The last couple of weeks have been very good for me.  When I stumble in life, I find that one of the major contributors is a failure to maintain regular prayer habits.  Recently, I made a commitment to stick with a consistent, achievable prayer schedule — whether I feel like it or not.

I have been (at minimum) praying the Morning and Evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours.  Most of the time I also include the Office of Readings and the Night Prayer.  Sometimes it gets a little bit dry, or perhaps I’ll get distracted and lose focus, but I pray anyhow.  I find that this regular schedule builds spiritual discipline, and forces me to maintain a regular focus on our most glorious God.

Even though I’ve been out of town for the past week, working long hours, and I’ve certainly had a lot of distractions that I wouldn’t normally have at home, I have managed to maintain this schedule.  I feel like my relationship with God is continuing to grow each day.  I’ve definitely taken two steps forward.  Now I just need to be on the lookout for that temptation that might cause me to take one step back.  With a routine and meaningful prayer life, I should be able to get in a few more forward steps before that happens.