Sunday Special: I can pray whenever I feel like it.

I genuinely thought that I could go with the flow in terms of when and what I would be praying throughout the day. And I still think that there is an incredible power in a completely spontaneous prayer. Like when you see somebody in pain and just ask the Lord that He brings his healing into that heart. Or when you see a beautiful view and thank God for creating such a glorious world for us. 

But I came to realise that routines are important. They remove the decision making aspect and so you don't come up with excuses why you can't pray at that particular time: it has already been decided that that time was doable. It's a little bit like with religious sisters: they have their day scheduled so that they constantly look up to the heights, there is no escape from it and so their spiritual life is constantly refocused on Christ. And routines also give your day a prayerful rhythm, you know exactly when you will be turning to God and when you will really be intentionally focused on his love.

It's the same as your eating pattern: if you eat regularly, your body is norishrdn enough so that it can stop worrying about storing up energy for laterals can instead focus on its other functions. Or as your sleeping pattern: if you go to bed at the same time each day, and if you wake up at the same time each morning, your body is more refreshed and energetic.

For me a prayer routine is for the soul what eating or sleeping is for the body: the most effective and nourishing way to provide all that it needs to grow and become more beautiful. 

I am going to share some of my prayer routines with you now. It's by no means an exemplar one, it might not even be a particularly good one, but this is what helps me to grow in faith. It works for me personally given my pace of life, work patterns and personality, so take from it what you find most helpful.

The morning

The Church follows the rhythm of the Liturgy of the Hours: it is seven prayers, based on the Scriptures, spread across the entire day, from dawn to dusk and into the night. You can find these prayers for each day here. I don't do all seven, but each morning I recite Lauds, that is the Morning Prayer. I find it amazing that when I pray in the morning, I unite with all the faithful using the Liturgy of the Hours: the entire world reciting the same prayer. Isn't that amazing?

If I walk to work in the morning, I will pray on the way. I might say the rosary or listen to my worship playlist. I found that before this quarter of an hour was a bit of a dead time for me that wasn't spent on anything in particular. Prayer helps me to focus, gather my thoughts and generally I feel much calmer when I reach work if I concentrate on God beforehand. I truly believe that it makes me a better teacher during the day, because I am more aware of the need for patience and love for all my pupils.

The day

During the day, it is often really busy with the children, planning, photocopying etc, so it is usually the time for all the spontaneous prayers, whenever I need those. I might pray before a lesson with a particularly tricky group. I might thank for a really good lesson that has just happened. Or if I become aware that one of the children struggles with something, I can say a prayer for him or her.

The evening

In the evening, I do Lectio Divina, which is prayerful reading of the Scriptures. You read a passage through once and then go verse by verse, looking at the meaning of the text in a literal and spiritual dimension. I love this part of my day, I get to talk about Jesus for 15 minut non stop (though only to myself so far). This is a recent addition to my prayer routine: I haven't been particularly good at reading the Bible so far and I am so glad that I've finally found a way that really makes sense to me.

The night

Finally, just before going to sleep, I kneel down in my bedroom for a couple of minutes to thank God for very specific events of the day. This is often my favourite part of the day, not only because it's bed time, but also because I get to clearly see what blessings I've been given. It might also be the only time during the day when I get to kneel down under the cross hanging on my wall. I've found that kneeling down is so powerful and important, making me see the greatness of God so clearly and my reliance on Him for everything.

This is roughly what I do every day. It gives me a great comfort that each day is the same. Maybe it's to do with my personality, I love organising everything and so I have organised my prayer life quite meticulously. Not everybody will want this level of organisation, but even simply setting particular times for prayer is such a good practice. I feel that it is important to grow in faith. I suppose it's a little bit like scheduling a coffee date with a friend: you wouldn't just hand around town hoping that you would meet each other and have a coffee - you would schedule a time that you purposefully set aside for this activity. Prayer is like that. Even though God, unlike people, is constantly and permanently available for a chat, you are not, so make room for Him.