Scheduling Prayer - religious rituals or God provided?

Growing up in a Christian home, praying before meals and before bed was always the thing to do.  Sometimes, I will admit, that I was not a fan of this as it seemed numb and thoughtless.  It was just the thing to do and the prayers were often very similar - seemingly mindlessly spoken.  In the past week, while preparing a study on prayer, I came to the realization that there are specific hours of prayer in the Bible.  The third hour, the sixth hour and the ninth hour - were originally laid out in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the hours of prayer were also the hours of sacrifice.

Although this prayer practice was established in the Old Testament, it is more often mentioned in the New Testament. These hours of Prayer/Sacrifice were prophetic in nature.  Jesus our supreme sacrifice was crucified in the third hour of the day (Mark 15:25). His witness of "darkness at noon day" occurred in the sixth hour (Mark 15:33-34; Matthew 27:45). Finally at the time of the evening sacrifice being the ninth hour Jesus gave up the ghost and died for the sins of the world (Luke 23:44-46). 

The New Testament is filled with glorious accounts of how God has honored these special hours by responding to prayer in a significant way. 

Here are some examples:

.It was the third hour on the memorial day of Pentecost, when the one hundred and twenty disciples were in the upper room praying for the promise of the Father when cloven tongues of fire sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3, 15). Not only was it the prophetic day (Pentecost) but also the prophetic hour

It was the ninth hour when Peter and John went to the Temple to pray and a lame man was gloriously healed.  They were deliberately at the Temple because it was the hour of prayer - it was not random or coincidence.

It was also the ninth hour when Cornelius was praying and the Lord appeared to him in a vision.

It was the sixth hour when Peter was praying and saw a vision of a great sheet let down.  (Acts 10)

What does this mean for believers today?  Is it still significant?  Should we "plan" prayer.  We are taught to pray without ceasing.  So, does it matter if we pray at specific times or not.  Ashamed to say one of my weaker areas as a believer is my prayer life.  It is not that I don't want to pray - I do.  It is not that I don't have reason to - I have plenty of reason to.  It is time.  The "I will do it when the children are asleep or at least quietly playing and I won't be distracted" mentality.  I'm sure you Mums are right there with me as I smile thinking - Yup, that really doesn't happen.  In the rare times that it does, it is time to get a bunch of other things done that have been on hold until "child-free".  So, is it wrong to have specific hours to pray?  My first thought came back to the religious ritual but then I started thinking about it.  As humans we are creatures of habit.  We usually end up having breakfast, lunch and dinner around the same time.  For my family, breakfast is around 7, lunch around noon and dinner between 530 and 6pm.  I plan the meals for this time.  I somehow get the meals done - regardless of the children.  We have set times (or try to) for naps and bedtime.  For children - esp little ones - it is all about routine and it is the routine that gives them security.  Why then, when it is normal for us to plan and schedule does it seem religious to plan specific prayer times?  I thought about it some more and determined that if my husband and I are going to have a chance to talk - without interruption - then we have to plan it.  Some families have a standing schedule of phoning a loved one at a specific time on a specific day.  So, even in earthly relationships we plan and schedule "talking sessions".  If with our human relationships - people we see and interact with on a regular basis - have to be "scheduled and planned";  then why does it seem so unreasonable that God is in His infinite wisdom - knows that we need to schedule prayer time with Him?  Maybe to you - it is straight forward and you are thinking that I'm crazy.  Maybe you hadn't even really thought about it - or noticed that God has given us these hours of prayer - remembering the specific hours that Jesus suffered and died for us - the ultimate sacrifice.

Since, coming to the realization and while I continue to study prayer - I have incorporated the three hours of prayer.  The third hour (9am), I focus on God and Who He is and what He has done.  The sixth hour (noon), I focus on praying for others.  Lifting my brothers and sisters up in prayer and praying for unbelieving friends and family.  The ninth hour (3pm) I pray for me and my family.  Do I stop what I am doing at the top of the hour - no.  But sometime during that hour, I specifically make time to pray - maybe only 5 mins - but it's still time in communion with my God.  How is your prayer life?  Do you consistently pray throughout the day or are you like me with great intentions and desires but get to the end of the day and crash realizing you hadn't stopped to spend some quiet, quality time in prayer?  Notice I said quality not quantity!

*As a side note - 

I had often wondered how Daniel was "caught" praying 3 times a day to be thrown into the lions' den.  Having read more about it - I have now come to the conclusion that he was following the hours of prayer and sacrifice laid out by God and that his adversaries knew when to specifically watch him.