There was a song that some sang thus:
“Every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray; every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart I will pray.”
It is good to pray when one feels the Spirit moving. Such prayer goes to the Lord and He receives it and answers. However, the person who only prays when he feels the Spirit moving in his heart is being led, not by the Word of God nor by the Spirit, but by his feelings. Such a person could enter into a period when, for days upon days, he may not pray because he has not felt the Spirit moving. He could become an easy prey to the enemy. To avoid this condition, a man should settle it in his heart that he will praise and thank the Lord whether or not he feels like it.
It is best to establish a routine programme of praise. Why not set a fixed hour of each day for praise and thanksgiving, regardless of how you feel? That programme could run as follows:
Saturday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your life last week.
Sunday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your family last week.
Monday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your neighbourhood last week.
Tuesday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your city last week.
Wednesday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your nation last week.
Thursday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did in your continent last week.
Friday: Praise and Thanksgiving for what God did on Planet Earth last week.
You may decide that this praise and thanksgiving time will be between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Well, that is your decision. However, after you have chosen the hour, consecrate it to the Lord and covenant with Him that you shall be there to bring Him the praise and thanksgiving that He deserves and, may I dare to say, the praise and thanksgiving that He needs!
You will find that it is sometimes just cold routine. However, cold routine is powerful and indispensable. Think about the cold routine of breathing in and breathing out. There are no joyous feelings accompanying it, but what if that routine were to stop? The consequences you know. Another cold routine is that of the heart pumping blood to various parts of the body. What happens when that routine stops?
Think of the routine of the earth’s rotation. What would happen if it stopped?
If you think about it carefully, you will find that life is dependent more on routine acts than on occasional events, important as these may be. Great things are accomplished by routine. More is accomplished by routine than by special events.
I suggest to you that if something is really important, convert it into a routine activity and your success is guaranteed. Prayer is important. Establish it as a routine and ignore your feelings. Work and walk by your established programme and not by sudden exciting happenings that soon pass away. Decide, for example, that you will pray for each of the eight watches of the day and night. Decide that you will pray at every watch for 15 minutes. This will mean praying for 15 minutes at:
- Midnight
- Three o’clock in the morning.
- Six o’clock in the morning.
- Nine o’clock in the morning.
- Midday
- Three o’clock in the afternoon.
- Six o’clock in the evening.
- Nine o’clock at night.
If you follow this routine, you will be praying for 120 minutes every 24 hours. This will raise you to one of the praying people of our generation, and you will have a standing with God.
If you follow the routine for long enough, your entire body will adapt to it and you will find it easy to wake up at each watch and find it easy to go back to sleep.
Actually, God did not give man a body so that that body should hinder him from spiritual progress. The body is not an enemy. The body is a servant to be tamed and used at will. However, you must tame and educate it to do what you want!
So, decide on one hour of praise and thanksgiving every day and follow a routine programme. Supplement your routine programme with thanksgiving at all the other times when excitement leads you to praise and thanksgiving.
Excerpt from: The Ministry of Praise and Thanksgiving – Z.T. Fomum