Oftentimes as believers we are faced with distractions of different kinds. As a result, our focus gets shifted and the energy dissipates until next time. The questions we then start to ask are: “are there any tips for fighting distractions in prayer?” and “how to focus in prayer without getting slowed down by things we functionally care about?”
For many, a lot of things may serve as the reasons for why they easily get distracted in prayers. First on that list maybe “sin”. Yes, the consciousness of sin! The reason why this flimsy excuse may be a bottleneck that could easily derail us from the express connection that we need to have with our God is because we perhaps have not yet come to grips with our faith.
This is so because sometimes we can approach prayer in the same way as adults and that is as a means to an end. We forget that prayer is a divine privilege. Hebrews 4:16 reminds us that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness. So, the consciousness of our sin, when aided by our ignorance, may be one strong reason why allow distraction take us out.
This content is prepared to give you at least 7 tips for fighting distractions in prayer. The same tips are arm-set to teach you how to focus in prayer and thereby successfully connect your mind to your Creator in supplications.
Tips for Fighting Distractions in Prayer
Here are some of the useful tips for fighting distractions in prayer:
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Be Honest With God
God is not surprised by our distraction. We can entrust our busy minds to the God who graciously gives us peace if we humbly ask. Maybe there are underlying feelings of stress and overwhelm bubbling beneath the surface of your heart. Maybe a consistently distracted mind reveals an idol you haven’t yet banished.
Maybe distractions are serving as a scapegoat for you, conveniently delaying a conversation with God that you know you need to have. We can submit our plans, our worries, our weaknesses, and our to-do lists to God in prayer, knowing that God upholds the world perfectly so that we do not have to. Name your distractions and lay them before God’s throne.
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Diagnose Distraction
Another step to take is looking at the voluntary and involuntary distractions you face most often. Which one of them can you control?
Voluntary distractions are allowing us get tempted to let our phone or a noisy environment keep us from focusing in prayer. There’s a reason Jesus told us to go into our rooms, shut the door, and then pray (Matthew 6:6).
Involuntary distractions are the ones we don’t have control over. These are the random thoughts that pop into our minds of what chores we need to do or who we need to text back. Sometimes these thoughts are important. These distractions aren’t necessarily sinful, but we do need to find ways to keep praying and not let them derail us. I’ll share a couple ideas for that later on.
We may be distracted for prayer for simple reasons like we have no mental energy left after a long day of work.
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Know God is Honored When You Pray
Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t remove all of our distractions with the snap of His fingers? He has the power to do that. I think one reason He doesn’t is because He is pleased with our fight because our efforts tell Him He is worth it. Our fight for focus is a fight to worship.
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Find an Offramp
If you’re wondering, what about the distracting thoughts that are important? Thoughts such as “I need to return that call!”, “I can’t forget to pay that bill!”, etc.
If important thoughts come to mind while praying, write them on a piece of paper and then organize those thoughts after prayer. Once you write down a thought, get back to prayer. This keeps one small stray thought from hijacking a perfectly good prayer time.
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Understand the Holy Texts and Use
If you are praying without understanding the meaning of it in Bible, then you will easily get distracted. It is one of the reasons due to which people lose focus during prayers.
Most prayers are in old languages that are not used in everyday life. For example, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic, etc. Hence, learn the language of the religion you practice to understand the text. Praying while knowing the meaning will make it easier for you to concentrate.
God has given his creatures the wisdom to find logic in everything. Without discerning a process, you cannot find any reason to focus. The relationship of concentration is dependent on your interests. If there is no interest, then there is no focus.
