I was asked to write a blog article on “3 Healthy Habits for a Healthy Praying Life” and as I thought about it, I decided to emphasize just one healthy habit. The one healthy habit that I long for ALL believers to establish for themselves is a daily prayer time with our Lord.

Unfortunately, it’s rare to find a believer who has a consistent prayer time. I’m not talking about saying grace before a meal or saying quick prayers when you’re stressed out. I think those kinds of engagements with the Lord are more common amongst Christians but what I’m referring to is a specific time set aside each day to talk with the Father.

Now you might be thinking, “Do I really need a daily time to talk with the Lord? Isn’t the blessing of faith in Jesus the fact that I can talk with God anytime and anywhere?” Well, yes, that’s true. Jesus has certainly brought us into the continual presence of God through His Spirit that dwells within us. However, his presence in us doesn’t create an immediate intimate communion with him and knowing of him.

Paul Miller opens chapter 5 of his book, A Praying Life, writing this, “You’d think if Jesus was the Son of God, he wouldn’t need to pray. Or at least he wouldn’t need a specific prayer time because he’d be in such a constant state of prayer. You’d expect him to have a direct line to his heavenly Father, like broadband to heaven. At the least, you’d think Jesus could do a better job of tuning out the noise of the world. But surprisingly, Jesus seemed to need time with God just as much as we do.”

When I first read that chapter years ago, it completely tweaked my understanding of my relationship with God. I thought exactly what Paul Miller had written. I thought Jesus was in constant communion with the Father (which he was), but I didn’t make the connection that in his humanity, his intimate communion with the Father was facilitated by the very human practice of one-on-one time with the Father. Intimacy with God didn’t just happen for Jesus. (Throughout the Gospels, we read that Jesus regularly spends time alone with the Father - Matt 14:23, Mark 1:35, 6:46, Luke 4:42, 6:12, 11:1, 22:39:40).

Jesus spent time alone with the Father because all significant relationships require undivided attention and time together if intimacy is to grow. And so, if Jesus made space for his relationship with the Father, we also need to do the same. There’s more to say about this but for now I pray you’ll begin the practice of having a specific prayer time with the Lord. It’s the primary habit that must be established in order have a healthy praying life.