My book and website are offered to help people learn more about the Mass and how to deepen prayer during Mass. But the public, communal prayer of the liturgy does not operate alone. We also need private, personal prayer time in our lives. In a friendship or a love relationship, we often spend time in groups, but we need to spend time with the person one-on-one. Relationships grow as people share their stories and feelings and overall compatibility. This connection is also true about our relationship with God.
I used to find it hard to carve out time for prayer because of the excuse of a busy schedule. It still can be difficult, but I have found it works to make a schedule and stick to it. Having a regular time and place helps. Since I was a little girl, I was taught to pray when I got up, putting the concerns of the day into God’s care, and again at night, thanking God for the day and asking for restful sleep. I also pray in odd moments during the day. I am often in the car alone, so I pray in the car, though there are limitations so I don’t cause any accidents.
I believe in using our own words in prayer. We (I think) speak to God about our needs and wants, our hopes and dreams, and our challenges and concerns. We also give God thanks and praise for all of creation and for our own lives. But sometimes we might be all out of words. My “go to” written by someone else prayers are The Lord’s Prayer and the Anima Christi which you may not have ever heard of, but I found it in my St. Joseph’s Missal in Grade School and have prayed it ever since.
I also can recommend using some of the prayers from the Mass in our daily prayer. A prayer that covers many circumstances is the one prayed by the priest after the Lord’s Prayer: Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is very fitting during Advent, but I use it all year round.
When I want to give God praise, I use the Glory to God (Gloria) or the Holy (Sanctus) from the Mass. A variation on the prayers at the Preparation of the Gifts can be used as a meal prayer: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the food we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us nourishment for our bodies. We give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
You may find other written prayers that connect with your spirit. Never be afraid to make those prayers your own.