Three months of training.
Eight thousand feet of vertical elevation.
Forty-four miles.
Five and a half continuous hours on the bike.
When my friend Paul told me about a race sponsored by the Warrior’s Society out here in California, my ears perked up. I’m no superjock, but I love physically challenging stuff. Still, the prospect of participating in this annual mountain bike powwow in the nearby Santa Ana Mountains sounded daunting. I knew I wasn’t in top shape, and my mountain bike skills were novice at best. Meanwhile, Paul was a stud marine F-18 pilot who ignored physical pain like I ignored the weeds filling my flower beds in the backyard. When he shared this mountain bike challenge with me, my first thought was, This might be for you, but not for me.
Paul assured me that he would help me prepare for the challenging powwow. With his encouragement ringing in my ears, I reluctantly signed up. For the next three months, we rode together twice a week, steadily increasing the length of our training sessions until I was up to the full ride one week before the race. In addition, we met two mornings a week in the gym to ride stationary bikes and lift weights. I pointed all my efforts toward finishing the ride without keeling over at the finish line.
On the day of the powwow, I started well. I arrived at the first qualifying station at the two-hour mark, which was a good sign. Riders who did not arrive there within two and a half hours were not allowed to continue, because they would not have enough daylight to finish the race.
The difference between desire and “done” is the power to do it.
I kept pedaling and pedaling, and five and a half hours later I crossed the finish line, crying for my mama. I finished a respectable sixty-first, which was in the middle of the pack. But more important, I learned a huge lesson. All I had to do was get on the bike, strengthen my legs, and let them carry me to the end.
Mountain biking is all about power and performance, and if you’ve got no power, you’ve got no performance. Seems simple, but it’s a bummer when you call upon your legs to push and nothing’s there. Around our homes, work, and school, we also require various sorts of power to make things happen. Things such as you:
• flick the switch, and the light comes on
• turn the ignition, and your engine starts up
• need to sprint, and your legs respond
• press a pad on top of your cell phone, and the phone comes alive
• use a cordless drill to drive a screw into a post
• feel the power of a jet plane lifting off the runway and carrying you into the sky
• watch your school’s football team run a student-body-right running play, which opens the field for a big gain
• speak into the microphone, and your voice is amplified
• summon all your strength to bench-press a heavy set of weights to full-arm extension
Aaaaaah! Isn’t it great when things work right and you achieve what you set out to accomplish? In all these instances, the difference between desire and “done” is the power to do it.
Batteries and biceps.
Engines and electrical boxes.
Hoover Dam and combustion power plants.
Fuel cells and solar cells.
Power is a good thing, and prayer is the outlet that God has chosen to connect you to His vast reservoir of power.
When Larry Page met Sergey Brin in 1996, they loved to argue about the best way to retrieve information from this growing phenomenon called the World Wide Web. The pair were graduate students in computer science at Stanford University, and despite their differences of opinion, they began working together toward a common goal: developing a Web site that would link users to certain specific information available on the Internet. They developed this newfangled thing called a search engine and named it Google. Although this start-up didn’t attract much attention in the burgeoning dotcom world, the two partners managed to land a million dollars in seed money.
The name Google was a play on the mathematical term googol, which refers to the numeral one followed by a hundred zeros. Page and Brin said Google reflected their goal of organizing the nearly infinite amount of data on the Internet and bringing the power of the information to as many people as possible. Today Google is the world’s largest search engine, sporting a four-billion page index of information that allows hundreds of millions of people a month to find information on just about anything. Larry Page and Sergey Brin harnessed the amazing power of the Internet, which has made them very wealthy men.
There is a living spiritual engine within you that can search the mind of God.
Google and other search engines have had dramatic impacts in ordinary people’s lives. Consider these stories that I came across:
After thirty-four years of not knowing who my father was, I typed his name into Google.com and found a link that I thought might help me. I sent an e-mail to the link’s Web site, who then forwarded the information. Two days later I received a lengthy e-mail from the man who I thought was my father. It was indeed him. He had also been looking for me for years but to no avail. I just wanted to say thank you, as now I have the opportunity to meet my father, introduce him to his new grandson, and meet my two half brothers and half sister.
Our miniature dachshund got a treat stuck in his throat, was choking, and couldn’t breathe. My husband told me to do a Google search on “choking dog.” The first selection was “How to Do a Heimlich Maneuver on a Dog.” I clicked on the site and read it quickly to my husband. He performed the maneuver, and the treat shot across the room. Thanks to Google, our dog was saved.
Google helped me discover that my daughter’s strange medical problems were part of a rare genetic syndrome that most of her doctors had never heard of. My discovery helped her cardiologist diagnose another patient with the same syndrome.
The numbers of Web pages, searches, hits, and stories like these are so titanic we cannot fathom how many lives are affected every day by Google. Yet all of that astonishing power cannot come close to the storehouse of personal spiritual power available to you as God’s young servant, which is made possible through the power of prayer. Start your search here:
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (Ephesians 3:20, MSG)
Most young men don’t get it that God’s tool bar is loaded right onto the home page of their lives. There is a living spiritual engine within you that can search the mind of God for:
• hope and direction for your future (see Jeremiah 29:11)
• answers to your most perplexing questions (see Jeremiah 33:3)
• relief from pressure (see Matthew 11:28-30)
• peace to replace your anxiety (see Philippians 4:6-7)
• freedom from guilt (see Psalm 32:1-5)
• rescue from a troubling situation (see Psalm 40:1-2)
• new spiritual energy after blowing it (see Psalm 51:10-12)
• the Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:9-13)
• a new heart to live for Him (see Psalm 86:11)
• His kingdom, will, forgiveness, and power over temptation (see Matthew 6:8-13)
Just as the power of the Internet was waiting to be harnessed by the Google inventors, God is waiting for you to access His awesome strength. Everything is just a prayer away. If you’re clueless to the personal benefits of prayer, or in too much of a hurry to slow down and get into the practice of prayer, here’s what you need to know: your network card was installed in you at salvation, and talking to God is done wirelessly. So what are you waiting for?
This is GOD’S Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as GOD: “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3, MSG)
Josh’s alarm went off at 6:45. He got out of bed, scratched himself, and then hit the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, eyes wide open and dressed, he scampered downstairs to eat a bowl of Cheerios before Barry would pick him up. They had plans to meet Luke down at the coffeehouse to go over the review questions for their comparative government final. As he put his breakfast bowl in the dishwasher, Josh whispered, “Lord, please help me today with this final exam.”
The review with the guys was tedious. So many things to go over, and they had only an hour before their final at Campbell Hall. As Josh quizzed Barry on the differences between socialism and communism, he remembered that his parents were arriving at three o’clock to drive him back home for winter break. He wasn’t packed or anything. When this thought came to mind, he asked God for mercy.
It took a crisis situation before it even dawned on him to talk to God in prayer.
The final was brutal. He noticed several people finishing early, which made him nervous because he was only halfway through his third essay question, and the clock was ticking. He needed an A, or at least a high B, to keep his dream of law school alive. Oh, God, I need this grade, he prayed in his head. I know I didn’t prepare as well as I should have, but can You help me on this?
When the test was over, he headed back home to check his e-mail and call his mom’s cell phone, but she beat him to the punch. She said they would pull in around 4:30, later than planned, and they had to get back on the road because Aunt Eleanor was flying in and would arrive at 9:00 p.m. “Mom, we’ll make it,” he said. “Listen, I gotta get some Christmas presents from the student bookstore. See you when you get here.” Holy cow. He closed his eyes. Lord Jesus, help me.
His cell rang. “Hi! How’d your test go?” Cindy was on the line.
“Good.” Short answers were best with Cindy. He knew that the last thing he needed was a relationship with her right now—she wasn’t that attractive—but then again he shouldn’t have kissed her good night a few evenings ago. Or let his hands roam. Now she was calling him twice a day, clinging. Brother!
“I have a little present for you before you go home for Christmas. Can I meet you at your apartment before you go?” The apartment was where he let the fingers do the walking last time. You idiot. Sorry about that, Lord. I knew I was crossing the line with her.
“Sure. Can you come around four o’clock? My parents are picking me up a little later, so I only have fifteen minutes, okay?”
“I’ll seeeee ya then.”
“Uh, bye.”
Josh reviewed how his day was going so far. Let’s see. First the test—no better than a B-minus or C for sure. Then my parents—I’ll have to fake like I’m doing good in school. I’ll have to work to pay for those Christmas presents—and that Cindy—oh, mama. Not good. What next? How did I get here? He pocketed his cell phone, took a huge breath, and cupped his face in his hands. Lord, what do I do?
Josh’s scenario is typical of most young men when it comes to prayer: it took a crisis situation before it even dawned on him to talk to God in prayer. Let’s put it this way: Josh was certainly mindful of God when he needed something or when he was in a setting that called for prayer, like during chapel or when his Bible study was finishing up. He realizes that his dialogue with God is shallow and selfish most of the time (like today), but he can’t seem to work in more conversations with God.
Prayer, for you, is a secret power, an adventure in trusting the living God.
Do you ever wonder what the Creator thinks when He views this kind of prayer life? Isaiah heard it loud and clear: “And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away’ ” (Isaiah 29:13, NLT).
Can you imagine a friend who only called up when he needed a ride? Or he only e-mailed you when he needed to pick your brain? I don’t think you would naturally pick that person out of a lineup to be a close friend.
What drives you to pray and share what’s going on in your life with Jesus? Is it to get—or is it to get to know? If you claim to be God’s young man, and you name Jesus as your forgiver and leader, then your impulse to talk to Him should not be driven by a present need, a sudden crisis, or past sins. No, you have to consider the experience that bonds you together and makes the relationship possible in the first place—a bloodstained cross.
Even if you don’t feel like it, He’s earned a daily thank-you for His sacrifice that made it possible for you to spend eternity with Him and share His inheritance. But God’s young man goes beyond a thank-you to a consistent dialogue between a King and a servant who is always seeking, ever trusting, and fervently devoted. Prayer, for you, is a secret power, an adventure in trusting the living God. When a young man recognizes this privilege, he moves beyond the task of prayer to the treasure of being present with God. As Scripture says, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!” (Psalm 84:10, NLT)
While God receives and responds to all kinds of prayers (by that I mean anything from signal flares to caring worship), His earnest desire is that you recognize that your communication with Him should be more than just a presentation of your personal problems. He wants to be with you. Jesus wants you to slow down long enough to connect: “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you” (Revelation 3:20, MSG).
If you follow Jesus in the Gospels, one of the first things you’ll notice is that He loved to sit down, visit with friends, share meals, and talk for hours. In fact, if you were a busybody and couldn’t slow down, you just might get cautioned for not being wise enough to slow down and be with Jesus. One of Jesus’s close friends found out the hard way!
As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it—and I won’t take it away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42, NLT)
For Jesus, quick connection and quality relationship was an oxymoron—two totally contradictory ideas that don’t go together. The message to Martha was simple: You can’t connect with Me on the fly! He wouldn’t cheat Martha’s sister, Mary, out of their time together by cutting it short. But I know plenty of young men who have cut Jesus short on prayer because they simply don’t know how to slow down, relax, and talk with their Savior about stuff.
This doesn’t mean that you have to be in church, in your room alone, or even at a Bible study. The Bible teaches that wherever you choose to connect with Jesus is holy ground. In fact, there are no boundaries to where or when you should pray—only the encouragement to do it as much as possible, whenever and wherever possible. Search the Bible, and you will find no starting or stopping points, appropriate or inappropriate settings, or set or loose times. Prayer belongs to you everywhere and anytime. Here are some examples of how prayer is described in God’s Word:
• Jesus illustrates the need for constant prayer by telling His followers a story (see Luke 18:1).
• Prayer is for all times and for every occasion (see Ephesians 6:18).
• We should always pray for others (see Colossians 1:3).
• We should live a lifestyle of prayer (see Colossians 4:2).
• We should pray continually, thanking God in everything (see 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18).
• God’s men, specifically, should be unashamed in prayer (see 1 Timothy 2:8).
What’s the distinguishing feature of your spiritual life as a young man? What marks your approach to the things that really matter in your life? What attitude do you adopt toward the situations you face and the relationships in which you find yourself? If you care about the answers to these questions, you should invest more and more of your time in prayer and dialogue with God over anything that might have an eternal, spiritual, or practical impact on your life or someone else’s.
Trying to manage your life without praying is like trying to ride a bike with flat tires. It can be done, but life is sure going to be tiring, laborious, and no fun.
Trying to manage your life without praying is like trying to ride a bike with flat tires. It can be done, but life is sure going to be tiring, laborious, and no fun. You certainly can’t enjoy the ride or feel the wind in your face. Only a total dork would choose to do that, but that is exactly what you are choosing to do if you neglect the power of prayer.
I’m sure you’ve gotten the point of this chapter, but let me sum things up in this way: Prayer is the power that fuels the performance of your faith. Put it to work today, hit Send in Jesus’s name, and you’ll be tapping into a wealth of joy, peace, patience, confidence, faith, and godly character. Do these things, and God will help you finish the great work He’s started in you.
In the next chapter you’ll see that the pressures you face aren’t put in your life to hinder you but to drive you to prayer and call out your faith and courage.