Prayer is hard...

Prayer is hard...

My prayer life is very uneven to say the least. I can't always follow my own advice and pray daily.
It takes a lot of effort and forming a new habit in order to set aside time to pray each day.

My family Bible in my Prayer Closet

I must say that my biggest problem is myself. I find it hard to form habits of any kind, from brushing my teeth, (no my teeth aren't green and I still have 98% of them) to writing a bi-weekly blog.
Not that that is a bad thing, I also have never smoked cigarettes, don't have addictions to alcohol or drugs, never been arrested, never passed out from too much partying, and I don't steal. Well, I have been known to open my purse and find pens that I have no idea where they came from, but hey, isn't that why they put advertisements on them? (You can smile here! You know you have the same problem now and again. )

But then on the other side of the coin that is me, the habits I have formed are what I believe are important ones, like faith in God. That has been part of my life since I can remember, although we did have some rocky times in my early life. The other good habits are faithfulness and loyalty to my husband, my family, my friends, and to my job.

One habit that I used to keep, at least until I lost my job in the secular world, was getting up everyday Monday through Friday, and going to work! I loved working. That's where my second family was located. Most people do not realize that you spend more time with the people you work with than your own family most of the time. So these people become a second family, with the weird Aunt Sally, the boring cousin that never stops talking, your brother that is a little too loud, or the sister that is a little too jealous. There's the flirt, the gossiper, the romeo, the grandmother, the rich matron (boss), the procrastinator, the idea thief, the showoff, and the introvert, and let's not forget, the lunch thief. Once I even worked with a schizophrenic that believed the men in black were stalking her and playing tricks on her! 

I miss my routine and sometimes have trouble organizing my day because there are so many things at home that interest me. They constantly pull me away from one thing to another until finally it's dinner time and the husband comes home. Have you experienced something like that before?

Now I want to return to school, to college, albeit online, it is scary! Middle aged woman who hasn't set foot on a school in thirty years, shiver!  How do I squeeze more time into this day that I have filled with so many chores? How do I still find time to pray, to work, to Blog and evangelize, to study?
God will provide! Yes, He will be there with me and help me work it all out, and if it be his will, I'll get the funds to pay for it. Getting the "A's" is up to me, I can't bother Him over grades, and nuisance things like that, because that's why he gave us the ability to think and reason and free will. If I flunk, it's on me.

Back to prayer!

Everyone's schedule is different, their circumstances, their family size and ages, so some people can set aside time in the morning, for fifteen minutes to say their prayers of Thanksgiving and ask for protection during the day. Some may have time before work to get up a little earlier and go to Mass before starting work. Some squeeze in time at Noon or during their lunch period to spend some quiet time with the Lord. Some can stop at the Adoration chapel on the way home and share their day with the Lord and decompress before arriving home to family. There are lots of ways to include prayer in your daily life, you just have to study yourself, your current habits, your schedule and find a way. Then the most important, just do it! They say it takes at least two weeks to form a new habit, so just stick to it and you'll get there eventually!

The Bible has many, many passages regarding prayer, and the Psalms is a great way to get started.
Jesus' teaching on prayer is one we should all know, in Matthew 6:9-15

9   “This is how you are to pray:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10    your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

11    Give us today our daily bread;

12    and forgive us our debts,

as we forgive our debtors;

13    and do not subject us to the final test,

but deliver us from the evil one.

14 If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

In Luke there is slight differences because Luke was written in a different language than Matthew so when they were translated, they come out slightly different. The thing to remember is that it still means the same thing.  

Luke 11: 1-4

1   He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”^*

2  He said to them, “When you pray, say:

     Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

3   Give us each day our daily bread

4    and forgive us our sins

      for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

      and do not subject us to the final test.”

By tradition, in the USA at least, when we recite the Lords Prayer, we say it the way it translated a century or two ago: 

Our Father who Art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us, 

and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen

You can say this prayer while driving to work, or washing dishes, doing laundry, taking out the garbage, or walking the dog. Add a "Hail Mary", (no, not the football pass), and a "Glory Be".
Look how easy is that? We can start out small and work up to doing a Divine Mercy prayer daily, then a Decade of the Rosary with your prayer intentions for all those Email and Facebook prayer requests.
Then add another decade every so many days until you've made it to a full Rosary! Whoo Hoo! We're prayer warriors!

I have a small package or envelope of prayers I try to say daily for various Saints and Angels, with different intentions related to them. I also keep a small prayerbook in my purse, (there are wallet sized ones as well) for those times when my own words are not enough, or for the Litany's and Novena's that I may want to say or participate in while at church. That is a nice thing about Catholic Traditions, the prayers that were written by the Saints are so beautiful. Sometimes the prayer can say so much that you wanted to say but couldn't thing of, and in a way that can be soothing to our hearts. Prayers are not just for God, they are for us, to help us sort out the menagerie of thoughts and emotions that are tooling about in our mind and soul. They allow me to focus my petitions and my mind on God the Father and on our Lord Jesus.

Another way I add prayer time is in the car. I listen to Lighthouse Catholic Media CD's while I'm driving and I get a bible study on the road. It has cut down on my road rage tremendously, I never get upset in traffic anymore, I don't worry about the jerk that just cut me off, I just relax and enjoy the ride.

One of their recently released talks on prayer was given by

Sister Mary Gabriel, Novice Director for the Sisters of Life, spoke to college students about the transforming power of prayer at the Seek 2013 conference presented by FOCUS. Drawing on personal experience and her lively faith, Sister encourages all of us to rededicate ourselves to growing in relationship with Christ through a life of joyful prayer.

This talk was featured in the April 2013 edition of Truth be Told. Sign up today to receive incredible talks like this straight to your inbox every month!

                          For a sample of the talk, click here.


Be inspired, find new ways to pray through out your day. Your prayers will be heard and they will be answered, although not necessarily the way you think. 

Blessings!,
The Catholic Lady©