I don’t know about you, but I find that the hardest thing to do as a Christian is to spend consistent quality time in daily prayer. I find that I am always busy doing something and that prayer often gets pushed to the end of the line of my daily activities. But I know in my heart that one of the most important things we can do as a Christian is to pray.
In order to be more consistent in my prayer life, about five years ago, I decided to keep a daily list of things to pray for. My prayer list has grown over that time span, and I now try to spend at least 45 minutes to an hour a day praying for the needs of the many people on my prayer list. While I have been pretty consistent in my daily prayers sometimes, I get so busy that I skip over my list. As I write this devotion the Holy Spirit is convicting me that when I am so busy that I can’t pray for the needs on my list, then I am just plain too busy, and I need to prioritize better. If I can’t find one hour a day to pray then, in my opinion, I need to examine my heart to re-prioritize my activities. I think Charles Spurgeon said it best when he shared: “It is not a matter of time so much as a matter of heart; if you have the heart to pray, you will find the time.”1
When I do the math and divide one hour by 24 hours, I see that all I have to do to spend one hour a day in prayer is spend 4% of my day in prayer! Prayer is one of the best ways I know of to show my love for people and while I can’t guarantee in the future I will spend at least one hour every day on my knees before the Lord, I challenge myself to meet and even exceed this goal. I firmly believe that God answers prayer, but we have to do our part by praying for God to move on behalf of our requests.
One lesson I am learning in my prayer life is to balance my petitions with confession, adoration, praise, and thanksgiving to the Lord. My friends, prayer requires effort, but its rewards are well worth it. I urge you to examine your prayer life, as I examine mine. If it is not what it should be, ask the Lord to help transform prayer from a duty into a delight!
1 TOP 25 CHARLES SPURGEON QUOTES ON PRAYER & JESUS | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
This is such a powerful reminder that prayer should be a priority, not something we only turn to when we have time. I love the encouragement to make prayer a delight rather than a duty. Thank you for this timely message, Curt! 🙏 What advice would you give to someone who genuinely wants to build a consistent daily prayer life but struggles to find the time?