Modern life can be hectic. It’s hard enough to find time for ourselves to relax and unwind, let alone finding time to pray. Prayer is something that can help you connect with God, unwind from a stressful day, or just set your mind at ease knowing there’s someone standing with you through your trials and tribulations. But how do you keep prayer in your daily routine?
In this guide, we’ll cover five of the best methods for ensuring prayer remains a part of your daily routine. Whether you’re new to prayer or you’ve been praying your entire life, these tips can help you carve out important time to reflect, ask for forgiveness, or anything else you need to ask of the almighty.
The modern world runs on technology, and smartphones seem to be our digital best friends. Everyone has one and carries it around with them wherever they go. It’s how we connect with friends, family, and now, even God himself. With prayer apps, you can get reminders to pray, find awesome bible bedtime stories, advice, and more. Prayer apps are great tools for people who are constantly on the go!
These apps come in many different varieties, of course, but most are centered around the same basic principle. You can set reminders to pray, and some apps will even provide you with specific prayers for whatever your needs may be. Maybe you want to pray for success in your new job, or for guidance through hard times, or for the health of a loved one. Whatever the case, you can find the prayers you need with your app, even if you’ve never heard of them.
Keep spiritual awareness in a fast-paced modern world means utilizing the toolset available to us. Many prayer apps are free as well!
Everyone, no matter where they are or what their job is, should have a wind-down routine in the evening (unless, of course, you’re a 3rd-shift worker). Whenever you’re finished with work, you should have quiet time to look forward to. This helps you de-stress, analyze the day’s events, and, of course, pray.
Your evening quiet time is the perfect opportunity to get some much-needed prayers in. Prayers don’t take long—only a few minutes is enough. Say one prayer or a few, but be certain that you’re setting aside some extra time to do so. It’s important that you prioritize prayer along with relaxation. Praying can actually be therapeutic for when you’ve had a rough day.
You don’t have to ask for anything specific when you pray. Many people (falsely) believe that prayer is only for times of great stress or for when you need something. You can pray anytime, for any reason. You can just say thank you for being alive, for what you have, or for the opportunities heading your way.
It’s often easier to make time for prayer when you’re not doing it alone. Enlisting others to pray with you can help you fall into a routine, and give you a social occasion to look forward to. Prayer has brought people together for centuries, and you don’t have to go to a temple to do it. You can host prayer sessions in your home, at work (provided you have permission to do so on the grounds), or in the middle of the town square. Prayer doesn’t require a specific environment to be effective.
Maybe you’ve started to notice your family drifting apart. Where once you spent hours together, now the children are growing older and everyone seems to be going their own way. Praying can be a great catalyst for reuniting the family and giving everyone a common cause to interact with each other.
This is a great time to read scripture together as well, or to tell stories from holy books. Don’t be afraid to ask grandparents, children, parents, and siblings to join you in a short prayer session at some point during the day. Maybe that’s just the thing they’ve been needing in their lives!
Not everyone goes to a church or temple, and some areas don’t have access to such holy places. In these cases, it’s a good idea to create a safe quiet place to pray, so that you won’t be distracted. It can be a room with a locking door, a small altar or prayer building you create on your property, or even your living room—as long as it’s quiet, safe, and you can focus on what you’re doing.
Your environment can make a difference in how you pray. A distracting environment may lead to quick prayers with little focus, whereas a nice quiet environment can lead to some serious reflection and better prayers overall. The bottom line is that you want your mind to be at ease (as much as possible) while you’re praying. That way, you’re getting the maximum connection with the almighty during your prayer session. If you don’t have a prayer space, don’t worry. God will understand if you can’t get away, and your prayers will still be heard regardless.
One thing you can’t escape from during the day is the need to eat, and what better time to pray and be thankful than before a meal? Praying before you eat can help bring the meal’s attendants together, and offers a time for giving thanks for the wonderful food at your disposal. Praying at meals can be quick and concise, or you can recite memorized prayers—just remember that your guests are hungry!
Keeping prayer in your day can help you navigate life’s challenges with the knowledge that someone hears your cries for help, your thanks for the wonders of life, and the devotion you have to your Lord. These five tips will help you put (and keep) prayer in your everyday life, even if you have a busy schedule.
