I work in a satellite warehouse and some days I make deliveries to the main facility. It is there where I see a Brutha in Christ and we try to get caught up on each others lives in a few quick moments depending upon how pressing the work is. We will dialogue about the kids, wives and Jesus. Steve and I used to get together and pray after work, so we will also take prayer requests from each other. Depending upon how urgent the prayer is, we may pray right there.
Mind you, Steve is a pretty laid back guy, very humble and a great worker. I tend to be a little bit more vocal and more willing to chat than he will be. I am the one who will start up the prayers and afterwards say goodbye with a "Love you, Bro!” and a slap on the shoulder.
Steve is also a great servant. I wanna gloss the Brutha as "Ox" because I have known very few others that are as great of example of a servant as Steve. But Steve just doesn't look like an "Ox" and I think it would embarrass him being called "Ox" knowing how I intended it. (For those that know the Steve I am talking about, can you tell I wanna get the nickname 'Ox' to stick, so help me out here and holler 'Ox' when you see Steve.)
When my family and I moved to CR, Steve loaned me his lawn mower because by the time we moved in (which Steve helped with) the grass was way too tall for me to cut down with my manual lawn mower. As I was nearing the end of the hay baling, the arm on his mower snapped near the deck. I told Steve about it when he came by to pick it up, because that is just the type of guy he is, I told him I could fix it and he refused saying he would take care of it.
The next summer my wife was having a yard sale and she made it very clear that the straggly weeds that withstood the onslaught of my furious manual lawn mowing needed to be cut down. So, of course I hit up the guy whose lawn mower I had previously borrowed and broken. I stopped by his house after work to pick up the mower, this time refusing his offer to bring it to me. Not only did he loan the mower to me, he filled it up with gas.
Steve is an awesome dude who is willing to help anyone. I could tell about the time his work day ended with a jerk coworker dumping on him and on his way home he helped out a stranded motorist on a cold, rainy day by running person to the other side of town, only to get to his driveway when his wife called his celly and asked him to run to the grocery store. And he did all of this without complaining. I could also tell about the time, he and his wife babysat my youngest son on a couple of hours notice so I could accept the dare from another Brutha to get a tattoo on my tongue. Or the times he...I guess I could continue to give examples of Steve's generosity and willingness.
I didn't write this to just hype up a great friend and a great man of Jesus, I wrote this because of what I realized about Steve today. For months now, when I have seen Steve while making a delivery, I have seen in my mind's eye Psalm 20:4 written across his chest. "May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed." I have told Steve this and encouraged him to pray even bigger. I have encouraged Steve pray for relationships restored, kids and grandkids serving the Kingdom and anything else he could think of every time I would see in the Spirit Psalm 20:4 stamped across his heart.
It was today that I understood why I kept seeing this. See, Steve is such a servant, so unselfish that he is a reflection of Jesus. And because Steve is like Jesus in his willingness to esteem others better than himself that also he prays like Jesus. Steve prays for the things that are eternal, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self Control. (Galatians 5:22-23) Because Steve gives up his time, convenience and comfort to help others, he mirrors what Jesus did by giving up the His place in heaven to become flesh and serve all of humanity by dying for our sins. And just like with Christ's service in which people take for granted what He did, I believe there are people who have taken for granted what Steve does. And similar to Jesus, Steve just keeps serving and loving people has Holy Spirit gives opportunity.
Please don't misunderstand me, Steve ain't Jesus! He can't pay the price for his own sins let alone anyone else’s. Steve is far from perfect and I have heard him tell me that many times. Not out of a false sense of humility or insecurity, but out of a desire to be better.
I believe it is because Steve truly has the heart of a servant that God will give him the desires of his heart and make Steve's plans succeed. Steve isn't praying from the mind but praying from his heart, a faithful heart that is submitted to serving Jesus by serving others. This is the reason God will answer Steve's prayers and it will be the reason "We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God." It is also the reason why I say to Steve, "May the LORD grant all your requests." Psalm 20:5
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