Have you struggled to find time for prayer in your super busy schedule?

Friend, you’re not alone. Though I regularly have quiet time as part of my morning routine, I sometimes (uh, I mean a lot of times) hear myself saying that I didn’t have time to pray much this week.

The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing” (KJV) or “never stop praying” (NLT).

Those three simple words are actually life changing when you think about it. God didn’t say get up every morning and pray for an hour in your war room and you’ll be good. He tells us to “never stop praying”!!! He wants us to be in constant communication with him so that we remain close to him and we can stay focused on Jesus in every area of our life.

That means you can carry on a continuous, open-ended conversation with God throughout your day, talking with him about whatever you’re doing, thinking or feeling at that moment. When we experience a blessing, we thank him for favor. When we face challenges and frustrations, we ask for his help.

He is asking us to acknowledge His presence throughout our entire day.

But you’re busy, right?

What if instead of building prayer up to be some huge time commitment everyday, we focus on the opportunities we already have in our schedule to pray?

8 Practical Ways to Incorporate Prayer in Your Routine

Today, I want to offer some super practical ways that you can obey God’s commandment to “pray without ceasing”.

1. Commute & Run Errands with God – Many of us spend hours driving or riding public transportation to work each week. We also spend time running errands and going to events. Use that solo time in the car to transform it into your prayer time. It will end up taking your mind off your mundane drive and help your feel more grounded even in heavy traffic.
2. Workout with God – Pray as you walk or run around your neighborhood or while you workout on your treadmill. You get the benefit of moving, connecting with the body God created, and growing deeper with him.
3. Waiting with God – We all have various times in our day that we are required to wait. Whether it is waiting at a doctor’s office, outside your bosses door, or at your kids bus stop, make it a point to use that time intentionally. You can keep a list of things or people you want to pray for on your phone and whip it out when you have one of those wait times. Evernote is a great app keeping track of your prayer lists.
4. Self-care with God – Whatever it is that rejuvenates you, use that time to commune with God. I am sure that you will be surprised when that hike or bubble bath becomes even more refreshing when God is invited. Again, it doesn’t have to be anything formal.
5. Housework with God – We all have plenty of tasks at home that require our hands only. Use your time, vacuuming, folding laundry, dusting, mowing the lawn or cooking dinner to have a conversation with God.
6. Nurse with God – For moms with babies, nursing or bottle time is a nice relaxing time to pray. I especially enjoy this time to specifically prayer over my children.
7. Pee with God – Sounds gross and maybe a little TMI, I know. But why not use your bathroom breaks to take a moment and pray for someone or just praise God for something he has done for you that day. If you prayed every bathroom break, I bet your prayer time would increase significantly.
8. Shower with God – We all shower (at least I hope). And if you’re like me, you like long, hot showers to melt away the day or maybe to start your day on the right note. What better place to pour out your heart to God after an exhausting day? Or maybe you can use it to intentionally start your day drawing close to your Creator and Sustainer.

Friend, let’s stop wishing we had time for prayer and just take opportunities in our daily routine to incorporate prayer.

What practical ways have you found to incorporate prayer throughout your day?