God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
It might be stretching it a bit, but when we intentionally choose not to attend church, we are in effect “church disciplining” ourselves – removing ourselves from the collective safety of the church and handing ourselves over to Satan’s domain (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5, 13).
It is a mistake to imagine that prayers must be long in order to be effective and pleasing to God. Martin Luther said: “Look to it that you do not try to do all of it, do not try to do too much, lest your spirit grow weary. Besides a good prayer mustn’t be too long. Do not draw it out. Prayer ought to be frequent and fervent.” It is far better to have ten minutes of concentrated prayer than an hour in which one’s mind wanders from Jerusalem to Timbuktu. A legalistic commitment to duration will inevitable torpedo your prayer life (Kent and Barbara Hughes).