When we aspire to greater things, we tend to fall into the trap of making big plans. I’ve never run a marathon, and frankly never run. So if I decided to run a marathon next summer, it’d be easy to get lost in the planning.

I’d need better shoes, a new watch, the right clothes, the perfect hydration system, an eating plan down to the calorie, and, of course, a daily training plan with tracker. Those things would help me, in theory, go from couch to marathon. But would I do it?

What if instead of dedicating hours to research, hundreds of dollars to new equipment, days to calendaring out the next year of my life, I just grabbed my shoes and went for a run?

This is how we approach prayer. We try to go from fresh out of the Confessional to saint in one big leap. But we don’t need history’s best prayer plan, or the most ingenious sequencing of novenas. You just need to find small moments throughout your day, times when there’s a natural pause, and instead of swiping mindlessly, pray mindfully.

Tags: Prayer