Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact LeadersSample

Establish a Daily Prayer Time

Jesus prayed first thing in the morning (Mark 1:35). He also prayed late at night (Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12, 13; Matthew 26:36–44). Peter and John observed at least an afternoon time for prayer, as did Cornelius (Acts 3:1; 10:3). Peter is also shown to be praying at noon (Acts 10:9). Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns at midnight (Acts 16:16).

John Bunyan (1628–1688) was an English pastor who was jailed in the mid-and late seventeenth century for preaching the gospel. His book, The Pilgrim’s Progress, is the second most popular book on earth, next to the Bible. He was an advocate of early morning prayer and said, “He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day.”

Martin Luther said, “It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night.”

When Jerry Falwell (1933–2007) was a college student, he learned the immense value of having a daily prayer time. He went to the dean of students and asked for a key to the third floor of the administration building. There he prayed from 1:30 to 5:00 every weekday afternoon, crying out to God to bless his ministry as a fifth-grade Sunday school teacher. It paid off. The class grew from two boys to fifty-seven.

One of the most important questions we can ask a person who aspires to authentic spiritual leadership is “When do you pray? When is your time with God?”

I don’t believe the time for prayer is always as important as at least having a time of prayer each day. When I first began to walk with the Lord as a high school student, my daily time with God was at night, after dark. I added prayer to my evening run and loved it. During my first year of college the only time my dorm was quiet was over the lunch hour, so that became my time to spend alone with God in Bible study and prayer. My sophomore year, my time with God was after dinner. My junior year, it was in the afternoon. Now I have two primary times: One is first thing in the morning. After I read my Bible, I pray using my journal. Then I get ready for work. On the drive to my office I have my second main prayer time as I pray some more, usually about other issues.

Most of us need to set a daily prayer time or times if we hope to build a dynamic prayer life. We may choose morning, afternoon, or evening, but we need to at least choose a time, or several times, for prayer.