Recently a friend told me that they really struggle to pray because they get so easily distracted. I know my friend isn’t the only one frustrated with the little rabbit trails that crisscross our minds the second we fall on our knees. Does the following prayer sound familiar?
“Lord, please help me be a friend to Lily. All the girls gossip about her and I just don’t know what to say. *sigh* I’m not very good at knowing what to say ever though… *remembers last week when the cashier at the mall asked a question and I completely misunderstood him and said the most ridiculous thing ever* At least I’ll never see him again. I do need to return those shoes though for a different size… maybe I can go tomorrow, and I’ll ask Amanda to come … Oh, right I was praying!
Why do we find ourselves so distracted whenever we try to pray? And how can we get past distraction and focus our hearts and minds on God?
Understand why we so easily get distracted
When we pray, we come before the throne of the almighty God who holds the breath of the world in His hand. We talk to Him not from afar off, but from a place of personal connection. We are seated at His right hand and are told to “ask what we desire.”
But prayer is not just a conversation with God over coffee, it’s a joining with God in the battle against evil, sin, and darkness. We come not only to hear His heart, to receive His wisdom, and to delight in Him, but also to request freedom for prisoners, to ask that He stretch out His hand to heal and overcome the evil one. When we pray we engage in war against our own sinful flesh and against the powers of darkness.
While we often doubt the effectiveness of our prayers, our enemy knows firsthand their power. He knows that God hears the voice of His children and is not slow to answer. Our sinful flesh doesn’t want to surrender to the Lordship of Christ and our spiritual enemy doesn’t want us to be effective in putting an end to his work in the world. So in an effort to render our prayer time ineffective, these two enemies – our own flesh and the devil – throw all kinds of distracting thoughts our way.
We can’t allow distraction to keep us from prayer
Distraction is a tactic of the enemy to get us to lay down our swords. If we surrender, we will never see our sin defeated and we will never see men and women rescued from darkness and brought into the light. We must not give in. We must pray the more earnestly against distraction and resolve to seek Christ more diligently.
When your enemy realizes that distraction can’t keep you from your Saviour, but instead drives you to seek Him most intently, he will eventually back down. This doesn’t mean you will never again face distraction in prayer – some of history’s greatest prayer warriors still fought to keep their mind from wandering during prayer – but it does mean the distraction can become less frequent and less powerful.
Here are a few practical suggestions to help you press through distraction during prayer
- Be consistent. This is the best way to beat distraction. Schedule prayer into your day so that your mind and heart can prepare for it. When your mind develops a habit it is far more likely to stay focused and far less likely to get distracted.
- Pray out loud. Just because you are praying alone doesn’t mean you need to think your prayers. I usually whisper when I pray because hearing my words helps keep my mind focused on what I’m saying rather than what I’ll eat for lunch.
- Pray against distraction. Begin your prayer time asking the Lord to keep your mind focused and to capture your attention and affection.
- If the distracting thought is a task, write it down on your phone or a notebook close by. That way your mind doesn’t need to constantly remind you of it.
- If the distracting thought is a struggle or burden in your life or someone else’s life, bring it before the Lord. Tell Him what is on your heart and allow Him to remove the discouragement and worry as you trust Him to take care of all the details.
- Listen to instrumental music. If you generally focus better while listening to music or white noise, this might be a great option for you! I personally love listening to piano worship music while praying. Some of my favourites are the Music to Pray By podcast, Music to Pray By album, Hillsong Kids Jr. Piano Lullabies here and here.
- Read a psalm and use it as a springboard to prayer and thanksgiving.
- Sing a worship song. Play a song on iTunes and set your mind on the goodness and faithfulness of God. But I’d encourage you to sing rather than just listening, as actually singing the words helps turn the song into your own prayer and adoration instead of another distraction.
Prayer is a battle. We shouldn’t expect it to be easy. Don’t allow distraction to be your excuse for not praying. Rather, learn how to fight it so that you can enjoy fellowship with Christ in prayer.
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Can you relate to this struggle? #thestruggleisreal
Do you have any other tips to add to my list that help you stay focused while you pray?
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