When men try to express what keeps them from feeling fully alive, they inevitably mention one or more of seven inner aches and pains.

But often they can’t put what they’re going through into words without some help. That’s because they don’t have the training, and hence the language, to tell you why. All they know is that a dull, unending pain keeps eating away at the lining of their gut.

You can be a much better friend if you can help a man put his finger on what’s really going on, what the presenting problem is. And of course these seven problems apply to us as well. Here they are…

1. I just feel like I’m in this alone.
2. I don’t feel like God cares about me personally – not really.
3. I don’t feel like my life has purpose – it feels random.
4. I have these destructive behaviors that keep dragging me back down.
5. My soul feels dry.
6. My most important relationships are not healthy.
7. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything that will make a difference and leave the world a better place.

Until a man understands what’s really going on, he’s doomed.

Use these seven presenting problems to help hurting men put into words what they’re really going through.

This is at the heart of what it means to make a disciple – one man caring enough about another man to help him see for himself what’s really going on.

Until we reach every man…

Pat