Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Wednesday March 11 2026
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Psalm 55:17-Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice.
Habits are thoughts, words, and actions that we repeat.
Perhaps sometimes do not seriously consider the influence that habits may hold in our life (for good for for evil).
“John Dryden said, “We first make our habits, then our habits make us.” Dr. Michael Mitchell, author of Building Strong Families, said, “Approximately 90 percent of what we do every day is governed by the habits in our lives.” A Princeton University study claims if you do the same thing every day for twenty-eight consecutive days it will become a habit. 2 I am your constant companion; I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed—you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people and, alas, of all failures as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precisions of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for profit or run me for ruin—it makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am Habit. 3” (Jay Dennis, The Jesus Habits: Exercising the Spiritual Disciplines of Jesus, 7 (Kindle Edition): Nashville, TN: B& H)
With this in mind, let me ask you:
Do you have a habit of prayer?
The Book of Daniel tells us about a time when the Prophet’s enemies wanted to find a day to get rid of him. They didn’t like him, and they wanted him dead and gone! But they knew that the only way they would be able to accomplish this was to scheme and find a way to attack him through his religion.
Daniel 6:1-9 (ERV)-Darius thought it would be a good idea to choose 120 satraps to rule throughout his kingdom. 2 He chose three men to rule over the 120 satraps. Daniel was one of the three supervisors. The king put these men in this position to keep anyone from cheating him. 3 Daniel proved himself to be a better supervisor than any of the others. He did this by his good character and great ability. The king was so impressed with Daniel that he planned to make him ruler over the whole kingdom. 4 But when the other supervisors and the satraps heard about this, they were very jealous. They tried to find reasons to accuse Daniel. So they watched what Daniel did as he went about doing the business of the government. But they could not find anything wrong with him, so they could not accuse him of doing anything wrong. Daniel was a man people could trust. He did not cheat the king, and he worked very hard. 5 Finally, they said, “We will never find any reason to accuse Daniel of doing something wrong. So we must find something to complain about that is connected to the law of his God.” 6 So the two supervisors and the satraps went as a group to the king. They said, “King Darius, live forever! 7 The supervisors, prefects, satraps, advisors, and governors have all agreed on something. We think that the king should make this law and that everyone must obey it: For the next 30 days, whoever prays to any god or man except you, King, will be thrown into the lions’ den. 8 Now, King, make the law and sign the paper it is written on so that it cannot be changed, because the laws of the Medes and Persians cannot be canceled or changed.” 9 So King Darius made the law and signed it.
Now, look at Daniel’s response to this.
Daniel 6:10 (ERV)-Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done.
Daniel had a godly habit of prayer. He prayed three times a day “as he had always done.” I like the translation of the NKJV with that particular phrase:
Daniel 6:10-Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.
The Prophet had the habit of praying three times a day “since early days.” The good habit of praying three times daily guided Daniel throughout his life. These were times of intimate praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. This is seen to be all the more significant when we realize that Daniel was by this time between 80 and 85 years old!
While it is good to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), there is also much benefit to setting aside time to pray throughout the day, as we are able.
Psalm 5:3-My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.
Psalm 119:62-At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
Psalm 119:147-I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word.
Luke 5:16-So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
Father, thank You for the blessing of prayer. Help us to form good habits, always centered on You. Amen.
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