I've found nothing more helpful in my life than consistently spending an extended amount of time in prayer every morning. Many people might write me off right there saying, "I'm not a morning person," "It doesn't matter when you have your prayer time," or, "Evenings work best for me." Ok. There may be some validity to what they're saying, but I still have found that spending an extended amount of time in prayer in the morning is invaluable in the struggle against sinful habits, not to mention the many other benefits that go with it.

Why morning? It takes discipline. It proves to you and to God that you are serious about this relationship and want it more than anything else. You are setting aside the first part of your day before the demands of the day claim your thoughts, energy, and time. It makes God the primary focus of your day right from the beginning. It makes sure that your time with God gets done. God is your top priority. He is before everything else - where He should be.

It's hard. I am a morning person and I find myself struggling at times to get up early enough to set aside this time. When the demands of my job or other things keep me up until 11:00 or later the night before, getting up at 4:30 or 5:00 becomes that much more difficult. I find myself having to stand up and walk around just to stay awake for the first part of my prayer time. If I sit down, it's too easy to just get comfortable and wake up an hour later with no time left but to get ready for the day and go to work.

It needs to be focused. Dick Eastman says, "To be effective our sixty minutes with God should be carefully arranged. Systematic prayer adds health to the devotional habit. Most tasks in life are accomplished systematically. In fact, without a systematic approach to life, many goals would remain unreached."

Eastman quotes Harold Lindsell in his book "The Hour That Changes the World" (from which the above quote came) as saying, "Prayer does not come naturally to men. It must be learned. Learning to pray...includes knowledge of the laws governing prayer as well as experience gained in the practice of prayer. Prayer must be nourished and cultivated if it is to grow."

I know this might not be a very inspiring post, but sometimes what we need is not inspiration, but just a healthy dose of discipline. Get at it! Prayer is valuable. God asks us to pray. Prayer makes a difference, not only in our lives, but in the lives of others. What a privilege that we can have access directly to God through prayer! Why would ne not take advantage of this and give ourselves to the school of prayer. We could be and should be changing the world through our prayers.

I just picked up a copy of Dick Eastman's book, "The Hour That Changes the World." I borrowed it from a friend several years ago and it changed my life when I started applying the principles from it to my prayer life. Now I'm reading it again and gaining new ideas and challenges to apply to my prayer life. It is very exciting and invigorating! I highly recommend it. You can find it for a reasonable price on Amazon or other online bookstores.