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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was such a thing as a School of Good Habits, or if during our school days, Positive Habits Mastery had been on the curriculum?
I think many of us would fare a lot better in life, if we’d been taught how to adopt and maintain positive habits. Because when you think of it, a lot of what undermines us in life, is of course, bad habits!
If we always fail to get out of bed when the alarm clock goes off, it is a bad habit. When we always turn up late for appointments, it is a bad habit. When our default position is to think the worse, it is a bad habit. When we put off until tomorrow or next week, what we could, or should do today, it is bad habit.
Prayer and intercession are positive spiritual habits that we should maintain, yet many of us struggle with this, and not praying, or praying only in crisis situations, has become a bad habit.
The Bible tells us that we are not above our master but that it would be perfectly acceptable to be as our master (Luke 6:40).
Well guess what? Jesus (our Lord and Master), had a consistent prayer habit. The gospel of Luke tells us in several places that He often got up before dawn, to pray. Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not advocating that we do likewise!
I’m saying that if prayer (and I mean meaningful prayer – not the “bless me and my pet” kind from our childhood days), is not a regular habit of ours, then we should be looking at trying to change that.
Why?
Well, I have heard it said that prayer is to our spiritual life, what oxygen is to the natural life. What would happen if you suffered a lack of oxygen for too long?
Now imagine what your spiritual being looks like to God. Imagine what it might feel like to you, if you were to see your prayer life (or lack of it), in those terms!
There are some bad habits which whilst not good, you can still muddle along through life without coming to harm. But there are definitely other habits which could end up becoming life-threatening.
For instance, if you were to smoke 60 cigarettes per day, what is the likely outcome?
If you were to live on a diet of Coco Cola, cheesecake and chocolates only, how healthy do you think you’ll be, a few years down the line?
In the same way, a consistent, quality prayer life (or lack thereof), has future consequences. Those consequences will affect your relationship with God, your confidence regarding the effectiveness of your prayers, even your attitude towards and progress in life. And when a crisis hits, will you have the spiritual stamina to cope?
Friends and followers, if Jesus, the Son of God, felt it necessary to maintain a prayer habit, who are we to not do so?
Sorry to be blunt, but only pride, ignorance or deception would make a believer think that they don’t need to.
May I offer you some advice? If you do not already have a consistent prayer habit, please do something about it.
Not tomorrow. Not next month or next year. Do something about it today!
With love,
Carol (aka Lady Cee)
A Student in His Secret Place (Psalm 91:1)
Do you need a resource that will help and encourage you to develop a consistent and confident prayer life?
Petitions From My Heart is an ideal resource for the believer, no matter what stage you are at in your Christian walk, and no matter what your prayer ability, so don’t hesitate to check out the links below.
AMAZON UK https://amzn.to/3ciUt1q
AMAZON US https://amzn.to/3bj6gM1
Did you find this post encouraging? If so, please share your thoughts in a comment box below. Do you know someone who could benefit from its message? Then please don’t hesitate to share it. Thank you.
Women of Warfare! (WOW!) 