Maintaining Prayer Life in a Busy World

We know we need to eat and sleep daily to support our bodies. We know we need to work to make income regularly in order to support our finances which support our household. We even need to wash ourselves regularly to remain clean and less likely to become ill. It’s no different with our prayer life. We need to pray regularly in order to support our souls which, truly, support the rest of us. So how do we make time for that in the busiest of lifestyles?

Each morning, I consecrate myself to the Holy Spirit with a prayer a friend shared with me.

Oh Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore You.

Enlighten, guide, strengthen, and console me.

Show me what I ought to do and command me to do it.

I promise to be submissive to all that You permit to happen to me,

Only show me what is Your Will.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

I also say this when I first come to Mass and kneel in the pew. The most difficult part of the prayer is promising to be submissive. In my most difficult parts of life, I’ve needed to force myself to pray that line, sometimes in tears. Yet, with each prayer, I’ve felt a stronger resolve and a greater comfort that God will carry me through each challenge. It hasn’t always gone in a way the world would approve, but God has helped me to find hope and contentment through each trial.

I’m not perfect and inasmuch I know I am a sinner. For this reason, I also say an Act of Contrition each night just before my head hits the pillow and not before. I let myself think of the day as I say this, mulling over what I might have said or did that was not what the Lord would want of me. I’m not a fan of the newer versions, so I say the old version I learned as a child.

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.

And I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,

But most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all Good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy Grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

In addition to my ‘bookend’ prayers, I make it a point to say a rosary each day. It’s usually done as I put my little one to bed. It’s quiet and I’m uninterrupted by the other children or my husband. Sometimes I’m not home to put him to bed so I need to fit it in another time, but I still make it happen that day (at least before I go to sleep.) I know some have been rushed and during some I’ve been more distracted than others, but the Blessed Mother promised that if we say the rosary daily, she will make them all as reverent as our most reverent. With that in mind, I hope to have a very reverent rosary said in my lifetime though I’m sure I need to try harder.

We’re all a work in progress, but, with daily prayer (and seriously a routine helps!), we can feed our souls in between Masses and keep ourselves aligned with God. My morning and evening prayers take less than a minute! You can do this!