For the past 8 years I have prayed with a group of men at my church every Monday morning from 7:00am-8:00am. This group ranges from 8 to 18 men. We don’t talk about prayer, we don’t have a bible study – we pray. Sometimes we pray for each other in smaller groups, sometimes we pray for our church and the various staff and ministries, sometimes we pray for our city, our country and the world.

I’m not always fully awake when I arrive as are some of the men, and yet we hold it as a priority for our lives.

For me personally, it has been a great experience for many reasons. First, it starts my week off with prayer, providing a solid foundation to begin the week. There is something good about coming before God with like-minded men in prayer.

More importantly however, in the midst of the diversity, it is teaching me to pray.

Every man has a style to their praying. Some are elegant in their prose and the words seem to flow out effortlessly. Some are more to the point without any extras words added for definition – just the facts. Still others seem more disjointed as they try to finds the words to express what is on their hearts. Amazingly, in the middle of this variety, I’m relaxed. I have my style, they have their style – we hear and learn from each other.

Beyond their style of praying, each man has various topics of prayer that they tend to emphasize more. One man prays for families and marriages, another for the city, one man cares deeply for outreach around the world, still another for the pastors at our church. And as I sit in the circle and listen to the many prayers, I get a sense of the importance of community. No one of us cares enough for all aspects of life, but together our prayers encompass so much more. Perhaps God gives each of us a passion so that collectively we are stronger – I feel good about that, more complete.

As I looked around the group last week, I realized that we also represent various cultural groups – first generation Caribbean, Chinese, Syrian, African and Italian, with a few of us Canadians mixed in:) Not only do our passions guide our prayers, our cultural formation shapes our prayers.

We don’t do life alone. Our faith can never be a private thing, it just doesn’t work that way. Sure, doing life with others is messy, uncomfortable and strange at times. And yet, if you step back and look at the richness of the diversity and have a willingness to learn from others, you can’t help but be thankful for the beauty of community.

As you lead others on the journey of discipleship, always be mindful to bring them into the larger body of Christ. Don’t hide in your small group and think you have it all together, you don’t. We do “The Church” as disservice by being loners and independent thinkers. There is much to learn from the diversity – let’s lead the way on this.

For the Kingdom.

A lot of what I write about has to do with the legacy you are choosing to leave. We are all leaving a legacy; the only question is whether you are being intentional about the kind of legacy, or whether you are simply letting “the chips fall where they may.”

I have made a commitment to life-on-life discipleship. I don’t have random relationships when it comes to spiritual maturity, I have a purpose and a direction and a process that I have developed and am constantly refining.

I must admit that at times I do wonder whether what I do is working or whether I have somehow missed the mark, and yet every so often I get am allowed to see the impact it is having or can have and that gives me the motivation to stay the course. Whenever these events happen, I just chalk them up as a God ordained encouragements and take in the energy to keep moving forward.

Two such encouragements came to me in the past couple of weeks.

My 18 year old daughter has been involved in the Junior Youth ministry in our church for two years. Her key role is as a small group leader where she and two other leaders have responsibility for the lives of about 15 girls in grade 7. Every Tuesday they meet at the church in the evening. As my daughter has interacted with these girls since they started grade 6, two years ago, she has been very interested in making sure that what she is doing will truly impact their lives – she doesn’t simply want to go through the motions of meeting. Two weeks ago she came to me with an idea – she wanted to pull two of the girls aside and begin her own triad, the term that I have been using for the guys I meet with. “I want to do it just like you do it dad” she said.

She has observed me use this format of discipleship for years now. I talk about the guys I’m meeting with and when appropriate I’ll share some of the things we are learning. She has witnessed the impact over the years and wants to be part of it too. I suppose that there is nothing like having a third party observer validate what you are doing. And believe me, my daughter is not one to “go with the flow”, she has always been an independent thinker, never allowing others to influence her thinking, even her dad. If it doesn’t make sense to her she doesn’t buy it. She has been watching something that works and wants to leave a similar legacy.

Another encouragement came from an email I received recently. It stated: “I must confess I am a little envious when I hear you and many others talk about the role mentors have played in both your spiritual and professional lives.  I think I have missed out on that and see the added value to your lives.” This individual is older than I am and is someone that I am asking to come alongside someone else in an intentional relationship. They are going to step up and yet if only someone had come alongside them years ago and journeyed with them how much more confidence they might have today. It is notes like this that keep me encouraged to continue doing what I have always done. People are out there looking to be led. If I/we don’t step up and lead, who will?

And as such, you need to keep doing this as well. Develop your techniques, keep learning and refining, but above all else, don’t stop doing the hard work of discipleship. Week after week, month after month, year after year. You are leaving a legacy of lives – it’s always worth it, so be encouraged.

For the kingdom.