LIFE CHANGING PRAYER compiled by Debra Maffett

Chapter 3. A Few DIRECTIVES for a Devout
Discharge of this Important and Necessary Duty.
Private Prayer, as a means, tends to counteract the corrupt workings
of the heart, and to give a proper bias to the faculties of the soul. It
should therefore be performed frequently.
It is far better to pray often, than to make long prayers. As in our
taking frequently a temperate supply of fresh nourishment — the
Lord providentially repairs the continual wastes of our bodies, and
keeps the fluids in a healthy state; so, in our frequent use of private
prayer, he graciously restores the soul (Psalm 23.3.) and causes it to
prosper and be in health. (3 John 2.) The Christian, therefore, cannot
too frequently contemplate and desire heavenly treasures. He cannot
too frequently approach his blessed Savior, and hold communion
with his God in secret prayer.
The fittest season should be taken for this sacred duty. Some, who
are subject to drowsiness in the later part of the day, prefer the
morning, before their minds have been occupied, and their spirits
damped, with temporal concerns. And it is doubtless most fit that
God should be worshiped by everyone, before he enters on the
business of the day. Others, who are constitutionally heavy and dull
in the morning, and almost unfit for anything — are quite alert in
the evening, and exempt from that heaviness, of which so many
complain, as peculiarly unfitting them for prayer.
Everyone, therefore, must be left to determine, which, in his case,
are the fittest parts of the day to be the stated periods of his private
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