In the last two years of teaching, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced has been remembering my faith when I’m busy. I imagine that many Christians share this struggle. The hustle and bustle of everyday things can be an easy distraction from remembering what it means to go out into the world with the behavior and attitude that a Christian should have. For myself, that can look like forgetting to extend grace to my kids and fellow teachers, getting home and being so tired that I forget to spend time in my Bible, or skipping an opportunity for prayer because I think I don’t have the time. Having the intention and desire to be better about incorporating your faith into everything you do is a great thing, but putting that into practice can be challenging unless you have the right habits and think about things in the right way. Overtime, I’ve discovered that a great way to form these habits is by starting with the small steps, and asking yourself “what little things can I do here or there to direct myself back towards God”. One of my best friends and I often quote the title of our favorite liturgy/devotional book, reminding each other to make “Every Moment Holy”. Making a single moment holy is a great starting place for reconnecting with God.

Letting God into every part of your life starts with the simple things. The book “Every Moment Holy”, written by Douglas Kaine McKelvey, is made up of a series of liturgies and devotionals written with daily life in mind. Each liturgy is thematic, designed to give you something to pray about for any moment you could possibly think of. Some of my favorites are “First Waking”, “Before Taking the Stage” (great for musicians and performers), “For the Ritual of Morning Coffee”, “For Nights and Days of Doubt”, and many more. This book has taught me several things about bringing each moment to God. For one thing, any subject, any item or circumstance, literally anything at all can be brought before the Lord. We take it for granted, but think about all the little blessings that happen each day, even on bad days: Making it to work on time, having food in the fridge, having money for coffee in the morning, having a TV at home, having family and friends to call, pets, clothes, and so much more! These are all little things that can be offered up with thanks at any moment. Prayer doesn’t have to be elaborate or seemingly deep. Thanking the Lord for the small things with a very short and simple prayer can do so much to welcome Him back into our lives, and refocus us on the “why” we are here on this earth. 

Another thing “Every Moment Holy” taught me is that it does not require a certain amount of time to bring God back into focus. With prayer, we at times can feel that as Christians, our prayers need to sound a certain way, and be a certain length. More effort can be made putting pizzazz into the prayer than the actual subject of the prayer itself. The thing is, prayer doesn’t need to be perfect or sound fancy. It also doesn’t need to be a certain length. In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us how to pray using the Lord’s Prayer, and it’s not a long one. We ask for His will to be done, for forgiveness, for help forgiving others, for help removing temptation from our path, and that’s about it. You could pray the Lord’s prayer in about thirty seconds. If there is something more specific on your mind that you feel needs prayer, a short fifteen second prayer is more than enough, and does not go unnoticed by God, or unwelcome. We can think that God fits best in the more quiet and less busy moments of our life, for the times when we have time for him, but he calls us to let him into every single moment, even when we’re at work, or running errands, or out doing whatever we have to do for the day. During my planning periods, I start each period with a short prayer. Whenever I get in my car to drive somewhere, I say a short prayer. When I’m in the shower, I say a short prayer. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, a single moment can be made holy by just checking in with the Lord and saying a quick hello, and the holy moment can do so much for your day. 

The beauty of God is not just that He cares about the big moments in our lives, but that He also cares for the little moments too. If you’ve made it this far, finish reading, and then take a short moment to just say hi to God. It doesn’t need to be longer than a few seconds, but it’ll be a good reminder for you that you are His, and that He is with you, even when you don’t realize it!