Are you too busy to pray?
I was recently talking to a college student, and she shared that she’s struggling to pray the whole Daily Office, and read all three lessons and the Psalm everyday. She works a lot, goes to school, and volunteers at her church. Other people here in Atlanta have to commute long hours, which can take away 1-2 hours per day. Mothers and fathers of young children are often so exhausted by the time they could sit down to pray, that they fall asleep! Some people are suffering through illnesses that take away their alertness and focus. And there are an increasing number of people taking care of elderly or ill family members.
These are understandable, and even noble, reasons why some people have a hard time following a daily rule of prayer. Yet often we use guilt-inducing motivations, along with other negative reinforcement to try to get ourselves praying. Friends, negative reinforcement never works long term. Jesus came not to condemn us, but to save us.
What if we take away condemnation and any kind of weird guilt trip, what is left? Can we form a simple rule of prayer for those challenging phases of our lives?
Here are some ideas that have assisted me and folks I’ve known:
Rule of Prayer
Its better to form a simple rule of prayer, and follow it, than to develop an unobtainable one and never be able to practice it. And its better to develop a rule of prayer than to “wing it.”
Prayer
The Daily Office is based on the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is our basic form of prayer, and it covers everything. Worship, praise, thanksgiving, intercession, confession, reconciliation, requests, and doxology. Start each day by saying the Lord’s prayer. Say the names out loud of the people you are praying for. Speak your requests. Then make the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Pray over each meal. At the end of the day, before bed, kneel and say “The almighty and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless us and keep us. Amen.”
A few people have mentioned to me that they have prayer partners they call. You can call someone on a commute, or for 10 minutes a day, and pray together.
Also many have found the blessing of the Jesus Prayer, which is prayed throughout the day. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” Or a simpler form, “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy.” This keeps us “praying without ceasing” as St. Paul taught.
Holy Scripture
Instead of trying to read the whole Bible in one year, why not try five years? Wouldn’t it be better to read the Bible slowly over five years, than to not read it at all? Some people will read the Gospel lesson each day. Some will read one section of scripture each day. Some commuters listen to the Bible in the car. Some listen to the Bible on headphones while jogging or exercising. Some people play the audio Bible while cleaning the house or getting dressed. I know a few people who will memorize short Scripture sentences to say out loud each day.
Devotional Reading
What if you read two pages of a devotional/theological book every day? You’d probably finish a couple of books a year. You might start with A Year with the Church Fathers or Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich.
Resources
There are a lot of great resources out there to help you, such as our Daily Office Booklets.
The Trinity Mission offers daily audio prayers and lessons. So does the Mission of St. Clare. The English Standard Version has the print and audio version of the Daily Office lesson available every day.
Weekends or Retreat
Maybe the weekend, or a special retreat time, will provide a longer block of time for you to read through morning prayer, and plan out your rule of prayer for the following months. Maybe you have time to read a devotional book then. Take those times when you can. But building this cycle of longer retreats of blocks of prayer can help remind us of God’s presence and grace, and center us on Jesus in a more focused period of time.
Grace
Is that enough? Yes. Jesus cautioned us against the idea that we have to “make many words” in order for our prayers to be effective. There are times in our lives when we must have simple forms of prayer.
We aren’t talking about “bare minimums” here. There isn’t a bare minimum or a maximum amount of prayer. It doesn’t work that way. Prayer is a part of our life, not a regulation.
Prayer is a lifelong journey, its a relationship, and its a discipline. Cut yourself some slack if you are limited on time. Develop a simple rule of life that involves prayer and reading. Go to worship every Sunday. Talk to friends about how they pray. Cast your cares upon Jesus, because he cares for you.
Greg, I so appreciate the grace of this article. Your pastoral voice is a gift to those of us who have to “graze” rather than feast during these years of raising little ones. Thanks!
These are great, Greg.
For me, staying in prayer is like staying in shape: If it’s going to be a long-term habit, then my plan has to be able to flex and morph with changes in external circumstances and internal motivations. And it helps if I keep learning and experimenting.
I echo your suggestions of using audio files, anchoring different points of the day with memorized prayers, and having a breathing prayer in your pocket for moments when that’s all you can muster (I use “I am yours; save me” from Psalm 119:94).
I’ve had a few seasons of robust and frequent prayer and many of brief, occasional prayer. The thing I’ve found that makes it work is exactly what you said: “Have a simple rule of prayer, and follow it.”
My present rule is certainly simple: Once a week I take a long run while listening to an audio file I recorded, which lists the names of people I pray for, allowing a brief space after each name for a moment of intercession. Once a day I write in a prayer journal (found it 75% off in a discount bin—woot!) which has space for a few sentences of “petitions and answered prayers” and “my thoughts and thanks.”
I have other moments of prayer, but these are my current “rule.” It ain’t much, but it keeps prayer and my life reliably connected to each other. As you said, “Prayer is a part of our life.”
Thanks for the post.
Aaron+
Thank you kind sir, and thanks for those helpful examples as well.