“Okay, boys. Who do you want to pray for? I said.

Knox replied, “Ozzie Albies, my Star Wars books and my fish pictures.”

“Sounds good. Eli, what about you?” I asked.

“Umm, Vera (his cousin) and umm.” Eli’s eyes disappeared as his smile grew wider. He looked attentively at my upper lip and placed his tiny index finger beneath my nose. He tapped it twice. “I wanna pray for your mustache.” 

“My mustache?!” I questioned with a silly voice. The bedroom erupted with laughter. “Me too, daddy. I want to pray for your mustache too!” shouted Knox. I laughed with them while I pondered a creative way to honor their prayer request. After a little thought, I realized my mustache actually did need quite a bit of prayer. It’s thin, awkward and mostly see through. We giggled through something along the lines of, “Jesus, help this weak mustache to grow so it will look a little nicer one day. I can’t do it on my own. Amen.” Needless to say, this prayer request came up again and again. Praying it over and over again like that made me think, “what else do I think I can do without the help of Jesus?”

That thought came again a few weeks later when a couple at church asked if they could pray for some sinus issues that I had been dealing with for nearly two months. They had dealt with some similar problems and stayed after Sunday school to chat with me about it. I always welcome prayer but felt guilty that someone I barely knew was going to pray for my stuffy nose. Asking for prayer was public admission that I couldn’t handle my prolonged sniffles on my own. It made me feel weak and embarrassed to even mention it. And again I wondered, what makes me think I don’t need help?

Little did I know those sniffles turned into multiple sinus infections over a five month span that led to a surgery to remove polyps and fix a deviated septum. Needless to say, I was asking for prayer from everyone I knew by the end of this thing. 

I bought into the lie that my spiritual maturity and toughness were somehow related to needing God’s help less. I had it completely backwards. Spiritual maturity is MORE dependence on Jesus, not less. 

“How can the world defeat men who find progress in setbacks, opportunity in confinement and optimism in embarrassment? Those guys are unstoppable if God has a purpose of grace for us and he does.” Ray Ortlund

When I felt inadequate that day in church, I was right. I am inadequate. That’s why I need a savior. He takes all the pressure away from being the self made man. Our world praises the guy who can do it all by himself but I’m convinced a guy like that doesn’t actually exist. And because of this truth, I welcome weaknesses into my life. Weakness is where Jesus meets me with open arms. It’s where he makes me more Christlike for my family. It’s where we acknowledge our reliance on him. Open confession of our weaknesses might be the very thing that would start a revival in our churches. Wouldn’t you love to be a part of a group who leaves their pride at the door?

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9  

I would urge you to pray for your weaknesses. Confess your need for our risen savior in the big and small things. Confess to your trusted brother or sister in Christ ALL the things that weigh you down. Ask for prayer when you get the sniffles. Pray for your mustache! Your spiritual maturity depends on it. 

Fishing with my daddy, 

Ryan

Check out The Gospel Coalition’s podcast, “You’re Not Crazy.” It’s designed for pastors but I found the series to be incredibly beneficial. God spoke to me using this podcast while I dealt with my sinus issues.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/youre-not-crazy/