They are Called “Devotions” For A Reason | Entering His Courts
"My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises! Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." (Psalm 57:7-8)
David was running for his life when he penned these words. It’s possible he felt that he needed to rouse himself up to maintain his devotional life, but his story clearly shows that for years before this he had already maintained a solid time with God every morning.
Generally speaking, American Christians have been able to get by without much of a connection with God. Life has been good in the United States. But I believe those days are coming to an end. When calamity is striking from every side is not the time to attempt to establish a solid devotional life. When times of distress come, a person who is not accustomed to a solid connection with God is going to come unraveled. It is so much wiser to get one’s devotional life in order during times of peace than to attempt to do it when “all hell is breaking loose” against believers!
<pull-quote>When times of distress come, a person who is not accustomed to a solid connection with God is going to come unraveled. It is so much wiser to get one’s devotional life in order during times of peace than to attempt to do it when “all hell is breaking loose!”<pull-quote><tweet-link>TweetThis<tweet-link>
The word “steadfast” in Psalm 57:7 (Heb. kun) is rendered “fixed” in some translations. This is a man who had determined—above all else—to have a time of worship, praise and prayer with God every morning. This kind of commitment is the key to establishing an important habit like prayer. In a certain sense, it is very comparable to quitting smoking. Making the resolute decision to stop the habit is half the battle. What makes the experience so unnecessarily miserable is when the person constantly waffles back and forth with his commitment.
So it is with establishing a prayer life. Once a person has made a firm consecration to doing this—no matter what distractions the enemy might throw at him—he is halfway there! Notice David’s commitment: “I will sing… I will sing praises!... I will awaken the dawn.” I will! I will! I will! He expressed this same sentiment on another occasion when he said, “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.” (Psalm 5:3)
It will take this kind of resolute determination to get one’s prayer life established. Someone once said, “Satan laughs at our toiling, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.”1 It is for this very reason that he and his minions do their utmost to discourage believers from praying. Watchman Nee wrote: “When we pray with such prayer, our prayer will shake up hell and affect Satan. For this reason, Satan will rise up to hinder such prayer. All prayers which come from God touch the powers of darkness. Here involves spiritual warfare. Perhaps our physical bodies, our families, or whatever pertains to us will be attacked by Satan. For whenever there is such prayer, it calls for Satanic assault. The enemy so attacks in order that our prayer might be discontinued.”2
We must be determined to overcome all the distractions and attacks the enemy will hurl our way. Once they see that you consider your devotional time to be inviolable, they will grow discouraged and give up.
Yes, there is a reason they are called “devotions.” You must be truly devoted to Christ to stay faithful to your daily devotions.
And how about you?
• Have you made this kind of commitment to spending quality time with the Lord? Do you faithfully seek His face every morning?
• Can He count on you to intercede for the lost?
• Does your daily life reveal a true devotion to Christ?
