Part 1 of 7 in the series Appointment With God
At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jerusalem was moving toward the temple. Traders were closing up. Families were walking. And at the gate called Beautiful sat a man who had been carried there every day of his life.
Two men came up that road. Peter and John. Nobody sent them a reminder. They simply kept their appointment.
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
Acts 3:1
Look at the order. They weren’t hunting for a miracle. They were keeping an appointment. The miracle met them on the way to the altar.
Peter looked at the lame man and said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) Then he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and “immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” (Acts 3:7)
Peter said “such as I have.” What he had was formed in the hour of prayer. You can’t give at the gate what you never received at the altar.
Daniel did the same thing under pressure
When the king’s decree was signed, Daniel didn’t change his schedule. “He went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” (Daniel 6:10)
Notice the last four words. As he did aforetime. The habit was already built before the crisis came. The lions’ den didn’t create his prayer life. It revealed it.
The psalmist set his whole day around God
“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:17) And in Psalm 119:164 he says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.” His day had God built into it from start to finish.
Great men simply have great habits.
You already keep appointments
You show up for the doctor. You show up for the lawyer. You show up when a friend says, “Let’s meet at ten.” You don’t say, “I’ll come when I feel ready.” You go, because you wrote it down.
God deserves the same seriousness. Not because He needs your time, but because you need His presence.
To the young man, your phone runs your day to the minute. Give God a slot in it. To the young woman, you’re busy and you’re carrying a lot. A fixed hour is what keeps prayer from being crowded out. To the husband and father, your household will follow what you protect. To the wife and mother, the quiet you guard in the morning will be felt in the whole house by evening.
Jesus said, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:6) He said “when thou prayest,” not “if.” Then He gave a place, a door, and a promise.
Start this week
- Choose a time you can keep. Same time every day.
- Choose a place. Shut the door.
- Start with 15 minutes. Keep it before you extend it.
- Put it in your phone as “Appointment with God” and set the alarm.
- When you miss one, return the next day. Don’t quit.
“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1)
Peter and John kept the appointment, and a man walked. Start making yours today. Someone may be waiting at your gate.
Prayer: Father, teach me to keep Your appointment. Give me a time, a place, and a hunger that doesn’t depend on my mood. In Jesus’ name. Amen.