Fighting to Pray

21 Days to a New Habit/Discipline

It has long been said that it takes 21 days of doing the same thing to form a new habit/discipline. In other words, if you want to make a lifestyle change, let’s say for instance, to begin exercising daily, then, according to this rule of thumb, it would take 21 uninterrupted days of actually exercising in order for exercising to become a habit/discipline in our lives. Or let’s say that you wanted to make a spiritual lifestyle change and wanted to get in the habit/discipline of daily prayer. If this was your goal then it would take approximately 21 uninterrupted days of actually praying for this to become a spiritual habit/discipline in our lives. Hmmmmm. 21 days to form a new habit/discipline. 21 Days of Prayer. Coincidence????? Genius?????

You Have to Stay Determined

However, just because something becomes a habit/discipline in our lives does not mean that it will be easy to maintain that habit/discipline. For instance, how many of us has tried the healthy eating thing? In the beginning we are committed to it but then you find yourself somewhere that serves your favorite delectable desert and you suddenly find yourself having to make a decision to cave in or stay committed. Or if we are committed to exercising early in the morning and when the alarm goes off the comfort of your mattress, pillow and blanket is offering you a comfy alternative to going for that run or lifting those weights. Regardless of what the habit/discipline may be in our lives, there will always be invitations to compromise our commitment to the habit and while it may take 21 days to form a new habit/discipline, I have found that it can only take one compromise to break it.

When you form a habit/discipline to daily prayer you can be assured that the invitations to compromise on that commitment will come in many forms and with great frequency because the enemy knows that one of our greatest privileges of being sons and daughters of God is the power of prayer. Prayer changes things. Prayer can call down the power of God to change hearts and minds and situations and the enemy would rather that prayer not be committed to.

Determination to Stay Disciplined

There is a really good example of being committed to the habit/discipline of prayer found in the Scriptures in the Book of Daniel. Daniel had been removed from his homeland and now is serving in Babylon under a King by the name of Darius - a man that thought very highly of himself. He thought so highly of himself that he actually put into place a law that forbid anybody from praying to any god or man, other than King Darius, for 30 days. If any were to be found guilty of breaking this law the penalty would be capital punishment by being thrown into a lion’s den. As we can see, there were certainly powers at work here in Babylon trying to prevent Daniel and any other from praying to anybody else other than the king.

Daniel 6:10 ESV

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.

Just as He Had Previously Done

In light of the law and potential penalty for being caught breaking such law, Daniel continued praying three times a day just as he had previously done. Daniel was convinced that his relationship with God was more important than the laws of man. Daniel was convinced that the faithfulness of God was greater than the threats of man. Daniel was convinced that his intimacy with God was more important than the fear of man. Daniel knew the power of prayer and the importance of a commitment to prayer as a daily habit/discipline and was unwavering in that commitment regardless of the circumstances around him that called for his compromise.

In the same way I believe that we will all experience situations and circumstances that will present the opportunity to compromise on our commitment to prayer and half the battle in this knowing that they will come but also knowing the importance of prayer in our lives. There is power in prayer. We get to call heaven down in prayer. There is nothing in the world worth giving up the privilege we have in the gift of prayer.