DAILY QUIET TIME PRAYER IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE BECAUSE IT IS HABITUAL.
A man called Dostoyevsky said, "The second half of a man's life is made up of the habits he
acquired in the first half."
Pascal said, "The strength of a man's virtues is made up of his habitual acts."
If you are going to be a great person in this life, you need to have good habits. An action
becomes a habit when it is repeated many times; sometimes consciously, sometimes
unconsciously. It becomes your custom!
Habits can be either good or bad. Remember that good habits are repeated as easily as bad
habits.
A good habit will lead to consistent breakthroughs even without intending to. Bad habits will also lead to consistent failure. If you decide to develop a habit of prayer, you are developing a habit for success.
Jesus went to church on the Sabbath because it was his habit. The Bible tells us that Jesus had customs or habits.
…as his custom [habit] was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day…
Luke 4:16
Daniel had a custom of praying three times a day.
…he [Daniel] kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed…
Daniel 6:10
Life in the secular world is not designed to include a prayer time. Work starts early in the
morning and continues late into the night. Weeks may pass before you even think of prayer. For many people, it is only an impossible situation that reminds them of the need for prayer. Dear friend, it is important for you to include prayer in your life.
God is not a spare tyre! A spare tyre is something that is never used except in emergencies. God is no fool. Whatsoever a man sows, he will reap. If you have time for God on a regular basis, He will have time to bless you on a regular basis. Only the mercy of God makes Him listen to some of our prayers.
Develop your prayer life until it happens spontaneously. Develop your prayer life until you pray habitually without even thinking of what you are doing.
I MADE TIME TO PRAY
When I was a medical student, I was very busy with my course work. There was no time to pray at all. But because I had made prayer a part of my Christian life, there was no way I could do without it! I had to somehow include it in my schedule. I decided to pray late at night. I was usually so sleepy that I had to walk about just to stay awake.
Prayer was so important to me that I could not leave it out of my life.
One night, as I headed for my room after one of such prayer times, I actually fell asleep whilst
walking! It was only when I bumped into the wall of the Spanish Department building of the
university that I woke up from my sleep! I believe that God saw my earnest desire to keep
praying in spite of an impossible medical school schedule.
• Bishop Dag Heward-Mills || Quiet Time