Our life in Christ encounters many “enemies” and obstacles. We may have temptations, doubts, or uncertainties; we may have an illness, family difficulties, or financial troubles; or we may live such busy lives that it seems impossible to squeeze one more thing into our day. Although we are made to know and love God, an overly full schedule can seem to exclude time for God. The full Christian life is one of knowing and loving God. Frequent acts of faith, hope, and charity are how God makes saints. Yet with such a packed schedule, that goal may seem impossible. One obvious response to countering these challenges is to pray more. Although, this may not seem like a practical solution.
While it would be great to fit a rosary or holy hour into our day, this sort of commitment can be daunting. Perhaps we can start smaller, much smaller. When we find ourselves wanting to pray more, we should not let the best be the enemy of the good. You can’t do a holy hour? That’s understandable. Instead, say one quick Our Father. Unable to pray a rosary? Then perhaps pray one quick Hail Mary. If you don’t have time even for that, then just say the name of our Lord: “Jesus.”
These small acts of prayer are ways to “punctuate” our day with God. Even though such short prayers may not seem like much, the greatness of a prayer is measured not by the amount of time it takes, but by how fervently we love and the devotion with which we pray. In fact, merely the desire to have time for prayer can itself be a prayer. “God, I wish I could spend more time with you.” What a great prayer! In fact, the very desire to pray more is itself a gift from God, a movement of his grace. This can, in turn, lead to giving thanks to God that he is planting these desires in your heart.
Seeing prayer in this way can radically change the way we interact with God. If such a simple thing as telling God you want to spend more time with him is a good prayer, then we can also tell him about all the other joys, obstacles, difficulties, successes, challenges, sorrows, delights, and concerns we have:
“Jesus, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Lord I believe, help my unbelief ” (Mark 9:24).
“Jesus, I’m hurting. I give you my pain.”
“Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you.”
“Lord, do you not care that I am perishing?”
“God, I’m scared; keep me close to you.”
“Father, you are good, help me.”
“My Lord and my God ” (John 20:28).
“In you Lord, I take refuge ” (Ps 31:1).
“Lord, what do you want me to do?”
“Lord you know all things, you know that I love you ” (John 21:17).
Crying out to God in confidence and telling him about your life creates a pattern in your day by which you share your whole life with him—which is the very thing he so desires and the very thing he has done for you.
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Photo by “Pexel” from Pixabay
