How do you avoid indolence?

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smndtupidisaftr

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In other words, what keeps you going to stay on a prayer routine or reading religious books rather than sitting on the couch watching TV or something like that? How do you discipline yourself from getting lazy and avoiding spiritual growth? I struggle with this greatly and constantly lapse back to being lazy rather than taking my extra time to pray or do something productive. How do you deal with it?
 
I lapse into that sometimes.

I tend to stay on track with dishes and vacuuming when I have a to do list.

I’m thinking about making a daily to do that has chores and spiritual practices (and exercise!).
 
Love of God. Our love is intended to grow, but it needs nurturing. I spend time before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament I find that to be very refreshing to the spirit. But then, the Lord has spared my life twice in recent years, so I have an increased sense of gratitude. When I am overcome with gratitude, I am impelled by the Spirit to struggle to keep Christ’s commands. When I ponder the great need of prayer in this world, I cannot keep from praying.
 
smndtupidisaftr said:
In other words, what keeps you going to stay on a prayer routine or reading religious books rather than sitting on the couch watching TV or something like that? How do you discipline yourself from getting lazy and avoiding spiritual growth? I struggle with this greatly and constantly lapse back to being lazy rather than taking my extra time to pray or do something productive. How do you deal with it?
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I practice simply by meditating on faith, hope and LOVE. I have incorporated this in all aspects of my life.
 
I try to focus on the Little Way… that is, praising God in all of my daily tasks. Trying to do these tasks well for His glory, even if they are small or seemingly unrelated to His plan. I find that by doing this, I have something concrete to go from.
 
I follow a rule taught by Father Larry Richards. **No Bible no Breakfast, no Bible no bed. **This means that you should read some scripture when you wake up and before going to sleep. I keep a bible beside me on the night stand so I can read a verse or two.
 
Polycarp1 said:
I follow a rule taught by Father Larry Richards. **No Bible no Breakfast, no Bible no bed. **This means that you should read some scripture when you wake up and before going to sleep. I keep a bible beside me on the night stand so I can read a verse or two.
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Ah, that is an intriguing idea. Deferred compensation I’ve heard is a great method for self-discipline.

In all, I think I need to pray more for patience and self-control.
 
I have a routine, much like Polycarp1’s in which I do Morning and Evening Prayer (LOTH) and read the daily Mass readings each day. I reserve my recliner for watching some TV in the evenings, after dinner (with my dh). During the day I do my chores, write, read, and post on CAF, of course. 😉
 
Thankyou for the question and the tips from other posters. This is a useful reminder of the need to stick to my prayers and duties.

I think that it’s a life-long struggle for most of us.

I read some time ago that one of the reasons that the early monasteries were formed was because individuals found that no matter how good their intentions they would eventually grow weary of private prayer, and so a community with a rigid routine was the best way to keep going.

I think that there are a couple of lessons from that, for the rest of us (and has been suggested in the responses)…
  1. Have a routine,
  2. Use other people, where possible
  3. Don’t exert yourself too hard, all at once, because you will probably lose interest. Especially, don’t set goals that will conflict with your duties (eg. as a parent), your work, or even legitimate recreation.
  4. Don’t beat yourself about failures. Just pick yourself up, and try again.
I personally have a fairly low “minimum” requirement for prayers, and ensure that I do that, each morning and night, and then anything else is a bonus. My “minimum” has been growing slowly over the years.

I do confess “wasting time, especially on the internet, or with extra cups of coffee”, quite frequently.
 
OneDayASaint said:
I tend to stay on track with dishes and vacuuming when I have a to do list.
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Agreed. It is so much easier to look at a list and work through it, than to have a feeling of “too much to do”, and not know where to begin.

There are plenty of computer and smartphone apps to assist with this, but my experience has been that none of them (apart from a simple calendar with appointments) work after a few weeks.

So, I use the computer calendar (gmail, which is web based), and then a paper “to do” list from time to time.

Any suggestions? (for a computer based system which works)
 
The Lord has been good to me, to the extent it’s a constant compulsion to pray every moment, even while doing other things if by so much as a mindful breath – breathing and keeping in mind the God breathed our very life into us. Or whatever it is about God that I’m thinking about. :harp:

Some people said gratitude. That’s a great one for me. Being ever mindful of His gifts. Every time I get a cup of water it’s a gift. Every time I rest in a comfy chair in a warm living room. I don’t focus on telling myself that I’m not worthy and stuff like that, but “gosh this is grrreat! Thank you, Lord!” :extrahappy:

For myself, I’m not one much to schedule prayers, except bedtime prayers with the kids, mealtime, etc. I’m not much, for that matter, for being organized and following a schedule. :rolleyes:

But I’m very, very happy! :heaven:

Alan
 
Generally I force myself to do things like pray, read the bible etc.
 
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