You could consider Advent a "mini Lent." It's a time of preparation to prepare our hearts for both the coming of Christ and the waiting for Him; that is, the coming of God in the flesh at His incarnation (as we celebrate and remember with joy God's great mercy coming down to us in the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, to redeem us), and our awaiting of His final coming, in His glory at the end of time.
The Church always recommends some type of resolution in prayer, fasting, and/or almsgiving. With that, here are some simple resolutions focused specifically on cultivating a deeper prayer life, since prayer is the life of the soul...
"As the body without the soul cannot live, so the soul without prayer is dead and emits an offensive odor." [St. John Chrysostom]
These are suggestions for anyone - no matter where you are at in the spiritual life. Maybe you're yearning to begin a serious and committed prayer life, perhaps you have but it's gotten away from you, or perhaps it's been a part of your daily routine for years, yet there's always room for improvement.
1. Make a "sacred space" used only for times of prayer.
This is a recommendation that comes straight from the Catechism. This does not have to be anything fancy; I've heard of people who have used a window sill, a tray table, a bookshelf, etc.. Even consider your nightstand or a corner of a room. It really does not matter, so long as it's a spot used only for that. It's helpful to be sure you have a little kneeling room and a chair/little stool/bench/end of bed or whatever to recline on when you meditate or get weary. Decorate it with a candle, a statue, sacred art - whatever is favorable to you....but of course, a crucifix. Simplicity yet beauty are important.
2. Set aside "sacred time" for only you and the Lord.
If you haven't already, pick a time of the day that works for your schedule to set aside just for prayer. Praying on the way to work, in the midst of performing your duties, and the like, are always commendable and something we should strive to do, but just as when you get together to talk with your spouse or a good friend, you want their full attention. Well, God wants yours. He has words to speak to You; He wants to heal and mold and form your heart according to His purposes and Divine will. But that's sometimes very difficult to allow Him to do when we are distracted or in the midst of doing other things. So look at your day, and find out where you want to carve in this time. Your day should revolve around this time, yet make it practical for your schedule (meaning, if you're a mom, it's virtually impossible to carve out this time at 10am in the morning when all the kids are up, unless your children are much older and can understand that....but it ain't happening with younger children). I find early morning to be the best for my state in life and the way the Lord has made me because otherwise I'm passing out in the middle of my mental prayer if I do it at night. ...And the Rosary at night always puts me to sleep if I do it on my own. So I've always found that formal, vocal prayer at night is best for me...except that Rosary!
...I guess there is something so peaceful, comforting, and soothing about a Mother's presence ;)
3. Increase your prayer time.
If you have not begun a committed prayer life, then just start. If you've fallen away from it, then get back to it! Just begin again! We rise and fall constantly in the spiritual life but the important thing is that once we realize we've fallen or slacked on our Christian duty, we just have to make resolutions (coupled with prayer to beg God's grace) to get back up again. It's really that simple. Start perhaps with just 10 minutes. After Advent is finished and we enter the Christmas season (that's right, we're not in the Christmas season yet but the world sure makes you feel like we are...our world has lost the concept of waiting, patience, and joyful expectancy!), perhaps increase your prayer time to 15 minutes.
If perhaps you pray for a half hour, increase that time a little more.
Here's the secret, the more you pray, the more you'll love to pray. Remember too, prayer is always going to be an arduous task in the sense that we'll be tempted many times to set it aside because we get too busy or get discouraged because we don't "feel" anything. The first point of prayer isn't to necessarily "get" something out of it (although God is a loving Father so of course He lavishes us with His grace anyway); the first point of prayer is to give God what is due to Him - our worship, hearts, and love - and it's an injustice to Him when we don't. In that, our hearts unite with His. One of the most important virtues of prayer is fortitude so that we never give up. Ask for that grace!
Also, don't constantly check your clock or phone for time. Perhaps you need to make sure you're on time for work or a class and that's understandable. But that can be a distraction in and of itself. Set a timer instead and just listen for that "ding!"
4. Consider your prayer posture.
Prayer posture is important; kneeling is important because it sets our heart in the necessary disposition to prayer: reverence, humility, and devotion. Check out this list of St. Dominic's nine ways of prayer (St. Dominic Guzman) to help you see various "prayer postures" that make this connection between body and soul. The list is fantastic. Here they are in a nutshell (from a brief article at spiritualdirection.com)...
The bowing of one’s head and heart with humility at the beginning of prayer before the crucifix, at the altar, in the Name of the Trinity;
The throwing down and prostrating of one’s whole body with tears of compunction for the sins of others when one can find no more tears for his own;
The welcoming of all the physical difficulties and the patient endurance of all kinds of bodily discomforts during prayer as part of prayer itself, as a way of offering one’s body to God in praise;
The fixating of one’s gaze on Christ crucified while kneeling and standing with bold petitions filled with confidence in the indescribable goodness of God and sober acceptance of one’s own weakness;
The raising of one’s hands to heaven with eyes wide open in the ancient orans of the first Christians;
The stretching out of one’s arms cruciform with a cry for help in heartbreaking situations;
The standing strong with hands folded in prayer like an arrow shot into the heart of God;
The sitting in holy reading and contemplation – that ancient practice of lectio divina; and
The frequent quest for solitude in which one resists fantasies and evil thoughts like flies and prepares for spiritual battle against diabolical malice by the sign of the Cross.
What do you do currently? Do you lay down or sit the entire time you spend your time in prayer? Maybe try kneeling for the beginning, then sitting when you begin reading and meditating on Scripture. Do you pray in bed? Perhaps try a different location and position. Try the prostrate position - talk about humbling. Kneel during your whole Rosary. Seek to retreat into solitude a little more when you can. Possibilities are endless!
I'll be honest....I was a complete sitter in my personal prayer time for the longest time. It "worked" but sometimes beginning my prayer in the sitting position made me a bit lazier in my prayer and a little too comfortable. I don't think it disposed my heart as well to having the dispositions of humility and reverence before the Lord. Since then, I've adopted the practice of beginning my prayer time in the kneeling position and praying my vocal prayers (Morning offering, Psalm 63, and prayers like those) as such. Then when it comes to the meditation, I sit and read the Scriptures. Maybe one day I'll be able to kneel the whole time....but prayer posture is really a discipline of the body; but the more we do it, the more our bodies will adapt to it and it will become less difficult.
5. Begin the practice of mental prayer.
Maybe every day you say "those certain prayers." But is meditation a part of your prayer time? St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church, said that "mental prayer is the gateway to all other higher forms of prayer." Another great Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus Ligouri, even said that "mental prayer is necessary for salvation." This is to say, meditation on the Scriptures, the truths of God - that is the truths of our Catholic Faith - and the life of Christ, are so intrinsically connected to the depth of our spiritual life and love and fidelity to God. I think the crisis of faith we see today and the crisis of compromised Christians is really, at its depth, a crisis of prayer.
Here are six things necessary to mental prayer from St. Peter of Alcantara, who was a highly esteemed spiritual director of St. Teresa of Avila. It is a brief but succinct summary to help get you started in mental prayer.
6. Eliminate distractions at prayer.
If your phone is a temptation, use a watch or timer to keep track of time instead. Perhaps you like to be able to have quick access to the daily Mass readings online but find the phone is still distracting you...just look up where the Scripture passages are before hand and write it down. Phones can be a major distraction. Maybe your mind wanders...let me be honest, this will be a temptation in prayer for the rest of your life, most likely! But you can get better at handling that. When you realize your mind is elsewhere, simply and peacefully just move your thoughts back on your meditation and prayer. Don't get frustrated, it's just part of our weak human nature! Even if you spend your entire time in prayer redirecting your thoughts against distraction and daydreams, it's more meritorious and pleasing to God than if He filled your prayer with many consolations and graces and you prayed with ease and no distractions. You are showing God He is worth your time, heart, and mind despite whatever enjoyable things are pulling you in other directions and distractions. He is very pleased with that!
7. Read your meditation reading out loud.
We shouldn't read Scripture the way we read a regular book or an online article or blog. I think the social media and quick, flashy, instantaneous commercials, ads, and media/news clips have crippled our ability to attention and critical/logical thinking. We skim when we read. We don't actually read and "digest" what we're reading.
So when you read Scripture, for your meditation (or anything other devotional or spiritual book), read it slowly and out loud. Don't read it in your head because the very practice of reading aloud causes us to take God's word into more of our senses and allows it to permeate and resound in our hearts better. Reread it over again, even a third or forth time. As much as you need. Pause for a second after each word. And it's ok if you don't finish the passage! The point and purpose of prayer is not to finish but to unite our hearts with God. More on that next...
8. "Rest" in your meditation.
One of the temptations in the spiritual life - and I think due much to our society which places so much emphasis on productivity and accomplishing tasks - is to "get through" our mental prayer and finish it so we feel satisfied that "we did it." This is the wrong outlook. Again, the purpose of prayer is to life our hearts and minds to God and be united with Him in love. In the end, it increases our virtues of faith, hope, and charity. If we feel pressured to make sure we "say all our prayers" that we usually like to include in our prayer time, or finish reading the Scripture passage, we may very well be missing out on things God desires to draw our hearts and attention to. If you are reading the daily Mass reading from the Gospels and something strikes you or stirs your heart and attention, then just sit with that. Don't move beyond that until you feel it has passed and you find that that which once stirred you and gave you consolation, does so no more. St. Francis de Sales put it like this...
And if your mind finds sufficient matter, light and fruit wherein to rest in any one consideration, dwell upon it, even as the bee, which hovers over one flower so long as it affords honey. But if you do not find wherewith to feed your mind, after a certain reasonable effort, then go on to another consideration,—only be quiet and simple, and do not be eager or hurried. [Introduction to the Devout Life]
So don't feel pressured to "finish" your prayer routine and like you need to hit all those "six parts of mental prayer" because you don't. The method/routine is a tool to help you, it's not the end goal. God is. I think this is a particular challenge for those of choleric/sanguine temperaments and for all of us really, who live in a culture which highly esteems productivity, human accomplishments, and "being busy." So work against that because it's actually counter-productive in prayer!
May you have a holy Advent season!