What should you do when there is no time to pray? On the surface, this appears to be a simple question, but it turns out to be a bit more complicated in practice. Here are four perspectives that may help.

First, we need to call out the uncomfortable truth that most people who claim to be too busy to pray actually have plenty of time for prayer. But to receive this uncomfortable call-out, we first need to shine a spotlight on our screen-time addictions and entertainment idolatry. Simply stated: for most of us, all we must do is reduce the amount of time we spend scrolling through social media, texting friends, gaming or binge-watching television to find time for prayer. That’s it. Still, many of us feel that we have the right to a certain amount of entertainment or “vegging out” each day. Granted, you should aim for an appropriate amount of rest in your life (perhaps one part in seven?). But since studies have shown that screen-centered recreational activities are less emotionally rejuvenating than a , or ), then a slavish commitment to some vegging time each day would seem to be more of an idolatrous commitment to self-soothing than to appropriate rest. So for most of us the answer to the question of what to do when we don’t have time to pray is to reduce some of our non-necessary screen time and allot a portion of it to prayer.

A second perspective for those who are truly busy — and who can’t do much to change their busyness (and some people fall into this category) — is to remember that communion with the God who made you for relationship with himself is so valuable that you will still need to carve out time to pray, regardless of how hard it might be to do so. This might entail at night because you peel off some time from the front or back end of your regular sleep schedule. Prayer is important enough that this could be an appropriate action. But you can only pull back a little from sleep before you start to dishonor the Lord by failing to take care of your fragile body — a body that requires appropriate amounts of sleep. Nevertheless, you should never forget that your spiritual life really does need prayer, and working hard to find some time to pray is crucial for spiritual growth and fruitfulness in ministry.

A third perspective relates to particular seasons when you find yourself unusually busy. Some people experience greater changeability in their schedules than others. Since I’m on a professor’s schedule, I fall into this category. Although my weekly schedule is normally full, certain weeks in the year require a higher output of time and energy than do others. What should I — and others like me — do when facing such shorter periods of necessary busyness? People with significant changeability in their schedules need to conduct regular self-reassessments to determine whether there are ways to adjust their schedules to make more time to incorporate prayer into the busy periods. Otherwise, during these demanding short-term periods, we will have to carry on the way that extremely busy Christians live — which brings us to our final perspective.

Our fourth and final perspective is for those whose combination of work and family responsibilities places them in a category separate from almost everyone reading this post. We need to acknowledge that there are some people whose lives are so locked down with responsibilities that they truly have little spare time to dedicate to prayer alone. I’m picturing a man somewhere in the global south who works in the only factory in town (and who is thankful for any way to financially provide for his extensive family), but who is required to work sixty hours a week, returning home every night to heavy family responsibilities. I’m thinking of a woman who cares for four young children in her home in addition to two aging family members and struggles to capture even one minute apart from attending to responsibilities. What is such a person to do?

People in such scenarios — and, for that matter, every other Christian, too — needs to consciously bring conversation with the Lord into every aspect of their lives. Talk to the Lord about whatever you’re doing, whatever you’re struggling with, whatever you need. Prayers like this:

“Lord, I’m about to change my baby’s diaper. I want to do this activity with you.”

“Father, I don’t know if I have stamina to continue. Still, I trust that you’re with me.”

“God, I need you to provide in [this particular] area. I don’t know how I can make it without your provision. I bring this need to you.”

Hundreds of times a day…. If you add in prayers for the people you’re interacting with throughout the day, you will increasingly pray , that is, without ceasing. Of course, keep looking for opportunities to block out times for prayer, even if such focused prayer only occurs when you’re showering or on your commute (bus ride, walk, or drive) to work. But never stop praying. No matter how busy you are — or think you are — never stop sharing your love and longings, petitions and pain with the Lord who made you for relationship with himself.

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