When concern is expressed about the sometimes man-advertising attitude of celebrating an ability to ‘pray for hours,’ it is not to make light of the personal discipline (lacking in many) of spending time in prayers, but merely to show that there is something higher still, and to stir us towards that ‘more excellent’ grace of dwelling in God’s presence. That seems to me more preferable than the famous ability to get into God’s presence once in a regular while to spend some reckonable ‘hours.’

I long to enter into and dwell in God’s presence and to be so possessed by Him that every moment of my life, every breath of mine, every part of my being, becomes a prayer, a very powerful prayer. Then prayer becomes a life, not a practice, even though noble; it becomes a rest, and not the laurel-seeking rigour whereby one ‘invades’ the throne of God for some long and probably predetermined hours, and carts away a blessing, until another day when His throne would have to be `invaded' again, for another fixed time also.

I strive to enter into the holiest place, where all work ceases and grace alone takes over, for "no flesh should glory in his presence"; where time also ceases to count, and a thousand years pass sweetly away like just a single day; where the truth of the very kingdom of heaven becomes real down here, that "time shall be no more"; where I’m no more bound by the `law’ of a prayer agenda, but walk with my God in the glorious liberty of His enabling grace alone. There He answers my prayers afar off, even before I have said them, because I am His friend, as Abraham was. He knows my thoughts and desires afar off, and has promised to answer me even before I call.

There in His presence, I also cease to bother about enemies (call them witches or wizards or demons or whatever they are that frequently terrorize others), because they do not exist there, nor can they ever come in there. His presence keeps them far from me, so I am spared some of those regular battles (not all the battles) that some of my fellows there in the outer court or even farther still, are engaged in, and become famous as "prayer warriors" for being engaged in, although some of those battles would never have been known had they been dwelling "in the secret place of the most High" where they would consequently have been sheltered "under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). There, we do not speak of just prayers anymore, but something more: a kind of life - in His presence.

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