Advice? Routine and Prayer

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In my everyday life, I have little routines that are designed to allow for prayer at certain times of day; quiet times that immediately turn my mind to Him. I also think of God often and notice little blessings at work, at home, etc.

However, I just returned from a trip to visit my daughter and realized that when I was taken out of my “routines” I really didn’t give our LORD much thought and that saddens me. I don’t ever want to take Him for granted and I know how it feels to see loved ones too “busy” to give me a thought. And there I did it to Him. 😦

Part of me knows that’s natural - my schedule was completely different, it was a very busy trip with lots going on, yadda yadda yadda.

But I guess I’m wondering if there is advice or any good writings about how to truly “pray without ceasing” whether you are in your daily routine or completely thrown out of it. I’m sure it’s mostly a matter of discipline and habit, but it was surprising to me how quickly I set aside my relationship with “busy-ness” and I don’t like that.

I hope this makes sense; thank you for listening and I hope to hear some words of Wisdom from my brothers & sisters 🙂
 
Of course always set aside particular time for prayer (ie lectio divina etc).

But also very helpful and very good - is to have the practice of frequent “short prayers” during your day (and night).

Indeed --often during the day --pray little “short prayers” of love etc such is a very ancient practice --during our work, recreation, our daily life - * to keep our heart turned towards the Lord* (as one Carthusian put it).

Some might do one when ever it occurs to them…or when changing what they are doing (opening a door) etc.

Such can be used during periods of prayer in silence as well.

Such a wonderfully ancient form of prayer! One can use words from Scripture (a line from the Psalms etc) or other short prayers. They are great to help one keep the presence of God …they can be said anywhere…and frequently.

St. Augustine came up basically with the “ejaculatory prayers” for them - in describing the short prayers that where sort of like arrows sent forth all the time by the hermits of the desert. (of course they are for everyone not just hermits from the early days of the Church…he was simply describing the way they lived…but this where the term for this kind of prayer came from).

Some examples (one could make up ones own or use a line from the psalms etc)

Jesus

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!

Jesus Good Shepherd, I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you

Mary, Star of Hope pray for us

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

Christus resurrexit!- Christ is risen

Jesus I love you

Come Holy Spirit

Blessed be God

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever

I believe in You. I hope in you. I love you. I adore You, O Blessed Trinity.

Blessed be the Holy Trinity

Deo Gratius

Thanks be to God!

Jesus Christ Son of God Savior

Lord Jesus (Dominus Jesus)

God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me
(line from Psalm and a favorite of Cassian)

Also I would note in addition: The Church even attaches a partial indulgence to any short prayers when they are offered while carrying out ones duties an enduring the hardships of life --as one raises ones mind in humble trust to God making at least mentally a “pious invocation” (another name for them…) It also refers to the use of such prayers as a “long standing” practice of the faithful.

It is the very first grant in the general norms of indulgences. (get the “Manual of Indulgences” it is published by the USCCB. There is even a list of some examples in the back.

Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. Is it possible to pray always?
2742-2745
2757

Praying is always possible because the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ who remains “with us always” (Matthew 28:20). Prayer and Christian life are therefore inseparable:
Code: 
“It is possible to offer frequent and fervent prayer even at the market place or strolling alone. It is possible also in your place of business, while buying or selling, or even while cooking.” (Saint John Chrysostom)
vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Also this author and book (new book of his -I have not got it yet but looked at it and as always it is very good): scepterpublishers.org/product/index.php?FULL=791

Keep your heart turned towards the Lord! ~ Turn towards the Lord (conversi ad dominum)!
 
Hi there!

First off I can relate to what you posted. I think many of us certainly have a desire to grow in our love for God. We don’t want to just pray and then forget about God, or go to Mass and check off our ‘God box’ and continue on with our lives. You have a desire to grow in love with God so much that you want every moment to glorify our Lord. Praise be to God that you have such a desire! May your heart continue to be on fire with the love of God and may you continue to seek Him always. Rest assured knowing that I am sure you are being a light to others and you are planting great seeds in other people. Other people I am quite sure are noticing your light.

You say you visited your daughter and then you kind of got thrown off a little bit and didn’t notice God. Well, it seems to me you did a very Christian thing in visiting your daughter. I think God was very pleased that you did that and I’m sure the meeting was a nice one. If you didn’t think much of God, that is OK. You can always think of Him now. The world is not necessarily ordered around God these days, is it not? It can be tough to always pray.

I think what is important is a daily morning offering. If we offer our days to God, our suffering, our joy, our prayers, and if we ask God for the fervor to serve Him always, we can even offer up the moments that were distractions. I think another key aside from the morning offering is to just keep being gentle with ourselves. There is a quote from a saint that if you are praying and someone interrupts you, do not be mad at the person and do not go frustrated, but rather turn your gaze to the person as if you were still praying.

I know at work sometimes I cannot really pray always, nor is it possible because I deal with lots of customers. I think work can be a prayer though, just like a visit to a friend or in your case a daughter is a prayer. The advice to ‘pray always’ does not necessarily mean to pray always but to keep a loving attitude and to serve God with all our hearts.

This is a pretty good website that includes the writings of St. Francis de Sales. It is a very good and gentle resource: oblates.org/dss/francis/thoughts.php

Praise God for your desire to grow in virtue!
 
Of course always set aside particular time for prayer (ie lectio divina etc).

But also very helpful and very good - is to have the practice of frequent “short prayers” during your day (and night).

Indeed --often during the day --pray little “short prayers” of love etc such is a very ancient practice --during our work, recreation, our daily life - * to keep our heart turned towards the Lord* (as one Carthusian put it).

Some might do one when ever it occurs to them…or when changing what they are doing (opening a door) etc.

Such can be used during periods of prayer in silence as well.

Such a wonderfully ancient form of prayer! One can use words from Scripture (a line from the Psalms etc) or other short prayers. They are great to help one keep the presence of God …they can be said anywhere…and frequently.

St. Augustine came up basically with the term “ejaculatory prayer” (from *jaculari * -to aim or shoot, to seek) for them - in describing the short prayers that where sort of like arrows sent forth all the time by the hermits of the desert-“darted forth” like arrows. (of course they are for everyone not just hermits from the early days of the Church…he was simply describing the way they lived…but this where the term for this kind of prayer came from). They have also been called aspirations.

Some examples (one could make up ones own or use a line from the psalms etc)

Jesus

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus!

Jesus Good Shepherd, I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you

Mary, Star of Hope pray for us

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

Christus resurrexit!- Christ is risen

Jesus I love you

Come Holy Spirit

Blessed be God

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever

I believe in You. I hope in you. I love you. I adore You, O Blessed Trinity.

Blessed be the Holy Trinity

Deo Gratius

Thanks be to God!

Jesus Christ Son of God Savior

Lord Jesus (Dominus Jesus)

God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me
(line from Psalm and a favorite of Cassian)

Also I would note in addition: The Church even attaches a partial indulgence to any short prayers when they are offered while carrying out ones duties an enduring the hardships of life --as one raises ones mind in humble trust to God making at least mentally a “pious invocation” (another name for them…) It also refers to the use of such prayers as a “long standing” practice of the faithful.

It is the very first grant in the general norms of indulgences. (get the “Manual of Indulgences” it is published by the USCCB. There is even a list of some examples in the back.

Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. Is it possible to pray always?
2742-2745
2757

Praying is always possible because the time of the Christian is the time of the risen Christ who remains “with us always” (Matthew 28:20). Prayer and Christian life are therefore inseparable:
Code: 
“It is possible to offer frequent and fervent prayer even at the market place or strolling alone. It is possible also in your place of business, while buying or selling, or even while cooking.” (Saint John Chrysostom)
vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

Also this author and book (new book of his -I have not got it yet but looked at it and as always it is very good): scepterpublishers.org/product/index.php?FULL=791

Keep your heart turned towards the Lord! ~ Turn towards the Lord (conversi ad dominum)!
 
Now that you have recognized this, I think what can really help is simply planning ahead.

You have your daily routine of prayer right now, which is great. So when you anticipate a change in routine, think ahead and identify the best times to pray. When with company, I tend to think the best time to pray is first thing after you wake up – before you even get out of bed. When visiting, it’s easy to let the day sort of take on a life of its own once things get moving. Giving God that time first thing ensures that you get some prayer time in before that happens.
 
I fight this battle every day - because I have ADD and am easily distracted, am living in a friend’s house instead of on my own and sometimes the presence and activities of another are distracting (especially in the morning, which is not my best time anyway). :o And no two days are alike - I’m on disability so I don’t have the job as a “backbone” to get me up earlier and make a sort of structure - though sometimes I struggled back when I did as well. But here lately it’s been the unpredictability that’s been the bugbear.

For periods of time, I make resolutions to pray a set of morning prayers that I came up with a few years back, or to pray something at the start of the day, and before I realize it I’ve either a) fallen back to sleep, b) awakened late and “hit the ground running,” c) started out praying, had my mind wander, and given up, d) in the middle of taking meds, trying to figure out what to have for breakfast, or whatever, gotten sidetracked . . . you get the picture.

I go to Confession and make resolution after resolution. I pray to God to draw me to Him and help me get my routine back - it wasn’t that complicated, those prayers, I just need to be willing and focused enough to DO them! 🤷 I do pray here and there through the day as others have mentioned, but I know I could be doing better, that I’m yielding to sloth or something . . . 😦

Perhaps we could all pray for one another’s prayer struggles to improve. :getholy:
 
I’m so indignant that you have genuine emotions for God that will lead you to become more holy. I’m probably committing the sin of envy. But seriously, this is hardly fair. Why you and not me?
 
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Peace
 
null said:
I’m so indignant that you have genuine emotions for God that will lead you to become more holy. I’m probably committing the sin of envy. But seriously, this is hardly fair. Why you and not me?
Click to expand...
Remember that God has infinite graces for everybody. No one is going to get left out due to short supply! 🙂 But I know what you mean - in times when I’ve had prayer “flow” much more easily in my life (I am sooooo nostalgic for those times!) compared to these days’ sometimes mere trickle, it can be tempting to envy those for whom it comes easily. But if we just offer even the difficulty to God, I do believe that will help. In other words, don’t give up. :hug3:
 
Wow, I didn’t expect so many replies so quickly - thank you! And they are wonderful. JM3, GratefulLeper, Bookcat, Joe 5859, 3Doctors, thank you so much for the specific thoughts & advice you shared! I will check out the links later when I have a little more time.

hazompat, thank you for your prayer; I love it. 3Doctors, wonderful suggestion to pray for each other in that way! 👍

null, I agree with 3Doctors … don’t give up! Perhaps you could try to adjust your view a bit so that instead of “it’s not fair, why you and not me?” to be more, “I want that too!” Other people have inspired me that way - I look at their faith and pray to have it too and wow, does God answer those prayers in wonderful ways!

I sure love and appreciate you all, my brothers & sisters in Christ! :grouphug:
 
LPS said:
In my everyday life, I have little routines that are designed to allow for prayer at certain times of day; quiet times that immediately turn my mind to Him. I also think of God often and notice little blessings at work, at home, etc.

However, I just returned from a trip to visit my daughter and realized that when I was taken out of my “routines” I really didn’t give our LORD much thought and that saddens me. I don’t ever want to take Him for granted and I know how it feels to see loved ones too “busy” to give me a thought. And there I did it to Him. 😦

Part of me knows that’s natural - my schedule was completely different, it was a very busy trip with lots going on, yadda yadda yadda.

But I guess I’m wondering if there is advice or any good writings about how to truly “pray without ceasing” whether you are in your daily routine or completely thrown out of it. I’m sure it’s mostly a matter of discipline and habit, but it was surprising to me how quickly I set aside my relationship with “busy-ness” and I don’t like that.

I hope this makes sense; thank you for listening and I hope to hear some words of Wisdom from my brothers & sisters 🙂
Click to expand...
How interesting to read what you have said. I had a similar experience lately. I was away from home for two and a half months. My days were busy, sometimes stressful. Daily Mass became impossible. My prayer routine was interrupted. I missed my parish and friends so much.

During that time, I skipped some of my prayer routines. LOTH was put aside, and there was no way for for Eucharistic Adoration either. However I managed to pray at least one Rosary a day. Although sometimes I have to start the Rosary in the morning and finish it at night. That’s not good, I know. I also managed to keep my daily 15 St. Bridget’s prayer that I have been doing every day for so long. Even though I could do these two prayers by memory, I had to fight for concentration due to the busyness and noises around. Sometimes I felt distant from God. But when I looked at God in my heart, when I gave Him an internal gaze, it brought me back closer to Him, especially during the quiet late night. Some nights all I could do was to look at Him silently and constantly.
Now I am back home. My “exile” ends. Starting tomorrow I could resume my daily Mass and prayers. Thank God!
 
InLight247, I understand perfectly! I am so looking forward to my time in Adoration and daily mass this week.

As I’ve been reflecting on this, I truly am grateful to the LORD for helping me see - it has been a very gentle admonishment, I think - a sort of humbling lest I convince myself that I’m more mature spiritually than I really am.

I am so grateful for all of the replies! 👍
 
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