart to understanding;
   For if you cry for discernment,
   Lift your voice for understanding;
   If you seek her as silver
   And search for her as for hidden treasures;
7. Will this activity fill my emotional gas tank and contribute to my overall health and stamina in running the race of life?

Ephesians 5:16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

How do you make the most of your time?
Most people never think about how they are doing, making the most of their time. As I get older, I think about that more and more. Here are seven questions I ask myself regarding my use of time.

1. Will this activity show up at the “ Judgment Seat of Christ” as an eternal reward for me? Eternal rewards are significant and they are eternal. The joy that we will have in eternity is different between every person. Those who have received many rewards from Jesus for a life well lived will have greater joy. Do what is important in this life, and it will last forever.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

2. Is this activity causing my character to grow? What we are in character when we step into glory is who and what we are for eternity. A fundamental purpose of life is to grow our character to be like that of Jesus. The more like Jesus we are, the more He will enjoy us, and the more we will enjoy Him.

Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

3. Will this activity make an eternal difference in other people in their character or the rewards they will experience from Jesus? We all are mostly a result of other people’s influence in our lives. I want to be a great influencer in the lives of others

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.

The most significant barrier to prioritizing our time well is naive thinking, thinking about today, tomorrow, and even next year, but not eternity. Most people tend to make choices based on the present benefits, rewards, and pleasures, which seldom have eternal rewards.

More tomorrow

When we think of prayer, we should all acknowledge that most of our praying is for others, and it should be. We all have more influence with God on behalf of others than we do for ourselves. God made it that way so that we are interdependent; we need each other.

But when we spend time praying with others, praying for common goals, needs, and people, many significant things happen in our lives.

We grow in our faith. Our belief that God answers prayers and that the time we spend praying makes a considerable difference in the lives of those we intercede for grows stronger and stronger. Jesus said on numerous occasions that our level of faith determines how much God will work in us and through us. If we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains, and nothing will be impossible for us. Praying does for our faith what lifting weights does for our physical muscles.

The level of influence the devil and his demons have in our lives is reduced significantly when we spend time praying with others. They gain influence in our lives through the various sins we commit, such as anger, bitterness, worldliness, and lying. Obviously, the more power they gain in our lives, the more we will sin, and the more power they gain, the terrible downward spiral many are in. Corporate prayer breaks that cycle and cleans us up spiritually.

God speaks to us, and we hear Him in our thoughts. The devil and his demons talk to us as well. Most Christians can’t tell the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the devil, which is obviously a significant problem if you are trying to follow God’s prompting in your life. The devil and his demons masquerade as God, trying to fool us. During times of corporate prayer, the devil and his demons are silenced, and all you will hear in your thoughts is God’s voice prompting you on what to pray for. You will learn how to discern God’s prompting in your mind.

There are many people whom we all know that are spiritually lost. If they die or the Lord Jesus comes back tomorrow, they won’t be going to heaven. The reason is that they don’t believe the gospel and have not trusted in Jesus Christ as their savior. The devil and his demons have blinded their eyes.

2 Corinthians 4:4: the god of this world (satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The most important thing we can do is pray for them repeatedly that God will supernaturally work in their heart.

Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

Acts 16:14 a woman named Lydia. . . was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

This next week is Jefferson Baptist’s five days of prayer. We will pray daily from 5:00 to 10:00 am and pm. We will have dinner at 6:00 pm each evening, along with the praying. We will be praying for our Easter services and the names that hundreds of people have written on prayer cards to be prayed for so that when they invite them to one of the Easter services, they will respond and come.

The Easter services will be a fantastic concert with the gospel being presented, with a great sense of God’s presence because of all the prayer offered during the “five days.”

Our most important responsibility on earth in our lifetime is influencing as many people as possible to trust Christ as their savior. God gave us that responsibility, and with it, He gave us the power of prayer, and the most powerful form of prayer is the agreeing prayer of a unified and loving church family.