Sunday, July 22, 2018 Filed in:
Prayer
I was recently reading Mathew Kelly's book Resisting Happiness and I learned a good Catholic productivity hack. Matthew Kelly explains that we can offer each hour of our day for a particular intention. For example, I can offer my 9am-10am hour for my kids' intentions, the 10am-11am hour for my wife's intentions, 12pm-1pm hour for a sick relative, etc. Offering the hour does not necessarily mean I would be in praying in a chapel. I could offer the hour by offering the sacrifices and hard work during it. For example, I can work on an invoice for a client and at the same time offer my efforts and struggles for a particular intention.
I started doing this and it really started to make me more productive. During the hour that I was offering up, I worked hard and made it count because I wanted to offer up my best. I was able to work through my struggles and difficulties during that hour because there was a meaning behind it. These hourly sacrifices became like little prayers. I, along with Mathew Kelly, contemplate if St. Paul had this in mind when he wrote: "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Here is a short article to help you understand the meaning behind the phrase "offer it up."
