I urge upon you communion with Christ a growing communion. There are curtains to be drawn aside in Christ that we never saw, and new foldings of love in Him. I despair that I shall ever win to the far end of that love, there are so many plies in it. Therefore dig deep, and sweat and labour and take pains for Him, and set by as much time in the day for Him as you can. We will be won in the labour.— Samuel Rutherford (Scottish Pastor in the 1600s). It is the desire for many believers to grow in their prayer life, and this is often seen in the duration of their time spent with God. Some people will say that it is not about quantity, but it is about quality. The reality is that the quality of a relationship often increases when the quantity of time spent with that person increases. Quality and quantity therefore are not mutually exclusive. I find it interesting that in our intimate relationships we value time spent with someone as a positive but often with time spent with God people are hesitant to measure it. It easy to understand why one’s spouse would be upset if they are taken to the Maldives for holiday but then told it will just be for 30 minutes. They understand that such brevity will affect the quality of the holiday. I believe we can apply this to our prayer lives. Not all rules are bad. You have empowering rules and debilitating rules. When a couple has a date night each week, that is an empowering rule to ensure that they spend time with each other. It is no different in our relationship with God. Mt 26:40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. This statement from Jesus shows me that He was conscious of a time period spent in prayer and He was surprised that the disciples could not last for that time period. This statement also shows me that Jesus confronted them about it. Therefore, in this message I will also challenge you with regards to the time you spend in prayer and give you some practices that will take your prayer life to another level.
