A JourneyMan knows these are not only essential to his authentic Christianity, but are very much in his own best interest.
We might think of a man's life as an arrow. Prayer, worship and the Word of God form the feathers, without which the arrow will certainly go somewhere, but not likely to its target.
A JourneyMan finds himself and his God in and through the scriptures. Preachers and expositors of various kinds are certainly helpful, but the value of their assistance depends on their adherence to the Word of God. The man who is in the Word, and who knows the Word, will not be easily deceived.
A man grounded in the Word finds prayer as necessary as breathing. A JourneyMan honors the example of the Son of God, who prayed earnestly and often. He expresses his gratitude to God, and he asks on behalf of himself and others for guidance, victory, strength, healing, protection, wisdom, and much more. Not only does he ask, but he learns to listen.
A JourneyMan learns to reject the false notion of "prayer by exception". This is the idea that prayer is necessary only when there is some kind of emergency, or when a course correction is required. On the contrary, a JourneyMan strives to develop a consistent attitude of prayer.
Just as he knows prayer need not be confined to five minutes on his knees, a JourneyMan understands worship to be far more than singing and praising God on Sunday morning. He sees worship as both constant and universal, for everyone worships a good deal of the time, whatever they might believe otherwise.
How can we say this?
Our word "worship" comes from the old English worth-ship, "to ascribe great worth or value to a person or thing." Thus worship is something everyone does, Christian or not, whether they know it or not. The real question is: are we worshipping "in spirit and in truth", or are we engaging in false worship? A JourneyMan learns to interrupt himself with the question, Who am I worshipping right now?
One may worship by ascribing great value to celebrities, athletes, scientists, preachers, bosses, politicians or others. He may move about from place to place and from day to day "worshipping" any number of people or things. He might even engage in self-worship by ascribing to himself a kind of power, importance, entitlement or control he could never authentically possess. A man might not equate any of these practices or attitudes with acts of worship, but he may deceive himself.
Some have acquired the habit of worshipping watered down, pathetic versions of the True God. These false gods might resemble good luck charms, genies from a lamp, or personal assistants. They are easily summoned, and just as easily dismissed. JourneyMen learn to recognize and reject these pseudo-gods in favor of a real relationship with the True God.
Here is the simple reality of the matter. The more we worship God, the more we ask and listen in prayer, and the more we are grounded in God's Word, the greater His presence and power in our lives.
See All Seven Commitments of a JourneyMan
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