The Greatest Need Among Christians Today: Daily Time in God’s Presence Through the Word and Prayer

Today, the greatest need among Christians is to set apart daily time to remain in the presence of the Lord, engaging in the study of His Word and in prayer.

In the physical realm, we must spend time every day eating physical food in order to receive bodily nourishment. If this is necessary for physical health, then how much more time should we give to spiritual nourishment through spiritual food? According to the present condition, almost all Christians know how to study the Scriptures for knowledge—how to read, memorize, meditate, and research the Bible. However, very few know how to come to the Word of God to enjoy the Lord Himself and to receive spiritual nourishment.

As people in whom God dwells, we must take time each day to come to the Word of God—not merely to gain information, but to enjoy it, to eat it, and to be spiritually nourished by it. From the experiences and testimonies of many believers, it is clear that we need to spend at least thirty minutes every day with the Lord in order to contact Him and be strengthened by Him.

During this time, we must read the Word and pray. This cannot be done adequately in just ten minutes. Proper reading and proper prayer require time. Even thirty minutes for reading alone and thirty minutes for prayer may seem short, yet it is certainly possible—and necessary—for us to spend at least thirty minutes daily with the Lord in prayer and in reading His Word. The best time for this spiritual practice is the early morning.

During these thirty minutes, we must forget everything else and give our full attention to remaining in the Lord’s presence. As children of God, this is the first and primary daily spiritual experience into which all Christians must be brought. Every day, for at least thirty minutes, we must learn not to exercise the mind excessively, but instead to exercise our spirit through prayer-reading.

For any Christian who spends less than thirty minutes daily in the Lord’s presence, it is impossible to remain spiritually healthy. This is a fixed spiritual principle. Can anyone remain physically healthy without eating daily?

If we practice this consistently for a period of time, the Lord will bring about a great transformation within us. Our experience of Christ will deepen, and eventually, our influence on others will become powerful. The condition among believers will be radically changed—not by teaching, studying, or preaching alone—but by contacting the Lord Himself.

For the sake of our spiritual growth, we must be willing to pay the price to spend this time with the Lord. We should not love staying in bed late in the morning. If, by the Lord’s mercy and grace, we desire and agree to spend more time daily in His presence, then we must ask: How do we touch the Word of God for nourishment and enjoyment?

We must learn one simple practice—to combine our reading with prayer. We must come to the Lord by mixing Bible reading with prayer and prayer with Bible reading. This is why the term prayer-reading is used. We must pray the Word and read the Word prayerfully.

In short, we must pray-read the Word of God.