Have you ever thought of all the appointments we keep on a regular basis each week. We rarely think of eating our three meals a day as appointments but they are. And what about our nine to five work day five days a week. And of course there are our six to eight hours of sleep each day, and on it goes. While these “appointments” are good and necessary have you ever thought of making a daily appointment with the Lord for prayer?
I like how the late Corrie Ten Boom put it: “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.”1 I love this quote for the following three reasons.
First, Corrie says, don’t pray when you feel like it. Prayer is a spiritual discipline and if we wait to we feel like praying, most of us, if we are honest, may miss many a day of prayer. Feelings come and go and are not a good barometer when it comes to many things we know we should do. There are days you just don’t feel like going to work, taking the dog out for a walk, and yes praying – and that’s OK. No one ever said that our feelings will always line up with our responsibilities. So, if we want to have a vibrant and dynamic prayer life, don’t just pray when you feel like it.
Second, Corrie says have a prayer appointment with the Lord and keep it. The devil will try everything in his power to cause us to not make prayer a daily activity because he knows how important prayer is. He will bring pressing distractions your way, he will tell you it’s OK to skip a day now and then, and even call you a hypocrite for praying when you don’t feel like it. My friends don’t listen to any of these lies. If we want to get to know Jesus better, if we want to help build up the kingdom of God, and if we want to lead a victorious and joyful life then your daily appointment with the Lord in prayer is essential.
And third, Corrie says a man is powerful on his knees. A person who prays every day and take their prayer time seriously will become a powerhouse with the Lord. I believe that consistent, believing prayer is our most powerful tool with God and often the only way to defeat Satan, open hardened hearts to the message of the gospel, and experience a whole new dimension of intimacy with Jesus.
In closing, if your prayer life is inconsistent and not what you want it to be, may I challenge you to make prayer a priority because what we prioritize we do. And I can think of no better way to be consistent in prayer than to make a daily prayer appointment with the Lord and in the words of Corrie – “keep it.”
I heard a Pastor once tell this story about a man getting ready to turn on his TV. He noticed his Bible sitting on the coffee table, thought about it for a moment then went right to the TV instead. The Pastor then said ” The devil doesn’t care if you read your Bible or not, he just don’t want you reading it right now “