Do More Than Popcorn Prayer

I used to think I had a strong prayer life. I would talk to God all day long. This came easily to me. I've always been a talker so after I became a Christian, it wasn't hard for me to chat with Jesus throughout my day.  "Help me make good choices today Jesus."  "Please help the people in that ambulence." "Lord give me patience with my co-worker." "Jesus, how are you nice to everyone all the time?" "Thank you for giving me aweosme friends."  But this kind of spontaneous prayer, this popcorn prayer throughout the day, isn't the only kind of prayer Jesus wants from us. 

Jesus wants us to make Him a priority in our lives. In addition to our popcorn prayers, He wants us to have planned prayer.  He wants us to schedule time with Him and to be intentional about our prayer life. This may look different for everyone.  Some people like to start their morning off with the Daily Readings. Some read one of the proverbs every day. It's nice that there are 31 so you can just pick the corresponding Proverb for the date. I like doing my rosary every day, and if I'm feeling really on top of things (and my kids are being good), I will also try to do a Divine Mercy chaplet. 

It doesn't matter what you do. The important thing is that you make a plan and you execute it every day. You say, "Jesus, you're important and I'm going to schedule time for you in my day."  Make a routine out of praying in addition to any spontaneous prayer you do. Don't get me wrong, the spontaneous prayer is important, and Jesus loves those popcorn prayers. But He also wants to know that you value Him so much, that He gets time in your planner, everyday. 

We make time for things that we value: family dinners, working out, volunteering, seeing friends etc. If you're still at the popcorn prayer level, it's time to step up your game and get more serious. Show Jesus that He's something you value. Pick one or two structured prayers that you can read everyday. Then pick a specific time for your prayers. I like first thing in the morning or right before bedtime. Maybe lunchtime is good for you. Pick something and honor it. If you find that it's consistently hard to do your prayers, maybe you need to pick different prayers or a different time during the day. It may take you a few tries to find something that's right for you. Just don't stop trying. Make Jesus a part of your everyday routine. 

I don't think you should put this off. I think you should start this immediately. BUT if you read this article and you get excited and still somehow forget to incoporate this into your life, I think Advent is also a wonderful time to start this new habit.  Advent is about anticipating the arrival of Jesus, and what better way to honor Him than to give Him more of your time in prayer.  So hopefully you can start this now and maybe even deeping your committment for Advent.  Prayer is essential to our soul like water is to our body.  We need to do it everyday, and we need to make it a priority.  It is the least we could do for the guy who washed away all our sins.