How To Pray When You Are A Busy Stay-At-Home Mom

By ANGELIQUE VACCARO

 

As a busy mom, finding time to pray is very difficult for me. I know I am not alone; there are probably many more mothers in the same situation. Taking care of the kids, the house, the meals and all the little things in between that nobody notices, I often feel overwhelmed. I realize I am not happy with my prayer life either, because I can never find the right time to actually pause and pray. I am always too busy and can’t even complete the 6-month-Bible-study/daily-devotional journal I bought myself years ago!

We, stay-at-home moms, are often overlooked. People don’t realize how much we actually do. I like to tell myself that we are superheroes! Yes, we are, because we never stop! We are constantly needed, and we rarely have a minute to catch our breath. We have to fulfill our kids’ needs and our husband’s needs, often forgetting our own. We have so many things we have to do; it is exhausting. We give and give and give, and at the end of the day, the only thing we want to do is to go to bed. Bedtime is usually when we finally have time to pray, so we try to say a prayer but we fall asleep at the first sentence…

That needs to change! I put God at the very end of the list and as a result, my spiritual life feels completely dry. I know I am missing out on His blessings. I really want to be closer to God, I am tired of quick prayers that come more from the mind than from the heart. I desperately need to do something about it. I realize I do not have to be in a particular room to pray or isolate myself to be alone with Him. I can take God with me everywhere I go. This changes how I view prayer-time and literally shift things in my life. My heart is back to where it should be, and I feel more refreshed!

 

Worship when you wake up

Because I don’t have time to write things in my journal every day, I tell God what I want to write instead! I also like to start my day thanking Him for three specific things. Each day is a new day with three new things to be thankful for! Taping Bible verses on the bathroom mirror to feel encouraged is also a great way to start the day because this is the first thing I see when I get ready.

 

One Psalm a day

Praying doesn’t mean reading the Bible for hours! Honestly, I cannot read my Bible more than 10 minutes at a time. I get bored or distracted, and sometimes I find it so confusing that I prefer sticking to the Psalms. One verse a day is a great start, the next step would be to increase to one psalm a day! 

I like to read out loud so every part of me listens, (and my kids too when they are around.) It is like a declaration; it really changes the atmosphere! I truly believe something powerful happens when we read the Word out loud. I cannot really explain it, but it feels like God is closer. It’s like He is in the room with me, I can feel His presence… It’s a great feeling! If I don’t have time to read anything, I recite the verses I know by heart throughout the day.

 

Pray while doing tasks 

When I fold the laundry, for example, I like to use this time to worship. I play a song and I pray until I am done folding clothes. Music helps me a lot, even just listening to the lyrics brings me to places where my soul can rest in Him. It is very therapeutic for me. When the kids are not in school, they join me most of the time. They help me fold their own clothes and we worship together! They seem to enjoy this time with me. It is a pretty special, sweet moment with my kids that I cherish a lot.

It’s important to teach our kids that we can pray anytime, anywhere, doing anything. God is with us everywhere we go, and we don’t need to be in a specific place to pray or be in His presence. Matthew 6:6 says: “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” I truly believe he is not necessarily talking only about a physical room but also a spiritual one, like our heart. Praying in secret for me means praying while doing all these mom’s things. I talk to God in my heart which is my private room, where I can be with Him anywhere, doing anything!

 

In the shower

When my kids were under the age of 4, the only time I could be completely alone was in the shower. I was so excited because it was my only moment of the day where I could be with God without any interruptions. I looked forward to that time every day! One day, I happened to fall on my knees in the shower, crying out to Him. I was praying, and suddenly I got filled with this fire, His overwhelming presence. I had to get on my knees; I could not fight it. I just had to kneel down. I am not sure why this happened, but I was there in the shower, worshipping God! It was a very special moment with Him. God meets you where you are, even if it means being naked in the shower!

 

The Lord’s prayer

Most of the time, I don’t know how to pray. I feel like I don’t know the right way to pray, that what I am saying does not seem to be good enough. It feels ridiculous or too simple. I noticed that I often pray with my mind instead of my heart. I just say one thing after another like a list and it feels very wrong. So, I asked God to show me how to pray and He did! “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13) 

Of course!! It is as simple as that. Jesus taught us how to do it, and He gave us this beautiful, powerful prayer. Why didn’t I think of this?

 

Have a prayer-buddy

Having a fellow mom as a prayer-buddy is also a good way to keep the prayers flowing. Especially if we encounter the same struggles as stay-at-home-moms. We can confide in each other and lift each other up during the day or the week… Praying for one another is so encouraging, and it can result in amazing lifelong friendships! We feel less alone, and it feels good to know someone is carrying us in their prayers. It makes the day go by more easily.

 

God is always available to us. He is waiting for us. If we can’t come to Him, He meets us right where we are. We just need to open our hearts and let Him in, even if it is only 5 minutes a day! 

No more excuses!