I have a hard time setting aside time to pray everyday. I have tried praying in the morning, in the car, after work, and before going to bed. All have been effective at times, but I am full of distractions in my head. I also find that one specific time will work for a while and then my distractions increase. I also struggle with my daily prayer time becoming too much routine and not sincere.
I don’t want it to be something I check off of my to do list everyday. I want it to be authentic and dedicated. I don’t know why this has to be so hard for me sometimes. I try praying through the distractions and sometimes praying specifically about the distractions. Sometimes I get the urge to go do other things that I need to do. I have tried journaling during prayer time and writing down my distractions to deal with them later. This can work too, but this takes a little bit more time and effort.
I feel like I have tried a lot of strategies for quality consistent prayer time, but I usually end up slipping away from it somehow. How do you stay in the groove with your prayer time and fight off distractions?
I don't stay in the groove; I find myself switching gears which is part of how I fight off distractions. When I get out of sink praying at one time or place I shift to another. I really try to make prayer an "anytime, anywhere" action. I pick up the phone and call a friend, email them, IM them, or text them, when I want to talk, so why not do the "whenever" thing with Jesus. too? I tried praying at a specific time at work for awhile by setting it up as an appointment on my calendar. The only thing that find that that really helps with the distractions is to schedule time to go off somewhere to pray, reflect, and plan. Jesus did it alot you know. He went off alone in to the wilderness. My wilderness is a state park about 45 minute north. I use the drive time to listen to worship music and prepare my heart for the occassion. This has become a welcome time of renewal for me–
Going off alone somewhere has always been effective for me too. I find especially when I can get outside somewhere quiet, surrounded by God's creation. When I do go off alone it is easier for me to listen to God. It is nice when I get those opportunities, but it doesn't happen very often.
Minimally, I pray WITH the kids at bedtime and then before I go to bed I go back into their rooms to check on them and pray FOR them. Other than that it's a sporatic thing through the day just like picking up the phone to call a friend. It might be a short call or a long one depending on what's going on.