How Often Do You Pray?

During my journey into Christianity praying is one of the hardest things I have tried to do. At first, just the idea of talking to God scared me. I felt like I had no right to ask him anything and I was scared to confess my sins. Sitting there with my eyes closed felt wrong and my mind wandered and leapt about to other subjects, so I started to write down my prayers and it became easier for me.

I now have no problem praying, in fact I regularly talk to God and have started including other people in my prayers. I still don’t talk to him enough and I still struggle to stop my mind wandering but I have made a definite improvement over the past few months. However, I still have some issues and I thought I would post them up here and if there is anyone out there I would love your thoughts.

I have always been told to pray first thing in the morning and last thing at night, but then I have also been told to not have a routine and should keep a continuous dialogue open with Him, well I have four kids and finding time to talk to God is hard son a routine works best for me but I also use other moments of peace to reflect and pray.

So firstly, how often do you pray? Do you keep a routine or just pray as and when you feel the need? Also, do you find it easier to start with a memorised prayer and then go into your own thoughts? A lot of questions I know.

Secondly, do you keep it formal or informal? I tend to talk to God as I would talk to my friends or wife and sometimes I worry that I am being disrespectful. After all, God has done so much for me; the least I can do is be polite.