But how, where and when? Let's be honest — amid busy days we may easily skip the daily routine of prayer. Our minds may not count the cost of being too efficient or discombobulated to stop for prayer. Yet our souls feel the loss when life slides by in a blur rather than a blessing. Our spirits long for God, and we remember deep down that prayer grounds us in faith and connects us as a family.

But how do we make space in our day to pray? What prayers are simple and real enough to practice regularly? What devotions don't involve extensive preparation or behavior modification?

Try this at home

Here's a simple, doable ritual that children love. Our family began doing "Happiest" and "Saddest" prayers when our children were little, a practice we have continued now that they are "medium" and "large." At night before bed we each take a turn to survey our day. We each relate a happy and a sad/hard moment. One of our daughters closes the prayer with the same line each night: "God bless us in our happy times and lighten our way in the sad times. Amen."

By getting together each evening to pray, we don't just let our days slip away in a rush. We remember that each day is a gift from God, who is present in small and large life happenings. We find out about what happened when we were apart. We begin to hear the patterns of the particular gifts God gave us that bring us joy and challenge us. Each person gets to tell their story while others listen and care.

God gave this idea to Ignatius

We are just one more group over the centuries to practice this ancient prayer. It's called the examen (like "examine"). About 500 years ago Saint Ignatius spent his life listening to God and learning to help others. He wrote a short book about the things that helped him in his prayer life, including the examen. Ignatius knew how hard it can be to understand God's work in our lives. He also realized that, over time, when he prayed to God about a happiest moment each day (his consolation) and about a saddest moment each day (his desolation), he began to see God's will for him much more clearly.

For all ages

The beauty of practicing the examen as a family is that it's basic enough to do with children of all ages yet profound enough to uncover God's wisdom for everyone. Even very young children can participate in this prayer — many love it enough to remind parents to do it.

The examen becomes richer and richer with repetition. When we first started using Happiest and Saddest in our family, my husband would say night after night, "My saddest was when I went to work and my happiest was when I got home." Our daughters chided him, "Da-ad, you always say that!" His deepest desires became clearer and clearer.

One night there was a different prayer from my husband: "My saddest was getting laid off from my computer job today." He turned a painful corner that day, and our family walked and prayed with him. Now, years later, there are both Happiest and Saddest prayers from my husband that recount moments in his new life as a teacher.

Try it, you'll pray it

I hope you'll give the examen a chance to become a simple, life-giving way to pray in your family. By repeatedly attending to God's gifts of Happiest and Saddest each day, kids and parents recognize that God is at work and doesn't need to go as fast as we do. God always has time for us and our lives. Kids love simple rituals that structure their days. Prayer steeps children in the good news that their family is looking for God where God is always looking for us — at the center of life.

Watch for the April The Little Lutheran, which includes such a ritual.

If you'd like to learn more, check out a short, highly readable book about the examen called Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life by Dennis and Matthew Linn (Paulist Press , 1995).