Are you struggling to get prayer time in? If you’re struggling with finding time to pray as a busy Catholic mom, I see you. I am you. And this post is for you.

I talked about how to find more time in your busy morning for prayer in this post, but today I want to focus on some of my favorite tools to help you along on your prayer journey. 

As a busy mom to three young kids, I’m no stranger to chaos—and noise. That’s why, whenever I read about peaceful morning routines, I immediately exclude that as a possibility for me in this current stage of life. 

You see, I’m not a morning person at all. So waking up before my kids do in order to pray or read the Bible is just not going to happen.

But then, when I try to save my personal prayer time for bedtime, I end up falling asleep somewhere between the Apostle’s Creed and the first decade of my rosary.

I’ll be honest—sometimes I feel like it’s pointless even to try to get some quiet time in with God during my day. But then I realized that that thought was keeping me from praying altogether. 

It’s just like when you only have a small amount of time for something, like dishes or laundry, and think, “Well, I can’t get it done in this short of a time, so I won’t even start.” …and seven days later, your clean laundry is still in the dryer. 

So what’s a busy mom to do? 

Instead of waiting for the perfect time to pray, or for a quiet moment in the messy chaos that is being a mom of toddlers, we need to start praying throughout the day more. 

Now I’m not saying to totally abandon the pursuit of quiet time in prayer. That is still important and something we should strive for. But what I am saying is that you shouldn’t abandon prayer time due to a lack of quiet moments. 

My five favorite ways to incorporate prayer into your busy life are in this post, but today I want to dive even deeper with these tools to help you find time to pray as a busy Catholic mom.

5 Tools To Help You Find More Time To Pray

1. Use a rosary tracker

Ok, I admit, I just made up this phrase, so don’t necessarily Google “rosary trackers.” But what I’m referring to is something to help you keep track of your place in a rosary for when you get interrupted throughout the day. I have two favorite ways to do this.

The first, and the one I use most, is my rosary bracelet. I have a stretch and wrap one from Chews Life (this is an affiliate link) that I love because it stays with me all day, even when I’m on the go. It has a handy little clasp that you can remove and replace anywhere along the rosary to easily keep track of where you left off. This way, you can start praying your rosary anytime and not lose your place!

Similarly, I also have a kitchen abacus which I actually made at a Mom’s Night Out through our church. This one sits in my kitchen, and I can slide the beads across the strings as I go along.

Now, I don’t necessarily string each bead as I pray the prayers; usually, I’m elbow-deep in dishes or something equally messy. But whenever I finish my task, I track the beads I’ve already prayed before I step away if I’m interrupted. This was actually pretty easy to make, but I’ve also seen some gorgeous pre-made ones on Etsy and from other Catholic shops!

2. Use a Catholic app

We talk about how much technology and social media consume our lives, and it’s true. There is definitely something more reverent-feeling about opening the physical Bible than scrolling on your phone. BUT sometimes, especially when you’re on the go, you may not be able to open your Bible.

Instead of abandoning the pursuit of scripture altogether, you can grab an app for your phone to either read or listen to scripture, among many other prayers and meditations. My two favorites are Laudate and Hallow. Both are free, and Hallow does have an upgrade where you can access even more content.

3. Post prayers around your house

I was visiting my mom the other day, and noticed she had the Memorare prayer on her refrigerator. Almost automatically, every time I went to the fridge to pour a fresh cup of milk for my kiddos, I found myself reciting the prayer.

I can’t wait to do this all over my house now! I have six quick and powerful prayers in this post with corresponding images you can save to your computer and print out to post all around if you’d like to try it too!

4. Set alarms

This tip makes it into almost all of my posts for helping busy moms- whether it’s for finding time to pray, managing my household, or helping me stay on track in my business, alarms are my lifesaver! I used to joke that I needed an external hard drive for my brain because it’s at max capacity all the time. Then I realized, I can actually use my phone for that! I set alarms for specific times throughout the day to remind myself to pray. Even if I’m in the middle of something when my alarm goes off, it still reminds me to make some time for prayer when I’m able to next.

5. Use prayer ambiance videos during “quiet time”

This is a new one for me, as I just recently discovered these morning prayer ambiance videos on YouTube from The Little Rose Shop. She offered a great idea to put these videos on and allow your kids to have “quiet” playtime while you sit in the same room and have prayer time. Now, my kids are never quiet, but I’m excited to try this nonetheless! 

These are just a few of the many ways for finding time to pray as a busy Catholic mom. Your prayer life doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to exist! I hope this post has given you some ideas you can incorporate into your life. I would also love to hear what other things are working for you! Please feel free to share below. God bless!

P.S. Did you see this? Sign up here to get your free journal!

Send me the journal!