Praying Out Loud in an Hour of Struggle

Katherine Doyle considers how to incorporate prayer into the ‘mama hustle hour’ to bring calmness and love into a difficult part of the day.  

In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus calls the Pharisees hypocrites because they cared more about upholding man-made traditions than following God’s laws. Jesus points out that they only honored God with their lips, but not by their actions. As I reflected on this passage, I thought about when I act more like the Pharisees than the heavenly saints. Where do I get stuck? When do I allow my habits and actions to get in the way of being God’s light in the world?

Ugh, the mama hustle hour. This was my obvious answer. The mama hustle hour is the time from 5-6 PM on a workday when I feel the most stress from life's daily grind. It is when I can be the lesser version of myself as I grow short on patience, and I’m quick to beep the horn. I can easily lose sight of Jesus. I miss the blessings around me due to feeling completely overwhelmed.

Here was my typical mama hustle hour in a nutshell: At 5-ish PM I rush out of the office to make daycare’s unrealistic pick up time, coax the baby into her car seat, bribe the four-nager into her booster (I forgot the snack again), drive home to hug two more larger children who were exhausted from school and frantically fill bellies with a sort of healthy snack as I stave off hunger meltdowns (including my own) long enough to figure out what the heck I would make for dinner (scolding myself for not meal prepping more the weekend prior). Inevitably, the kitchen island was a mountain of to-do's: homework to review, papers to sign, hospital bills to pay, art to appreciate, library books to remember, dirty bottles to clean and a heap of pumping parts to scrub. My mind would spin... Wait, what activities do the older kids have tonight? What day is it again? The mama hustle hour hardened my heart as chores and logistics wore me down. I had less patience with my children. My eyes lost their focus on Jesus.

Most days were fine. The mama hustle hour was actually okay when I was graced with patience. I really tried to enjoy the time with my kids because we had been separated all day. But on hard days, especially when I felt entirely depleted from work, this hour was really challenging. I had to feign patience with my family, but underneath it all, I was simmering with frustration until we finally started the bedtime routines, and my mind finally would settle down.

Love Begins at Home

When considering how to be better at keeping myself fixated on God during my mama hustle hour, and act less like the Pharisees, I remembered Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s famous words: “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do … but how much love we put in that action.” She was so right. My actions mean more when I am intentional and when I complete the tasks/chores with pure love. I can feel this in myself, and the kids can feel it too. I know they can. Mother Teresa’s words reminded me that when I do the little things with love and patience, I am fulfilling my primary mission as a Catholic mother: to raise my children to be little saints who serve Jesus and will find their way to heaven.

Determined to not live like the Pharisees, I started actively working on my mama hustle hour by trying to take the hustle out of the hour. I intentionally prepped more meals to minimize the hour’s chaos. I asked my husband to help more with meal planning. I started reciting a decade in the car on the way to daycare (and miraculously my car’s horn stopped beeping). I put a statue of Saint Clare of Assisi by my kitchen sink to remind me of the importance of simplicity. I started whispering a quick prayer requesting patience and peace before responding to temper tantrums when hunger was getting the better of everyone. I forced myself to let dirty dishes sit until after the little ones were in bed. We started having the big kids pack their own lunches (with supervision to ensure lunch wasn't 3 bags of Cheez-its). Little by little, I felt more relaxed as the hustle subsided.

Praying Out Loud During the Mama Hustle Hour

One particularly loud night, my eldest daughter asked me why I was talking to myself. I explained I was praying a Hail Mary to help me stay calm and focused on God as two children were crying and I needed a dinner fix. Grace looked at me dumbfounded. She just shook her head and said, “Mom, if you are going to say a Hail May, then say a Hail Mary!”

She proceeded to pray a Hail Mary out loud. She was six at the time. I was speechless. Of course! Praying out loud is absolutely what I needed to do to help myself and show more love. I want the kids to hear me asking for God’s help when overwhelmed, to join me in prayer and to learn from my example (and my mistakes).

While my mama hustle hour is never perfect, it is so much better now. So much so, I now need to come up with a new name for that hour. There really is less hustle to it. Praying out loud has become a welcomed habit that intrigues the kids, initiates conversations, and keeps me grounded. While our evenings are always crazy, I offer my anxieties to God and try to stay focused on Mother Teresa’s message to do the small things with love. When I do this, I am doing my best to honor God with my thoughts, my words and my actions.

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Copyright 2026 Katherine Doyle
Images: Canva