The pandemic has been hard on us all; no one had it easy. We’ve all seen pain and hurt; some of us have lost our jobs, whereas others have lost loved ones.
The world is still recovering from the brutal brunt of the pandemic. A study conducted during Covid stated that nearly three in ten Americans (28%) have a stronger belief in God or have grown stronger in their faith due to the pandemic.
Disaster draws us closer to God.
Are you one of those who seek God’s face when trouble hits, or are you someone who has a steady relationship with God?
Regarding prayer, the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18,
“Rejoice always,pray continually,give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Praying continually is the will of God for us. He wants us to talk to Him regularly and repeatedly. He is our Father, and we are His children.
How can a father neglect to talk to his own?
What Is Prayer?
As I wrote above, prayer is the basic act of talking to God. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Oftentimes, we make it far too complex.
Prayer is simple. It is just communicating with God like we would our spouse or loved ones. Jesus was a man of prayer.
The Bible says in Hebrews 5:7,
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
The above verse says that Jesus prayed throughout His life. Another point to take into consideration here is the reverent submission; Jesus completely submitted to the will of the Father.
In order to get your prayers answered, you must be aligned with the will of God, and you must completely submit to Him.
The Christian life is to die to the world. After all, we’re dead people living through the death of Christ.
What Are The Best Times To Pray?
There is no particular time to pray; Jesus calls Believers to pray at all times (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). He calls us to pray through the good and bad phases of life.
The Bible says in Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
The verse states that we’re called to pray on all occasions. There is no excuse for us to skip prayer.
The main goal is to spend alone time with God, just as Jesus did during His life on earth. We need to get rid of all distractions and focus completely on God during the sweet hour of prayer.
When Did Jesus Pray?
Let us look at the life of Jesus to understand how and when He prayed. He prayed in the mornings, as mentioned in Mark 1:35, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
The verse talks about Him praying even before the sun was up. A lot of believers make it a point to wake up between 3 am to 6 am just to pray.
Jesus also prayed during the day, as seen in Luke 5:16, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” He took the time to spend alone time with the Father throughout the day, even during His most busy days.
We often neglect to pray because we’re too busy, but that truly doesn’t give us an excuse. We must pray often and consistently.
Jesus prayed during the nights, as mentioned in Luke 6:12, “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”
So He prayed in the mornings, throughout the day, and during the nights.
As the perfect role model and God Himself, Jesus also said in John 5:19,
“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
He absolutely and completely depended on the Father; He didn’t act on His own will. His entire earthly life was a prayer in itself.
Our lives must be the same. We must strive to commune with God as often as possible because we need Him.
The world is evil, and sin is everywhere. As such, how can we keep ourselves pure and consecrated?
Through prayer and reading His Word daily. By staying saturated in God at all times.
Divine Hours – Pray Through The Day
As we’ve seen above, Jesus prayed throughout the day. The Bible has plenty of stories where God’s people pray throughout the day. Every hour is the hour of prayer.
Here is a book by John Piper on prayer. Get it on Amazon!
John Piper, the Author of the book, “Desiring God”, said, “Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth.
Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief.”
Prayer should become like the very air we breathe. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because he chose to pray three times a day and honor God above all (Daniel 6).
The Apostle Paul prayed throughout the day; he prayed through the hardest of situations (Acts 16:25).
Another verse that talks about prayer and praise is Psalm 119:164, “Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.” The Psalmist has made prayer a priority.
Are There Fixed Prayer Times?
The Bible doesn’t give us any laws or rules about fixed prayer times, but it is good to schedule one’s prayer time and pray consistently.
We are our habits. They define the rest of our lives. As such, it is necessary for all Believers to schedule prayer into their daily routines.
What we need to understand is that God wants us to talk to Him about anything and everything. It doesn’t matter what it is; He just wants to commune with us.
Paul says, in Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
The above verse talks about combining thanksgiving with our prayer requests. One thing we forget, as believers, is that everything is a gift from God.
Every good thing comes from Him. Nothing good is a coincidence. We need to count our blessings every single day. Gratitude makes all the difference.
When we serve the great God of heaven and earth, how can we neglect thankfulness?
Prayer Discipline
Discipline makes things happen. Even in our prayer life, we need to exercise discipline. When we schedule prayer, we know that we cannot miss it.
Perhaps you aim to pray like Jesus; in the morning, during the days, and also the nighttime. It is good to do so, but make sure you set an alarm or schedule.
Another method that works is to attach prayer to a certain habit.
Consider a person who exercises or goes for a run early in the morning. The person can attach prayer to the habit of running. So before they run, they can take 20 or 30 minutes to spend time with God and then go for a run.
This is a great way to fix prayer times and follow through consistently.
What Are The Benefits of Fixed Hour Prayers?
There are several benefits to having fixed hours of prayer. Firstly, to live in the presence of God is everything. To stay saturated in Him fills the soul; we were created to love Him and be loved by Him.
Fixed hours of prayer push us to spend time with Him and to receive His love through prayer. The more we pray, the more we grow in Christ.
We get to experience the riches and glory in Him (Philippians 4:19).
During the early days of Christianity, the priests used to ring church bells as a call for prayer at several intervals during the day.
Even though people were busy, they would take the time to pause and pray. Prayer is often a sacrifice because we’re called to pray even when we don’t want to.
When our emotions are all over the place, we must draw closer to God through prayer. When life doesn’t make sense, we must pray.
Hence, prayer is a sacrifice, and we need to integrate it into our schedule.
Conclusion
We’ve seen how Jesus prayed during His life on earth. We have also noted the best times to pray during the day.
We’ve seen how fixed hours of prayer make a difference and that it is important to schedule prayer into your day.
In conclusion, prayer is vital, and we must implement and follow through every single day.
Thanks to Luis Quintero for the photo above.
