Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

enter the prayer room, mosque, or a selected public place, each has a set of prayer beads called bismillah containing ninety-nine beads, which are used to pray the ninety-nine names of God. I have seen Muslim men sitting in chairs moving each bead between their thumb and forefinger. If devout Jews and Muslims pray at set times, and if in the New Testament there were set times, each believer today should have his own set time to spend with God each day! Several weeks before my father passed away I was in his home, sitting with him next to his easy chair in the living room. He was very, very weak, almost unable to hold up his head. He began to talk about how frustrated he was that he could no longer see to read his Bible, travel to churches, and minister—and most of all, that his strength was gone for spending long times in prayer. He said his body had just worn out. I attempted to comfort him, reminding him that he had been in successful ministry for more than sixty years and had spent literally thousands and thousands of hours in prayer. I simply said, “God understands your situation.” Dad suddenly turned to me, pointed his bony pointer finger on his left hand in the air, and leaned a little forward toward me to say: “Son, there are no reasons for a man not to pray. When you stand before God, He will not accept any excuse for a man not praying every day!” I was put to silence. With that, nothing else need be said.