One of my mentors on the spiritual journey was Fr. Paul, a Benedictine monk at St. Leo Abbey. Sometimes a student from St. Leo University would ask Fr. Paul if he would be his spiritual director. His answer was always the same. “Only if you spend at least one hour a day in prayer.”

Father Paul understood the need for substantial prayer time. He was quite a contrast to the leader of a group I belonged to who would begin each meeting with the words, “Let’s start with a little prayer.” The emphasis was on the word “little.” Some years later I learned this pithy expression from another spiritual mentor, “When a little prayer won’t hurt, it probably won’t do much good either.”

One of the hardest things for me to learn was the necessity to take time to pray. I was a very busy person with lots of important things to do.  That was true with a lot of things in my life. One day my physician laid down the law to me that I had better start exercising 30 minutes a day. ‘I don’t have time,” I told him. “Do you want to die?” he replied. The same question arises for me with prayer. When I complain that I don’t have time for prayer, I hear those words, “Do you want to die?” It won’t be a physical death, but a spiritual one, a bare existence with nothing to feed the soul. Is that living?

I never had time to pray until I took the time. Anyone with the intention to pray can find the time.

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne