But let me add perspective to help you start to implement this practice in your life. It has not always been like this for me. Many of you know that I became a Christian on Sunday August 19th 1973 at 10.30 pm. I am now 40 years old in the Lord. I didn’t start out practicing what I am preaching at the beginning. I had to grow into the spiritual habits. I had to learn to increase my capacity for the spiritual disciplines. When we were first told about the need to get up early and have some time alone with God I thought that was a good idea and so Tania and I decided we would do that. But for the first week the alarm would go off and I would reach over and put it on snooze and just lie there. We needed help. Help we got in the form of Faith McMurtrie who start to call us every morning at 6.00 am to make sure we were up and awake and ready to have a QT (Quiet Time with God). But then I would get cunning and just stay in bed and suggest Tania get up and answer the phone and tell Faith we were awake and ready. Faith was smarter than that and would ask to talk to both of us. (This was in the era before bedside phones and cell phones.)
At this early time in my life I had trouble establishing the spiritual disciplines because I would go to sleep praying or reading the Bible. I can tell you falling asleep while reading the Bible hurt. I had bought a large NASB and when I dozed off it would fall on my face and wake me up. That is a long time ago. I don’t suffer from those set backs anymore. Have you not realised when you keep falling asleep each time you try to read the Bible or pray – that satan is opposed to you reading the Bible or praying? Resist him and he will flee from you. But it takes commitment and perseverance and a sore nose. It also takes strategies to be put in place to ensure you succeed. If you find yourself falling asleep while praying, GET OUT OF BED and pray by speaking out loud, don’t just pray in your head. If you having trouble with falling asleep while praying, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just imagine that Jesus is telling you, “It’s alright you can sleep, you need it. I’ve got this one covered.”