The Gift of Fragmented Prayer

My prayer is so fragmented, I’ve been thinking to myself lately. My life has become so busy that most days, it looks more fragmented than it used to: 15 minutes here, 10 minutes there, but longer periods of prayer happen less frequently.

Maybe you’re living that kind of life too. You can’t find 30 minutes or an hour of solitude a day, but you can find 5 minutes, 10 minutes or even 15 minutes to catch some prayer time. You feel bad about it. You wish you had more silent time devoted to the Holy One.

I recently came into contact with a young mom who described her prayer life in these fragmented ways. Praising God one minute, listening to a song the next, saying the Divine Mercy chaplet later in the day, and daily mass when she could get there with the little ones. I was in awe of how this person wove God into life with toddlers. Her fragmented prayer life looked quite beautiful.

If it’s beautiful for that person, is it possible it could be beautiful in my own life too? 

We’re all busy in our own ways, most likely doing the responsibilities and work that God gave us. If we’re trying to find moments in our day to pray and give God glory, that’s a beautiful thing. It means we are making efforts to keep Him in our day and find friendship with Him -- much like keeping in contact with loved ones each day with texts, calls, conversation and so on.

So if your prayer is more fragmented than you’d like it to be, take heart and be encouraged: It’s beautiful that you thought of God enough to take those minutes and make them His.