It is so easy to fall into a routine without prayer. Well, at least for me. I wake up in the morning to the sound of my baby crying...or laughing in in her crib. My son wakes up. I change the baby's diaper. I feed my children cereal and fruit. Well, the cereal part. The fruit part takes a little more encouragement. We go on a walk, at which some point my son stops his bike and refuses to go on. (Or he has a meltdown over something important. Today it was over air conditioning vents.) Then the day explodes with activities...and well, did I think to pray? No, usually not.
Nighttime prayers are easier because you are given a moment to pause. In the morning, you have to make that pause. Which means waking up before the baby cries or walking away from the day for a moment and hitting your knees. I know that the mornings I do pray, my spirit is lifted a little. I see everything from a higher perspective that just makes more sense.
How do you fit prayers into your morning routine?
That's a really good question, Jessie! I, too get so caught up in just stumbling out of bed that I often forget as well. Maybe I should put a sticky note on the bathroom mirror or something! I usually just count our morning family prayer, but since summer started we've even got out of the habit of that!
ReplyDeleteIf I don't remember to do it as soon as i roll (fall) out of bed - it is hard to stop the morning rush and chaos and take quiet time. Now that my youngest is a little older, it's gotten better.
ReplyDeleteMy sister gave me a suggestion once. She equates morning prayer with making her bed. She does them one after the other. When she sees her unmade bed as she passes her room, she is reminded she still hasn't said her prayers. Sometimes they may both go undone, but the reminder is always there, so it helps her be more consistent at it.
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