Spirituality and Work

[smndtupidisaftr]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately since my work changed and now I’m suddenly deluged with work. With both work and home life taking much of my time, I feel as though my prayer life is suffering. Even worse, because of this, when I do get free time, I typically fetter it away being lazy because I’m tired.

How do you keep it up? I find that it’s easy to spare some sleep and relaxation when my prayer is particularly fruitful, but when it is dry I find it very difficult to keep up the habit. What do you advise to keep me to stick to it during these times?

Thank you and God bless.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

The effectiveness of prayer does not show itself during the prayer itself. Good prayer brings you closer to God and other, and will show itself in improved relationships with others, especially those closest to you.

Sometimes you’ll maybe have consolations and sometimes not, but the consolations are only the bait. Your prayer may feel totally dry but when you experience more fruit of the spirit, and closeness to others, this is the Real Payoff of prayer.

By bait, I mean reinforcement or reward. In psychology, I was taught that if reinforcement is removed, behavior that had been rewarded every time will extinguish faster than behavior that was only reinforced intermittently.

Alan

 

[ChibiViolet]

There is a deep spirituality to work that has been all but forgotten.

 

[owensjo]

There is a deep spirituality to work that has been all but forgotten.

True, but work is not a substitute for spending time alone with the Lord. Mother Theresa spent hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament every day in addition to giving her life’s work to God. While that can’t be expected of the average person, remember Martha and Mary and who chose the better half.

 

[Ophelia23]

I try to incorporate my spiritual life into my work life in many ways. First, I make the habit of breath prayers. Every time I think of Christ, I pray "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." I make a point to try and just think of Him off and on throughout my day. After the effort of bringing Him to the front of my mind, I found it began happening much more often without even trying to do so. And finally, I go for a walk on one of my breaks where I pray the rosary as I go. Just a few tips.

Being able to browse Catholic Answers from your desk always helps a bit, too.