Distractions during prayer: frustrating but normal

Distractions during prayer are frustrating, but when you think about how the human mind works, they're completely normal.

When we pray, we'd like our mind to be like a cruise missile—locked on target and never varying from its course. We want God to know we're serious, that this request is important to us.

Instead, our concentration fails. Random thoughts make us feel out of control, and when we try to get back on task, it isn't long before we're wandering again.

What can we do? How can a Christian make their needs known to God in a way that is simple and calming rather than a battle against their own mind?

Fast-paced culture = hectic thoughts

These hectic thoughts are a product of our fast-paced culture, conditioned by TV and Internet commercials that ramp up speed to cater to short attention spans. There are so many things competing for our attention that ads have become increasingly short and jumpy.

Our thinking patterns follow suit. It's always been hard to focus on one subject and exclude all the distractions, but our mile-a-minute society has made it even worse.

Do you think Old West pioneers who lived out on the prairie with no electricity had endless thoughts hopping around in their heads? Of course not. It was a slow-paced, calmer environment.

When we accept the fact that our minds are naturally hectic, it takes some of the irritation out of the problem of distractions during prayer.

Can we calm ourselves down? Can we turn our prayer times into something rewarding and relaxing instead of a frustrating ordeal?

Expect distractions during prayer

One way to drain the power out of distractions during prayer is to fully expect them. When you accept the fact that they're going to show up, it takes the shock out of them when they do.

Dealing effectively with these interruptions becomes like a martial art in which you use your opponent's momentum against him. You step aside and let him stumble past. Then comes another one and another one and you stay calm and in control.

You focus on what you need from God. Tell him in a short sentence. If a distraction slips in, let it go by and repeat your sentence.

Here's the important part: God heard you the first time. The repetition is for yourself. God easily tunes out those irrelevant messages to get to the heart of the matter.

We do not give God credit for his majestic mind, which can not only listen attentively to millions of prayers at the same time, but glean the vital parts out of each person's scattered thinking.

If you're unable to do the judo thing with distractions during prayer, write your request out on paper. Then read it out loud. Clear. Direct. Uninterrupted.

We singles do well to pray out loud to God anyway. After all, prayer at its most basic is simply talking with your heavenly Father. Praying out loud helps you stay focused. Your dog or cat may think you're talking to them, but they're not going to blab the contents of your prayers to anyone. Your secrets are safe with them.

Key truths to remember

When I was young, I thought prayer was about convincing God to give me what I wanted. That was an immature understanding of prayer, but many people hold that idea today.

One of our distractions in prayer is the belief that the more desperately we plead, the more effective our prayer will be.

Yes, the Bible clearly says we should bring our desires to God. However, it does not say we are lawyers trying to prove a case or sales people trying to convince a customer. We can't help but get emotional, but let's remember who God is.

We can't help but get emotional, but let's remember who God is.

Jesus called God Father (actually Abba, Aramaic for "Daddy") because God is our true Father. He is responsible for our creation and our upkeep. Christians are adopted into his family as his children and we become siblings with Jesus.

I don't know about you, but I never told my earthly Dad what to do. He knew what to do. I was blessed to have a wise, compassionate, loving father who treated my brother and me as valuable sons. Some people have fathers who are not so trustworthy.

When we pray, we all need to remember our Father God knows what's best for us because first, he knows the future, and second, he's all-wise. He's not going to give us something that will destroy us. We snatch those things on our own.

I confess I have often been disappointed when I did not receive something I prayed for. That occurred when I prayed for loved ones who subsequently died and when I prayed for marriage. That never happened. I will not understand the reasons for that until I meet Jesus in person and he explains it to me.

Being able to continue in faith when you don't get what you want only happens when you trust in God—no matter what.

So don't become obsessed with distractions during prayer. The God who created the human mind knew that would happen. That's why he sent every Christian a divine Helper, the Holy Spirit:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

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