See links to possible Prayer Apps below.

Don’t dismiss the lessons we can learn from Daniel’s scheduled and consistent prayer life as irrelevant to your life today.

Listen to them:

“What’s with that guy anyway? He’s like clockwork. He annoys me because he’s so consistent. I’ve watched him, and I’m sure he prays at least three times every day to his God.” Someone else chimes in: “Yeah – he doesn’t even pray to our gods, but he’s walking off with all the plumb appointments from the King. He’s getting promoted like crazy. Lucky dog!”  A third person agrees: “The guy is squeaky clean. He makes me sick. Even when we did the audit on him – but we couldn’t even find a bone of an old skeleton in his closet – no taint of scandal. Not a thing!”

The bureaucrats in the kingdom were jealous! So finally, they concocted a scheme to trap him. They flattered the King with their plan. No one in the kingdom was to pray to any god other than to the King himself for a 30-day period. Even a one-time violation would result in death by paws and jaws. The King signed the decree without knowing what they were up to.

Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. Daniel 6:10

The jealous officials spied on Daniel, and sure enough, they caught him in the act – praying to his God! You can almost see them rubbing their hands with wicked glee. So off they ran to the King, and the rest is history.

What are your prayer habits like? If someone was spying on you, would they catch you at it? Down through history, anyone who ever amounted to anything for God had a robust prayer life.

How did Daniel overcome so many hurdles in his life? By prayer! How did Daniel keep an excellent spirit when circumstances were so adverse? By prayer! How did Daniel rise in influence when he was in captivity? By prayer! How did he keep from messing up and from soiling his clean record? By prayer! How did he have so much insight into dreams and other matters of great significance? By prayer! How did he survive as an administrator under the reign of several kings? By prayer! How did he emerge from the den of lions without a scratch or a bruise or a skin puncture? By prayer!

Daniel’s plan for life was to enjoy a robust prayer life. First, he established the practice of prayer. He had a favourite nook, a private place to pray. And, physically, he adopted a certain posture for praying – kneeling. He also pinpointed three times on the sundial when he would communicate with his God. At those specific times, it seems Daniel would drop everything else he was doing in order to bow in his private place of prayer.

Both the consciousness of his need for the Lord each day and the structure he established resulted in his consistent and effective prayer life. In other words, his successful prayer life was not a sloppy haphazard, hit-or-miss activity. Instead, he had a deliberate, structured, organized prayer life that helped maintain his godly habit.

Oh yes, we are all to be in the spirit of prayer 24/7 and breathe out five-second prayers throughout the day. But beyond that, do you have a structured prayer life? Do you have a designated place where you pray? Do you have a certain talking-chair in your room to remind you?

“Over here – you didn’t kneel this morning and place your elbows on my seat. I never felt a tear drop fall this morning on my fabric.”

Do you have a time on the clock when you have deliberately chosen to pray daily? Is there a clock that says to you when you glance at it: “You’re 27 minutes late praying this morning – are you really going to try to get along without God today?”

Grace Wrapped in Swaddling Clothes

A younger brother dropped in last evening for a visit, and he showed me his prayer app. On his iPhone, he has the Prayer Notebook App. Of course, I was impressed with its many features to encourage a more systematic prayer life, and yes, I am going to keep looking for an Android equivalent for my phone. Perhaps this is it: PrayerMate App  It looks like both apps have the flexibility to delete what you do not like or need and to add what works for your needs. But back to this brother – I was even more impressed with the brother’s humble desire to have a more robust and vibrant prayer life and the fact that he moved beyond a wistful and wishful desire to concrete actions. I thanked him for giving me a nudge. I need to improve.

What about you? Will you just continue with the vague frustration of ineffective praying week after week, or would you like to make some changes? What specific commitments to an enriched prayer life are you willing to make with the Lord today?

It’s time to improve our communications with the Lord. It’s time to make some changes. And if you know of an app that has helped you to be more intentional and organized in your prayer life, please share it with our readers in the comment section below.

Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.

Warmly in Christ,

Peter Ramsay

UPDATED 20 Online Lessons for Brand New Believers Covering the Basics   Easy sign-up

Free vehicle magnet  9″X2.5″” (22.5cmX6cm) A quiet Gospel witness. “Let your light shine.” An inoffensive way to help promote the Gospel in traffic and parking lots. Unlike decals, magnets can be removed easily.

Tabernacle 101 Once-a-week-email study – short and to the point.

Automatic Signatures work! If you include www.heaven4sure.com in your automatic email signature, you will increase the number of visitors to the Gospel site. This is particularly relevant if you are in contact with those who do not yet know Christ.

FACEBOOK or social media link to heaven4sure? Links really do work! People are finding the site through such links.