Episode 20
20 | Build a Daily Habit of Prayer that Brings Clarity, Peace, and Purpose
Are you feeling a bit lost in the hustle of mom life and struggling to make consistent time for God?
If your days are packed, your heart feels scattered, and your prayer time gets pushed aside—even though you know how much you need God—this episode is for you.
You’re not alone, and today we're diving into how to build a consistent habit of prayer that sticks!
It turns out, it’s less about cramming everything into your busy schedule and more about shifting your mindset to prioritize that precious time with God. I will share why you can’t just whip up meaningful habits in a week and expect them to last.
Grab your notebook and let’s explore how to create that sacred space for prayer, even amid the chaos. Let’s ignite your God-given purpose and get you on the path to living the life God designed just for you!
I pray that this episode blesses and encourages you!
Michelle
Next Steps:
✨ Deepen Your Journey, Join the Catholic Moms Community Here
✨ Receive Weekly Encouragement and Action Steps to Help You Move Forward with God: Subscribe to the Ignite Circle: The Inner Flame Here
✨ Feedback or Questions? Contact me at hello@michellebrannam.com
Listen to Related Episodes:
17 | The Truth about Hearing God's Voice. 3 Things to do Now as a Busy Catholic Mom
03 | Ways to Make Time for God (Even When You're Busy!)
Transcript
You cannot implement something deeply meaningful in just one week and then move on.
Speaker A:Your mind doesn't work that way.
Speaker A:It's not designed to do that.
Speaker A:Are you longing for clarity and purpose?
Speaker A:But you're struggling to make consistent time for God, especially in the chaos of mom life.
Speaker A:Your days are full, your heart feels scattered, and prayers, they just keep getting pushed aside even though you know how much you need God.
Speaker A:In this episode, we'll learn how to build that consistent habit of spending time with him and why it's your mindset and not your schedule that holds the keys to growing you closer to God.
Speaker A:Grab your notebook and pen and let's dive in.
Speaker A:Are you ready to break free from feeling stuck, gain clarity, and take intentional steps towards discovering your unique purpose, all while following God's guidance to become the person that he created you to be?
Speaker A:If so, you are in the right place.
Speaker A:Hi, I'm Michelle, a mom, wife, Catholic discernment mentor, and spiritual coach.
Speaker A:I've been where you are, feeling lost and uncertain about my purpose.
Speaker A:But through a Catholic strategy of discernment, I found clarity, confidently embraced my calling, and learned to hear God's voice in my life.
Speaker A:And now I want to help you do the same.
Speaker A:Grab your pen, get your notebook and get comfy.
Speaker A:Open your heart and mind and invite God in.
Speaker A:It's time to ignite your purpose and start living the life God created you for.
Speaker A:Let's do this.
Speaker A:I've been seeing this question a lot about how to make prayers a daily habit or similar I've seen.
Speaker A:I realize how much I need to grow closer to God and I know that leaning into my relationship with God can bring clarity and peace, but making that a consistent priority has been difficult.
Speaker A:I also struggled with making time with God and making prayer life a daily habit.
Speaker A:I didn't start with the automatically daily habit as well, so I had to train myself to make it a daily habit.
Speaker A:And I felt like the traditional prayers and asking God for my petitions was dry and boring.
Speaker A:And I hate to say it, it wasn't until a prayer app and working on my mindset that helped me build the daily habit.
Speaker A:Let's dive into how habit, mindset and intentional prayer can help you grow closer to God.
Speaker A:So the first point I want to make is making time for God and making Him a priority to help you grow closer to Him.
Speaker A:I had to work on my mindset and build that consistent daily habit of prayer.
Speaker A:Your mindset shapes your habits every single time.
Speaker A:Hands down, I started applying my mindset work that I was working on to Help me with goal setting.
Speaker A:I learned that this powerful and effective mindset work applies to any habit that we're trying to build, especially when, when this comes to growing closer to God and building that habit of consistent daily prayer.
Speaker A:Now there are a lot of resources out there for building a morning routine that you can find and building habits out there.
Speaker A:But most of them, they were missing a key point.
Speaker A:The mindset work that actually makes the habit stick.
Speaker A:I later found as I was digging deeper into goal setting at the time and mindset work, that it actually takes mindset work that actually helps the habit stick.
Speaker A:So mindset, it's foundational.
Speaker A:If you don't shift your mindset first, your habit won't last.
Speaker A:It's just not about managing time.
Speaker A:It's about training your mind to protect your time with God.
Speaker A:So this leads me to the second point for you.
Speaker A:Okay, so when it comes to your brain and building habits, there's a consistent method you must follow.
Speaker A:And rushing doesn't work.
Speaker A:When I was starting Bible studies in the evening before my daughter was born and I was researching into what my purpose was, I was trying to increase my knowledge of my faith as well and grow closer to God because I figured that would help me uncover and discover my purpose.
Speaker A:And I realized that the ideas they wanted us to implement in those Bible studies, they wanted you to implement them in one week.
Speaker A:I'm sorry, but you cannot change a habit inside of just one week and then move on to another habit the following week.
Speaker A:You cannot implement something deeply meaningful in just one week and then move on.
Speaker A:It doesn't work that way.
Speaker A:It's just not designed to your brain, your mind, it doesn't work like that.
Speaker A:You weren't designed like that.
Speaker A:So when it comes to mind and building habits, there is a consistent method that you must follow in order for that to happen.
Speaker A:And that's what I realized.
Speaker A:When I had been doing my mindset work for goal setting, I started to apply my back by science research, goal setting, mindset work that had helped thousands of other building habits to help them move forward in reaching their goals.
Speaker A:And I tried help improvement books before, and maybe you have, maybe you haven't, but I would read them, I would highlight and then I think to myself, well, this will work and I can do this.
Speaker A:This sounds simple, but I found that I would consume and I wouldn't actually apply it or I would start applying the steps, but then I would quickly default to my old ways and my habits, they would just not last or be consistent to help me keep going Forward because this is what I've learned.
Speaker A:You just can't build a new habit by consuming alone.
Speaker A:You have to apply it and you have to give it time.
Speaker A:And I understand what you're going through.
Speaker A:This would take me longer than a shorter episode.
Speaker A:Help you provide an exact framework for building consistent habit.
Speaker A:But my recommendation would be to pick one or two habits to build at a time and anymore you'll not build that habit to create.
Speaker A:And then lastly, the habit of prayer, it must be anchored in space and structure.
Speaker A:So what I'm talking about is to get you started on building the habit and not overwhelm you.
Speaker A:It's to block off what time you want to spend with God.
Speaker A:And I recommend it being like the first thing upon waking up.
Speaker A:And I did this by setting time aside first thing in the morning around 5am I started with saying a few prayers, giving him the few first minutes so that I knew that I could avoid any obstacles in my day that would prevent my time with God.
Speaker A:Because I want to be one that's doing and not just saying make time or oh yes, I pray to God because he's my priority.
Speaker A:I'm not just saying he's my priority.
Speaker A:I want to actually be doing.
Speaker A:And this is one way to help me do that.
Speaker A:So maybe the first habit for you is not checking notifications or missed calls.
Speaker A:So maybe this is your first habit that you need to work on building first.
Speaker A:And that would be not looking at your notifications and missed calls, but instead you're saying your prayers.
Speaker A:And if you're a coffee drinker, grab your coffee and head to your predetermined spot, that spot for God in you.
Speaker A:And if you don't know what I mean, like Michelle, I don't know what you mean, then I would listen to episode 17, the Truth About Hearing God's Three Things to Do.
Speaker A:Now, as a busy Catholic mom and I talk about your space and this actually ties into this episode as well.
Speaker A:And there are a few episodes that I have out there for you that I've talked about making time for God that you can binge listen to that's related to this topic.
Speaker A:And, and I know that'll be beneficial to you if you haven't listened to it or maybe you want to listen to that again because repetition is key.
Speaker A:And in fact it's part of the mindset process that I follow.
Speaker A:It's part of the mindset process that actually rewires your habit.
Speaker A:Let's quickly recap what we covered today.
Speaker A:You don't have to wait for motivation or the perfect conditions Building a daily habit of prayer starts with mindset and commitment, and your mind isn't wired to handle too many new habits at once.
Speaker A:So just focus on just one or two habits to create that lasting change.
Speaker A:And you want to protect your time by creating a dedicated space and blocking off time, whether that's first thing in the morning or another time.
Speaker A:That works for you.
Speaker A:Because I don't know your schedule.
Speaker A:And remember, it's always about doing showing up consistently more than just saying God is your priority.
Speaker A:And if your heart is longing to grow closer to God, but life just keeps getting in the way.
Speaker A:Don't let the guilt or the shame take over.
Speaker A:Just keep continually trying to make that habit.
Speaker A:Just continually tell yourself that you're going to make this time for God and set that time aside and do it.
Speaker A:Give yourself grace if it didn't happen that day, but try your best to give God the first moments of your time in your busy schedule.
Speaker A:Let us pray in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Heavenly Father, you see the heart of the mom listening right now, the one who longs to grow closer to you.
Speaker A:She's tired, she's distracted and overwhelmed, but she's always hungry for you.
Speaker A:Help her to make you the first thought in the morning.
Speaker A:Give her the grace to choose you before everything else.
Speaker A:Renew her mind, strengthen their habit and let her see that even five minutes with you can change her day and her life.
Speaker A:In Jesus name, Amen.
Speaker A:Knowledge is power, but that true change happens when we pair it with consistent daily action.
Speaker A:You cannot gain clarity if you're not taking daily action to help you move forward.
Speaker A:You can get started today by picking one new habit you want to build.
Speaker A:It's putting your phone down and praying first.
Speaker A:Or when you're looking up in the morning not looking at your phone but you're saying your prayers first.
Speaker A:Or perhaps it's blocking time for God, even if it's 10 minutes.
Speaker A:But I feel like this is the most important part out of this whole episode that I want you to work on building.
Speaker A:Or go to your spot for you and God and just show up and come on over and share inside the Facebook community Finding your purpose, discernment and strategy for Catholic Moms what new habit will you be intentionally working towards?
Speaker A:We want to encourage, support and cheer you on.
Speaker A:Remember, my beautiful sister in Christ, that God uniquely created you for a unique purpose.
Speaker A:You were made to do great things.
Speaker A:God is within you and you will not fail.
Speaker A:Go out and ignite your purpose.
Speaker A:God's not done writing your story.
Speaker A:I look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Speaker A:I'll meet you next Tuesday for another conversation.
Speaker A:May God bless you.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker A:I pray that today's episode blesses and encourages you.
Speaker A:If so, would you please share it with someone you know that would be blessed by it?
Speaker A:If you felt inspired or you learned something Today, please take 30 seconds to leave a written review on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker A:This is the number one way to let me know that you are liking the show and for me to reach other Catholic women like yourself.
Speaker A:If you're feeling uncertain or you're lost on your discernment journey, you're not alone.
Speaker A:Join us over in the free Facebook community Finding youg Purpose, Discernment and Strategy for Catholic Moms, where Catholic women just like you are sharing, supporting and growing together in faith.
Speaker A:I look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Speaker A:I'll meet you next Tuesday for another conversation.
Speaker A:God bless you.
