“Pastor, you said practicing stillness is greater than praying between 12 midnight and 3am. How I do practice stillness?”

I didn’t say practicing stillness is greater than praying between 12 midnight and 3am, I just said there’s nothing special about praying at that time if you understand stillness. A man who understands stillness can pray any time and secure heaven’s attention.

We encourage Christians to pray between 12 midnight and 3am because we know that man is naturally less pressured and more peaceful during that time. All the tensions and pressures of the day would be temporarily suppressed, which would also give man some level of freedom in his mind. When a man’s mind is free, he has a better chance of hearing what the Spirit of God is saying.

Visiting man in the early hours of the morning was a practice God maintained from the old testament. Even now that we have received the Holy Spirit, He still takes advantage of the night to communicate important information to us, especially through dreams and visions. And that’s because most Christians are less sensitive to the spirit during the day – obviously because of work pressure. For such Christians, it is often adviced that they take advantage of the night season to connect with God.

It was at this point that I mentioned that waiting till the night before you connect with God is a risk, you can as well practice stillness. The reason why you couldn’t hear God during the day is because you filled your heart with all kinds of cares and concerns, and as long as those concerns are not settled, your peace would remain on vacation. As long as your peace is on vacation, you can’t hear from God. So this is why you have to practice stillness, despite prevailing circumstances. Psalms 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God…”

Contrary to how therapists define it, stillness is simply a state of peace generated by faith in God over any situation or circumstance. It’s a state where you deliberately choose to rejoice in God’s word concerning your situation. According to 1 Peter 5:7, it’s a state where you cast all your cares and worries on God so that you won’t have to be worried about them. Let me show you a few scriptural examples:

ABRAHAM

Romans 4:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Did you see that? Abraham had an obvious shameful situation that was supposed to drive him into sorrow. But even in that situation, he held on to God’s promise or God’s word with faith. Despite his situation, he could still find joy, because God had spoken. He was fully persuaded that God would do what He promised. He didn’t let emotions or worries cloud his heart. That’s stillness! A state where you can genuinely rejoice in your God despite the situations around.

JEHOSHAPHAT

2 Chronicles 20:
17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

So stillness is a state of zero fear, only because you are certain that you will see the salvation of the Lord.

JESUS

Mark 4:
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

Stillness is being able to sleep even when there is a storm. Unfortunately, that’s the first thing you lose when challenges arise, your sleep. Jesus was sleeping while there was a storm. When they woke Him to rebuke the storm, He diagnosed them afterwards and concluded that they had fear in them instead of faith.

Situations will always arise just so you can have unrest within you, but let God’s word be the concluding thought. No matter what people or the devil does to hinder your peace, let your reaction be the word. Martha told Jesus that if he had come much earlier, Lazarus would not have died. Such a statement could have demoralized Jesus, but no, he went scriptural immediately. “If you believe, you will see the glory of God”. That’s how it should be!

So the next time your child brings a shocking news from school, respond with the word instead of losing your peace over the matter. You need your peace to receive a solution from God. The next time your landlord knocks on your door, don’t allow that fear to find expression, open the door in faith as though you’re about to receive favour. Don’t be afraid for anything, neither should you be anxious for nothing, these things are enemies of stillness.

While your mind may want you to think of the worse that could happen, tell your mind what to think and insist on it. For instance, I tried to use POS to make a payment two days ago, although it was declined, yet I was debited. Immediately, I began to lose my peace. I wondered how I’d have to create time to visit the bank to make a report, which also meant that the issue would be on my mind until I do that. Knowing that I may not be able to visit the bank, I decided in my heart that it was going to be a seed. My mind tried several times to remind me of the situation, and to be honest, I got worried each time it reminded me, but I insisted that it was a seed. That’s how I managed to retain my peace.

As I conclude, someone said witches gather between 12 midnight and 3am for their meeting. That may be true, but it’s definitely not because there’s something special about that time, but because they as individuals would have peace at that time. A wife who is a witch cannot go on a witchcraft meeting when her husband needs to eat or commune with her. A mother cannot go to a witchcraft meeting until her children are asleep, and that’s because they may need her attention when she’s away. There’s nothing spiritual about that time, it’s just common sense. Also, just because witches meet by that time doesn’t mean I have to pray by that time to counter them. They are too small for such attention. Moreover, what are my angels doing?

Don’t get me wrong; if the Lord puts a burden in your heart to wake up and pray at night, please do. Even if you’ve mastered stillness amongst pressure, it still won’t be compared with the peace you’d have at the night hours. The purpose of this message isn’t to discredit midnight prayers, but to unlock a potential that would better our Christian experience. The night hours is still my choicest time for prayers, and by this message, I’m sure you now understand why.

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

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