Each of us is unique and unrepeatable, and this is especially the case in the spiritual life.
Our own spiritual life will look different than our family members or friends and will certainly not be the exact same as the saints.
God calls each of us to a unique spiritual path that we have to discern.
One simple aspect of our spiritual life that we need to discern is the time each day when we pray.
If we are honest with ourselves, some of us don't schedule prayer and on most days, don't ever lift our eyes to God.
What we need to do is live an intentional spiritual life where we think about the best time of day to engage in a conversation with God.
Benefits of the morning
Many saints saw a great benefit to praying in the morning. St. Francis de Sales was one of them and he wrote about it in his Introduction to the Devout Life:
Holy Scripture continually teaches us that the morning is the best and most profitable part of the day, and so do the examples of the Saints and our natural reason. Our Lord Himself is called the Sun, rising upon the earth, and our Lady the Day-star; and so I think it is wise to go to sleep early at night in order to be ready to waken and rise early. Moreover, that is the pleasantest, the freshest, and the freest hour of the day,—the very birds stimulate us to rise and sing God’s praises. Early rising promotes both health and holiness.
One of the main reasons why the morning is an ideal time is that we can more easily enter into prayer when our mind is less cluttered from everything from the day.
Benefits of prayer at night
On the other hand, some of us can never pray in the morning, as hard as we try.
The "night owl" is wide-awake in the late hours of the evening and is more receptive to prayer at that time.
However, prayer at night will take a deliberate effort to stop what you are doing and pray, but if you are able to schedule it into your daily life, it won't be a problem.
Whatever you do, be intentional about your spiritual life and try to frequently place yourself in the presence of God, allowing the warmth of his love to invade your heart.
