If you continuously tell someone that you love him or her but you can never find time to be with that person, he or she would eventually conclude that you’re not telling the truth. Many Christians in one way or another express their love to God but they are so busy with life that they don’t have enough time to actually be with Him.

Today I’d like to speak to you about praying, about spending time talking to your Heavenly Father. I understand that talking to your Heavenly Father can be difficult, after all he’s spiritual and we are physical. So throughout the next few days we will focus on establishing a consistent prayer life.

At times we don’t realize how important prayer is to the success of our lives, but when Jesus lived on this earth he prioritized prayer above everything else. Jesus considered talking with His Father fundamental to His success. At times you would turn around and He would disappear. On one occasion people were waiting all day long in line for Jesus to heal them. One by one he healed them and all of a sudden He just got up a left, while people were still in line. Do you know why he would disappear? Because he would prioritize talking to his Heavenly Father above all else.

We can all develop a solid prayer life, because praying is not as hard as we often imagine it to be; it’s actually quite simple. But we must first learn why we pray and how to pray. Even Jesus’ disciples, although they were Jewish men who knew how to pray, noticed that the way in which Jesus prayed was different. (Luke 11:1) Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Again, praying is simple but we must first learn how it’s done. So lets move forward and learn from the master himself, Jesus.

Matthew 6:5 NLT

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get”.

“When you pray”. Let’s not move too fast and skip over these words. “When you pray”. These words imply that we are supposed to pray. They imply that it’s something we should do. The first step in starting an adequate prayer life is to establish a time and a place.

Time

Whatever you don’t schedule always runs the risk of not getting done. If you’re going to establish an adequate prayer life it begins by prioritizing it on your schedule. Determine what time of the day works best for you. The good news is that this is not a one size fits all thing. For me prayer is best done first thing in the morning. But I understand that for some of you the morning can be the most difficult time. It doesn’t really matter the time of the day what matters is that you prioritize time in your day. Once you’ve placed God on your agenda He’s truly become the priority.

Place

The time is important and so is the place. Some people like to pray indoors, others prefer outdoors. I like to pray indoors but even at that I have a special place were I pray, usually in the living room of my house. I’ve heard of people who pray in a closet, in their garage, even in the bathroom. One thing I do suggest … don’t choose a place that can be distracting to you. For example, I seldom pray in my office because there are many things on my desk that can distract me from talking with my Heavenly Father. So go ahead, choose a time and a place and begin talking to your Heavenly Father. Tomorrow we will continue learning from the master himself on why we should pray and how we should pray.

It’s SIMPLE, praying like Jesus prayed begins by choosing a time and a place to meet with your Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, I am thankful that you enjoy spending time with me. Thanks for that immense love you feel for me without me deserving it. Help me to put you on my agenda every day of my life and set apart the same time and place where we can be alone together.