I am a blessed man! I am 75 years old; I have been married for 52 years; and I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of 6.

I want to tell you of an event in my life in which my Lord helped me to be a blessed man.

I went to see a live passion play several years ago, which presented the life of Jesus. Instead of just reading the Bible, I saw the Bible come alive!

My favorite part of Scripture, which I read all the time, is about Jesus’ last night with His disciples. As I sat there at the play, I saw those words that I love to read come alive! What a mountain top experience that night must have been for the disciples!

What gripped my soul was this scene:

Mathew 26:36: Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray” (NASB).

He took all His disciples except Judas—because He wanted all of them to pray with and for Him.

V. 37-38: And then He took with Him, Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and He began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here, and keep watch with Me” (NASB).

The Greek word for watch means to be vigilant, to stay awake!

V. 39-41: “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, yet not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘So you men could not keep watch with me for one hour? Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptations; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak’” (NASB).

After many months of spending time with my Lord over this passage, He revealed two key points for my life:

1. Find a group of men who will pray for you.

Find a group of men who you can build friendships with and who will pray for you when you need it—and for whom you will pray when they need it. 

Jesus set the pattern for us—have a group of men praying for you. I told the Lord I do not need a group of men praying for me! I am a retired successful businessman who works through issues myself. Besides, I played football in high school, and I am tough!

The Lord told me I needed to get a group of guys to have a close friendship with—companions and partners who would pray for me. Boy was He right. Three years after that event, my brother—my only sibling—died. I was 30. Three years later, my mother died. I had already lost my dad at age 18. So at age 33, my entire family was gone except for me.

I needed my guys to pray for me.

Men, we never know what the future holds.

Throughout my life, I have needed my men to pray for me about:

• family issues
• health issues 
• business issues 
• spiritual issues

Recently, I joined a men’s Bible study called Ironmen. We enjoy talking, sharing our life events and activities and camaraderie; we share observations from Scripture and report answers to prayer. I pray with them and for them, and they pray for me. I attend by video conference call when I am not there. I am not embarrassed to ask my Ironmen to pray for me, and I consider it a privilege when someone asks me to pray for them.

Men, please ask for prayer when you need it. If Jesus asked for prayer from His men, we should ask from our men, too.

We Christians are on this journey of life to heaven—He wants us to pray for one another as we face issues on our journey. Ask men to pray for you. Join with other men to pray for one another.

2. Understand the importance of prayer.

Why did the disciples fail at Gethsemane? Their flesh was weak! Does flesh still cause us to fail to pray for one another? It always happens when I begin to pray for someone that thoughts come into my mind of things I need to get done or about my health or my golf game, etc.

But we need to commit the time and attention to pray for others.

Why did the disciples fail at Gethsemane? They did not understand the importance of being asked to pray by Jesus. Would they have stayed awake if they had known the importance to Jesus of their prayers?

Jesus taught his disciples the value of prayer. They saw Him praying to His Father for guidance. They saw Him thanking God for provisions. They saw Him praying for healing. He understood the value of praying for His people in their time of need, and He wanted them to pray for Him in His time of need. “Keep watching and praying.” In Jesus’ greatest hour, He demonstrated to us the need for prayer and the power of prayer.

This is God’s plan: for us to lift each others’ prayer requests to Him. Make sure you understand the prayer request from your brother; ask questions to understand why he is asking and find out the details. 

Do you know the beautiful old, hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus”? Here are some of the words:

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry,
Everything to God in prayer! 
-Joseph M. Scriven

Jesus gave us the model to follow—get in a group of men who will pray for one another.

Men of valor, become prayer warriors for each other.