Every healthy relationship is built on connection and communication: The strongest friendships, marriages, and family bonds grow through honest conversation, shared experiences, and a commitment to spending time together. Real and lasting connection requires openness, trust, and a willingness to be present. The same is true of our relationship with God.
At least, that’s the story we tell ourselves.
As men, most of us have spent our lives believing that strength comes from control, and so we muscle up and fight for it: control over our futures, our finances, our relationships. We work hard to manage the weight of others’ opinions, the outcomes we can’t predict, the timing we can’t understand. Even when we can’t do it all, we fight to stay in charge because surrender somehow feels like losing. It feels like weakness.
At least, that’s the story we tell ourselves.
Most men don’t drift from God in a single dramatic moment. It happens quietly—a small compromise here, a blurred conviction there. And the strange thing is, we often don’t notice until we’re already far off course.
Most men agree: We want our lives to count. And not just in terms of surface-level success, but in ways that are deep and lasting. We want purpose. We want to leave a legacy. And the real legacy comes from the people we invest in.
Most men don’t break because they’re weak. They break because no one stays when they are.
Forging dates back as far as 4000 BC, but it truly left its mark around 1200 BC with the rise of iron. The process of forging iron is rugged, monotonous, and time-consuming. You heat the metal, beat it, reheat it, and reshape it again and again. Yet the result is stronger, more durable, and more useful than in its raw form.
Maybe you’ve heard the name Frank Abagnale—the real-life con artist who became famous in the film Catch Me If You Can. Before the age of 21, he successfully convinced the world that he was, among other things, an airline pilot, doctor, and lawyer. Each identity came with confidence, credentials, and applause. And for a while, the masks worked—Abagnale fooled many people. However, it eventually caught up with him. Every false identity he wore led him deeper into consequence, fear, and exposure.
Who are you becoming in Christ?
Prayer and fasting are deeply personal practices, but they are not meant to be practiced only in isolation. When they are shared in community, they become places of encouragement, accountability, and deeper formation. As you discuss the following questions, resist the urge to perform or fix. Instead, listen well, speak honestly, and encourage one another. Growth begins with truth, and God often uses community for the forming work he wants to accomplish in us.
Psalm 107:2
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