Habit is a compilation of knowledge, skills and willingness
Thanks, Lord, for you all. I believe this day will bring many blessings to you while thinking about the Word received from the Lord today.
Today we continue to study prayer. As we mentioned yesterday, Jews were to pray three times a day. But in the days when Jesus was living on the earth, prayer had become like a tradition, a lifeless routine. The Pharisees had a rule of fasting two times a day and a rule of praying three times a day, but those rules were not written in their hearts, nor did they do it with love for God. They were not willing to know God´s will. Jesus disagreed with such religious approach. Meanwhile, Jesus didn’t discard the rule itself. We can read about this rule in Acts 3:1:
« Peter and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.»
The disciples still followed the same rules of Jewish culture even after the resurrection of Christ – they prayed at a certain hour of the day. They did it because praying had become a habit of the first Christian church.
Reading Acts, we notice many references to praying at a certain time of the day, for example Acts 10:9 says:
« Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.»
The time of prayer was near. Peter climbed to the top of the house to pray, and God gave him a vision. The Bible doesn’t set exactly how long we should pray every day. Therefore, we can’t say we have to pray three, five, or seven times a day. But this is not the case. I am rather talking about the habit of praying. God’s Word doesn’t order us to pray three times a day like David did, but it prompts us to pray at any time. In Luke 18:1 we read:
«… they must always pray, and not give up. »
Acts 2:42 says:
« They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. »
Disciples lived in prayer.
«Pray without ceasing.» (1-Thes. 5:17).
So we have to make praying a habit. To do this we need to know what a habit consists of. “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, the famous book written by Stephen Covey, is one of the best-sellers. The principles described in this book are widely used by many people all across the world. According to Stephen, a habit is a compilation of knowledge, skills, and willingness. Sounds very interesting, right? I would like to use this definition today to help us to figure out what we are talking about. Once you’ve got all three of them, you are good to make a habit. Let’s have a closer look at knowledge.
Knowledge is an understanding of the theory of what we have to do and why. In order to make something your habit you need to understand the theoretical aspects of such a necessity. How is it connected to our praying life? Let me explain that. We acquire knowledge by reading the Bible, the Word of God. When we know why we have to pray, then we can make a habit of praying, just because we know what we have to do. We should pray without ceasing – I know this and so I do it. Let me elaborate on it. Awareness of what I gain or lose by having a particular habit helps me to develop that habit. If you say you are willing to make praying your habit, make the following two lists then:
- what you lose by not practicing prayer daily or by praying only occasionally
- what you gain when you pray regularly
Try to imagine these things in your mind. They will inspire you. You have to be inspired. If you want to grow in making your life in prayer effective, you have to broaden your knowledge base about prayer.
We will continue tomorrow!
Peace of God be with you!
Rufus Adjiboye, pastor
