Too Busy to Pray

How do you stop being too busy to pray? That is quite a question. The short answer is, “I don’t.” It is so easy to become too busy. It seems like my mind works quicker in the fray. So, over the years, I began to invite God into my busyness. Then, to my surprise, I found myself wanting to spend longer times in His presence.

To make sure busyness doesn’t crowd out your prayer times with God, here are three types of prayers to help you beat the “too busy to pray” syndrome: 

1.  Quick Prayers.

God has answered so many of these kinds of quick prayers. These prayers are the kind you can work into any busy schedule in your life. Most busyness can be managed but there are times when life is out of control, like when I was a young mom with little squirmy people (children) who didn’t want to cooperate with any of my plans. As a result, I’d often pray aloud and let the kids overhear me talking to God, asking Him for help as I cleaned up another sticky mess. The kids actually understood this better than adults and seemed to respond positively to being included in prayer, especially if they got the idea that my praying might be keeping them alive! I wish I’d done more of this.

Also under this “quick prayers” category is the prayers you can pray while you are talking. You know the times when you have the privilege of sharing your faith with someone and have absolutely no idea what to say next. God has given us minds that have the capability of plugging into Heaven to ask for help at the same time we are talking. This is easier for women. And Scripture even tells us that the Holy Spirit will interpret these “help” prayers for us.

2.  Five Minute Prayers.

This is for the person who has more time. Because so many quick prayers brought tangible, blessed results, I was encouraged to pray longer! The beginning of the day for me is a great time to take just five minutes and ask for help for that day. These prayers aren’t fancy or well worded, but they are straight out of the heart, which God loves. I like to do this before I get out of bed, because once my feet hit the floor, it’s often too late. 

Sometimes you can corral your husband (or favorite prayer partner) to join you in praying for the day. If you can pray for each other, it is even better. That can even be done on the phone. 

As prayers were being answered, I began to understand the amazing, large amount of ammunition I had against problems—praying that actually squeezed out my worrying. Imagine that! It also made me realize that God wanted me to talk to Him. In fact, He was intensely interested in my everyday life, so to grow my prayer life, I began reading books on prayer.  Author E.M. Bounds says, “God shapes the world by prayer. Prayers are deathless. They outlive the lives of those who utter them.” 

3.  Long Prayers.

As the children grew and I had more time to read my Bible and pray, the E.M. Bounds statement made me realize that perhaps I needed to ask God what He wanted me to pray for. Or better yet, for whom He wanted me to pray. Little by little, a face would come to mind or a name of a person. Not knowing what it was they needed, I would pray for safety or for peace or just that they would feel God near to them and they would be blessed by that. The first time I remember doing that, I called the person and left a message on her voicemail. I told her God brought her to mind while I was praying and wondered if there was something specific I should be praying for her. A few weeks went by and since I really didn’t know her all that well, I didn’t expect her to return the call. Then she called. She thanked me through tears for leaving the message on her voicemail. She had been gone for two weeks but had gone through a very spiritually dry time exactly when I prayed for her. When she learned that God had brought her to my mind right then, her faith that God loved her was multiplied. That day God encouraged the heart and faith of a woman He dearly loved.  

The realization that my prayers “are deathless” outlive me as I speak them also spurred me on to give more thought to how I pray and where my own heart is before I say the word, “Father.” Scripture teaches that I have God’s attention when I pray. All of this has increased my desire to make time to pray no matter how busy my life becomes. And surprisingly, I’ve been able to actually spend more time to pray, not less. Martin Luther said he spent an hour a day in prayer unless he had a very busy day. Then he spent three hours in prayer. The truth of the matter is: the busier we are, the more we need God and the more we need to talk to Him in prayer. 

Why don’t you make a plan today for how you’re going to grow your prayer life and watch what God does! Before you know it, you’ll be desiring more, not less, time with Him!

~ By Rita Hanon