Wrestling at the Altar

Wrestling at the Altar

Question for you. Have you ever seen someone alone at the altar in prayer? Wrestling with an issue that only God can resolve? Wrestling alone?

I have come to believe that there is no excuse for any believer to be wrestling alone at the altar when there is another believer in the building. This does not necessarily mean getting on your knees next to them and asking questions or trying to interject into their prayer. It usually means standing or kneeling near them and praying for strength and wisdom for them. You do not need to know what they are praying for to pray for them and to be there for them. It is like a solider in a fight. His comrades don’t leave for lunch and let one man fight by themselves, they fight as a team because they all have the same enemy and fight for the same cause.

Another issue I have thought about a lot lately is how we pray. Have you ever been actually taught how to pray? Have you ever had a mature Christian actually sit down with you and tell you to do this and that and how they do it, or did you learn just by doing it? I recognize that prayer is an intensely personal thing and that what works for one person may not work for another, that being said there are some basics that hold true regardless. What are they? Where do we learn them?

It is clear that we are not beyond the direct attack of the enemy. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6: 10-18 to take up out whole armor of God for we wrestle with the enemy. This is not a picture of standing at 20 paces and debating theology. The term Paul uses for the conflict is palē which is defined in Strong's Concordance as a “a contest between two in which each endeavors to throw the other, and which is decided when the victor is able to hold his opponent down with his hand upon his neck.” Crucial to this verse is the recognition that this wrestling match is not between the devil and unbelievers but between the devil and mature Christians, Paul does not here say that the Ephesians alone wrestle but that “we wrestle” meaning Paul, you and I also wrestle against the devil.

This makes me think about a kid just joining the wrestling team. He has watched others wrestle and now he wants to do it. So he gets out on the mat and flails around with great determination and almost no idea what he is really doing. We would never dream of asking them to take on the team leader or some state champion wrestler. We recognize that they need a time of training before they even attempt to wrestle a match for real. This is where their teammates and coach come in to the picture. A good teammate will wrestle with the new kid and show them how it is done. They will sit down with them when they are struggling and build them up, or if necessary pull them back when they try to go too far too fast.

Their coach is there to teach them the moves and to get them into shape. I remember wrestling practices, hours of exercises and stretches to get ready for a match that only lasts a few minutes. But without this training and conditioning you would never have the strength and endurance to make it too the end of the match. Imagine a team of wrestlers with no coach and where each kid does his or her own thing. I doubt they would see many victories and would, quite probably, end up with the kids being injured.

I have seen so many wrestling matches won and lost not because of the skill and moves of a wrestler but by who can outlast the other, who is in the best condition. Likewise I have seen wrestlers that were clearly weaker than their opponent win because they knew the moves and how to execute them.

As a church we cannot let the new kid wrestle alone. We are all the team. Our pastors and leaders in the church are the coaches. When we see a believer in prayer we need to support them. If appropriate we need to give them some tips. We need to let them see us in prayer so they can see how we do it. They may be awkward and at times they may say or ask things that seem off-base but they are trying to learn. Help them learn, encourage them, lift them up, remember you too once were the new kid on the team.

Likewise we need coaches that will get down on the mat with us and show us the moves. They need to show us how to build up our spiritual muscles and conditioning so we can wrestle for the long fight. In wrestling a good coach is someone that not only knows how to wrestle but can do it. They can get on the mat and show the moves and are in shape to last the entire match. They are not ashamed to have their team see them in a wrestling match and encourage their team to support them in the match.

I thank God that I have been blessed with being on good teams and having pastors in my life that were good coaches. But, they could have done much better. We all can do much better. We must wrestle as a team and together we will win because we have the ultimate coach who has never lost a match.

Just some thoughts on a Tuesday morning.

Rod