Having trouble keeping up with prayer - need some advice
As-salamu alaykum, I’m a revert and when I first accepted Islam I didn’t find it hard to start praying. But over this winter break things got messy. At first I was keeping my usual routine and my iman felt strong, then slowly I started caring less about the prayers. I began sleeping more and since I don’t like going to bed early I had to wake up for Fajr and then Dhuhr every day, which messed with my energy. Often when Dhuhr time came I’d get up half-asleep, make wudu, pray quickly, then brush my teeth and start making food. While cooking I’d remember Asr is coming, and because I’m into the gym I pay attention to my meals and nutrition, so sometimes when Asr arrived I’d think, “I just want to eat and rest,” or I had other plans I wanted to keep on schedule, so I’d delay prayer. After a few days I even stopped praying for about three days, then I realized that was wrong and I tried to get back on track. Since then praying has felt like a struggle. I usually pray when I’m with a Muslim friend, but when I’m alone it becomes hard. I know prayer shouldn’t feel like that - it’s standing before Allah - and I’m worried I’m not prioritizing the deen or maybe I’m overthinking it. I’d appreciate chatting one-on-one with someone because there’s more to this than I could write here.