I will never forget the day when I heard Christian singer and songwriter Julie Meyer share from her heart about how her prayer life changed when she had  twins. “Some days,” she said, “the only prayer I uttered all day was ‘HELP ME GOD!'”

You may feel like Julie right now. Maybe you are a new mom with a demanding little one on your hands. Maybe you have just landed a new job that requires you to work longer hours than you were anticipating.

Regardless of what your responsibilities are in life, Jesus knows them all. In fact, He has called us to not only accept the responsibilities He has given to us, but to be faithful in them.

In other words, He does not expect us to quit our job or neglect our children in order to pray. Instead, He invites us to seek Him from right where we are! He wants to permeate every square inch of our sometimes crazy lives.

So how can we do this? If you are like me, often the task before you can be so engaging and consuming that you may find it difficult to pull back mentally and spiritually and enter into prayer.

BUT it is possible! Here are 6 Simple Strategies for Engaging God in Prayer even when you are facing a busy schedule:

1) Don’t Take An “All or Nothing” Approach to Quiet Times – I’ve heard many people say, “Well, I knew I couldn’t get in my hour long quiet time today so I just skipped it altogether.” What do you have? 20 minutes? 15? Set them apart for God and ask Him to meet you in those moments. He will!

2) Start Your Day with a Prayer to Be Prayerful – When you open your eyes in the morning, before you make a mental rush into your “to-do list,” take a few moments to invite Jesus into your day. Humbly ask Him to help you to engage Him in even the most mundane of activities.

3) Turn Worries into Prayers – When you find yourself worrying about your kids, your mortgage, your future, or your health, turn unhelpful worry into strengthening prayer. Philippians 4:6-7 is a great passage to reflect on for this.

4) Pray in the Fallow Moments – When you are on the metro. Walking to lunch. In between meetings. In, er, the bathroom. Pray!

5) Let People Inspire You to Pray – When you hold your children, say a prayer for them to know God’s love and learn to walk in His ways. As you kiss your spouse goodbye in the morning, ask God to bless their day.

6) End Your Day in Prayer – As you place your head on your pillow, thank God for all that He did that day. Thank Him for the blessings that He has so graciously given you. Commit all the work of your hands to Him.

These are just a few strategies I have found helpful as I seek to make prayer a priority in my life. What have you found helpful?