Habitual and Persevering Prayer - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.
Psalm 55:17

Habitual and Persevering Prayer
I might say something of the value of regular times in the day for prayer. God is a God of order. The hours of the morning and evening sacrifice in the Jewish temple were not established as they were without a meaning . Disorder is notably one of the fruits of sin. But I would not bring anyone under bondage. I only say this, that it is essential to your soul's health to make praying a part of the routine of every twenty-four hours in your life. Just as you allot time to eating, sleeping, and business, so also allot time to prayer. Choose your own hours and periods. At the very least, speak with God in the morning, before you speak with the world; and speak with God at night, after you have finished with the world for that day. But settle it in your minds that prayer is one of the vital things of each day. Do not put it into a corner. Do not give it the scraps, and leftover minutes of your day.

Whatever else you make a business of, make a business of prayer. Never forget that you may tie together morning and evening devotions by an endless chain of short bursts of prayers throughout the day. Even in the company of others, or while you work, or going down the street, you may be silently sending up little winged messengers to God, as Nehemiah did in the very presence of Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:4). And never think that time is wasted which is given to God. It is not necessary that a man should shout, or scream, or be very loud, in order to prove that he is serious. But it is desirable that we should be hearty, and fervent, and warm, and ask as if we were really interested in what we were doing.

A Christian never finds he is a loser in the long run by persevering in prayer.

J. C. Ryle