#243 - Joby Martin // Carry Your Friends To Jesus

We challenge men to become friends who fight for each other with Scripture and prayer, not just sentiment. Five traits shape that calling: a life worth imitating, wisdom, loving confrontation, relentless intercession, and the resolve to carry a brother to Jesus.

• living a life others can imitate in Christ
• giving grounded wisdom that listens first
• removing your log before addressing a speck
• confronting sin with love and clarity
• carrying friends to Jesus through obstacles
• praying as warfare with specificity and persistence
• standing firm in the armor of God together

Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review

Chapters

• 0:01 Welcome And Mission Of The Show
• 0:20 What Godly Friends Really Need
• 1:24 Armor Of God And Prayer’s Power
• 3:49 Prayer As Warfare, Not Comfort
• 5:16 Watch, Pray, And Be Mat Carriers
• 5:51 Closing And Call To Action

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

SPEAKER_00: 0:20

All right, day five this week of The Daily Blade is we're talking about what your friends need from you, the traits of a godly friend. First and foremost, they need you to live the kind of life that you can say, be imitators of me as I imitate Christ. Secondly, they need wisdom from you. That's what they need. They need wisdom from you. They need for you to be the kind of man that loves them enough that you were willing to first remove the log out of your eye and then go on that one step further and remove the speck out of theirs. That you would love them enough to confront them in their sin or warn them when they're stupid. Fourthly, they need the kind of friend that is willing to carry them to Jesus no matter the obstacle. And lastly, is this this is not a complete list, just five things, okay? Your friends need you to pray for them. Like, do you pray for your MAC carriers? Like, do you if if if your friends imitated the way you prayed for them and prayed for you that way, would that be enough for you? In Ephesians chapter 6, as Paul is talking about spiritual warfare in the most famous passage about spiritual warfare, he says this finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. In other words, we are at war against dark forces, and your friends, the only thing the enemy is trying to do is steal, kill, and destroy them. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm, stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith in which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. Okay, that is called the armor of God. And people are super familiar with that. But one of the reasons that the intro to the Daily Blade says that the sword of the Spirit is the primary weapon against evil is because there is another one, and it is prayer. It says, take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, comma, and then here's the next offensive weapon against the devil. Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. And also for me, Paul is saying, if you're my friend, if you are a partner in ministry, would you also pray for me that words may give it, may be given to me in opening my mouth to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in change, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak? Are you praying for your friends? I mean for real. Do you only pray for them when they have some kind of prayer request? Do you only pray for them when they are in a time of tragedy? Well, if so, then you are failing as a mat carrier. I need you to consistently pray for your friends. And when I say pray, I don't mean some kind of little weak sauce, dear God, be with Ted. What do you mean be with Ted? If Ted is a Christian, then the Spirit of God lives in Ted. I mean I need you to go to war on behalf of your mat carriers. My wife Gretchen wrote a um a daily devotional right now in the season of our church for the women in our church. And in one of the daily devots, she said this about prayer. I want to read it to you. Because I want it to challenge you. She says, but many of us don't think of prayer as a war tactic against the enemy. We think of prayer more like a stroll in the park with our dad, chatting about all the events of the day. Or we pray to God for things that'll make for a more comfortable life, more contentment, more happiness. When was the last time you asked someone to pray for you? Not for comfort or contentment or happiness, but a prayer that reaches the soul level. When was the last time you prayed so hard you were left in a puddle on the floor in a war between good and evil, battling against sin, fighting the Prince of Darkness. When we pray, the enemy cowers. When we pray, the enemy loses his grip. When we pray, chains begin to break and lives are restored. Brothers, you need to pray for your brothers this way. Think about this. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he gathered his disciples and he takes them to the base of the Mount of Olives. He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. And what does the sovereign king of the universe ask from those men closest to him? He says, Boys, will you watch and pray? So be the kind of man that goes to war on behalf of your friends and watch. That doesn't mean look around. That means be on watch, be on that wall and pray, pray, pray like everything depends on it, because it does. Men by the power of the Holy Spirit, standing on the authority of the Word of God, covered by the grace and love of Jesus through his blood. May we be the mat carriers, may we be the foxhole men, may we be the brothers that our friends need.

SPEAKER_01: 5:49

Amen. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.