I said a PRAYER FOR PATIENCE for 365 days… here’s what happened.

Maybe I’m a fool to pray for patience.  I’ve heard that if you pray for patience, God will answer that prayer and give you the challenges to practice that patience.  But I would probably be fooling myself to think that I would avoid those situations, otherwise.  So if you’re anything like me, you could use some help with this!  Guess what?  I have included a prayer for patience below!  In addition, I’ll tell you what happened when I said this short, simple, EASY prayer for 365 days in a row.   Did I experience a transformation?  Or did everything stay the same?  Keep reading!

Why should you say a prayer for patience?

Quite frankly, I probably don’t need to tell you why you should do this since you’re already here.  But let me validate your feelings.  I’m a wife, a mother of four, I homeschool, and I oversee programs and services for 32 libraries.  There are a lot of ways my patience is tested throughout the day.  I need help.  But I don’t always need a virtual assistant or a maid.  While that would be nice, I most often need help from God.  I have a lot of blessings, but sometimes it’s hard for me to see it that way.  So I need God to remind me to be grateful.  Sometimes we just need to stop and breathe, so praying for patience helps us to do that.

What USED to happen to me before I prayed for patience

I grew up Catholic and felt connected to my faith until my twenties.  As you’ll read in my About Me page, I experimented a lot.  So I PUSHED my faith aside.  Over a decade later and four children later, I realized I needed something bigger than me.  I was losing my temper MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY.  Worst of all, I lost my temper with the people I loved the most.  I kept cool at work in the name of professionalism.  But 14 hours later, at the end of the day, I felt like I had nothing left for my family.  And I was sick of exploding.  I realized that I needed to get on my knees and ask God to help me control my temper.  I was not angry at my family.  But I was overwhelmed and quick to react.  And that wasn’t okay.

How to START saying a prayer for patience

Put simply, start SMALL.  I started with one simple sentence, which I included as a printable below.  It doesn’t need to be complicated and it takes 2 seconds.  You can be more specific with your situation or you can be vague.  This is something you can do while you’re driving in horrible traffic, diffusing a toddler’s meltdown, or on hold with a customer service representative for 45 minutes.  Just start today.  In fact, start right now!

What happened to me when I prayed a prayer for patience for 365 days in a row

I should start by saying that I didn’t hold myself accountable to say a prayer for patience every single day for one entire year.  It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution or a group challenge on Facebook. Instead, I looked back and realized that I had done this.  I thought, Wow!  I have said this every single day.  And you know what I’ve noticed?

I felt calmer.

Prayer made me feel like I could breathe better.  Not everything seemed like such a chaotic emergency or a crisis anymore.  I don’t have a play-by-play breakdown of how this happened.  All I know is that by some miracle from God, I felt more at peace.   It was as if God just took the steering wheel and I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

The people around me seemed happier.

Over time, I noticed that my husband and children were more affectionate with me.  If I’m being honest, it made me realize that they were probably less scared to come close to me, even hug me.  It took a lot of honest internal dialogue to realize that this going on and I was blind for so many years.

I became more productive.

Because I was much lighter about my day with more patience, I got more things done.  I wasn’t stuck in some headspace of frustration and irritation.  I was in a better mood and felt more positive.  As bleak as this may sound, I did not walk around with the same hopelessness I did when I was feeling impatient with others.  I found that often, when you are feeling impatient, you feel like the bad things around you will not change or go away.  When we are more patient, it is a sign that we are hopeful that situations will improve, even if it is not on our dictated timeline.

I grew more humble.

Praying for patience reminded me that there are a lot of things I cannot control.  I need God.  Every single day, I need him to strengthen me.  I can’t do any of it alone.  There are many seasons in my life that will stretch me, but they won’t break  me.  In fact, they will be enjoyable seasons and seasons of growth if I am patient enough to see my pain and suffering as reparation and refining instead of torturous and agonizing.

I taught others how to be more patient by example.

By saying private prayers of patience in my day, I noticed that others around me wanted to “catch the bug.”  They would ask me how I stayed composed in certain situations, like when all of my children are screaming, running around, and climbing on top of me like little monkeys.  I told everyone my “secret,” which was that I prayed for patience.  In those moments when they caught me with eyes closed and quiet, I was giving it to God.  I tried to imagine Mother Mary and how patient she was, and I asked her if she would help me to be just like her.

Now it’s your turn!  A Prayer for Patience

As promised, this prayer for patience is meant to be short, simple, sweet, and easy to memorize.  It only takes a few seconds out of your day.  You could probably pray this ten times in one minute.  I hope it is helpful for you!

Lord Jesus,

Give me the patience I need to tackle the challenges of my day.  Amen.

Download your free printable here: >>>>>>>  FREE PDF DOWNLOAD: Simple Prayer for Patience

How to Add More Patience to Your Life

Sometimes we are experiencing challenging situations because the people we love are reacting impatiently based on difficult seasons they are experiencing.  For instance, sometimes I am feeling impatient with my husband because he is a little grumpy in the mornings!  I try to say a morning prayer for him. Or sometimes I am feeling impatient with my children, who do not want to start homeschool.  We always try to say a prayer at the start of our school day to get us off on the right foot.  Or maybe you are feeling stressed about finances and wish that your financial situation would improve overnight.  There’s nothing wrong with praying for financial help!  God wants to help you!  So let Him!

Lastly, I like to put this Gregorian Chant Rosary (chanted in Latin) in the background while I am doing dishes or working on other household chores.  It soothes me and helps me to be more patient throughout my day.

Let me know how I can pray for you today!