Wondering how to focus in prayer and fight the distraction that derails you? In my latest video, I share seven practical tips for fighting distraction in prayer. Watch until the end to see the tip that encourages me the most.
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I’ve been encouraged to hear from a few people how studying When Prayer Is Struggle: A Practical Guide for Overcoming Obstacles in Prayer as a small group led to rich and fruitful discussion.
May the Lord increase the fruit of this book for the glory of His Name!
Ever feel frustrated that you can’t focus for prayer? Concentrating on God in prayer feels like trying to nail jello to the wall. You can’t stop the flurry of thoughts ranging from what your day ahead looks like to that email that needs your attention to the last cat video you saw on YouTube.
If you struggle with distraction in prayer, you’re not alone. In fact, most believers say it is one of their biggest struggles. Even Jesus, who faced every temptation that we do, had to escape the crowds and distractions for private prayer (see Mark 1:35; Matthew 14:23; Luke 6:12).
How do we fight distraction to better concentrate in prayer? This article provides a simple framework to help you answer that question. Before we move forward, why not ask God for help in fighting distractions caused by the world, the flesh, and the devil?
The most important thing about prayer is remembering Who we are praying to. That’s why Jesus taught his disciples to pray by beginning with, “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Often we focus on our actions and words in praying that we forget at its simplest, prayer is responding to God who started the conversation with us by revealing Himself in His Word.
Look at the voluntary and involuntary distractions you face most often. What are the distractions that you can control? These are voluntary distractions. I am tempted to let my phone or a noisy environment keep me 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. Or, the root may be a more complex issue in our lives. Is some of your distraction in prayer caused by responsibility avoidance, idolizing your work (and thus thinking about it all the time, even during prayer), or just plain laziness? Maybe deep emotional pain prevents greater focus. Ask God for wisdom and His help in working through the heart issues that cause distraction.
Let me suggest a simple rule: use technology when it helps you focus in prayer and ditch it when it hinders.
Even if we follow the spirit of Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:6 for private prayer, bringing a phone into our prayer room can bring in the whole world in with us. That’s why I recommend disconnecting entirely from technology when possible. Turn off your phone, put it in airplane mode, or put it in the other room. You may also want to limit technology use throughout the day because, if you’re like me, you realize the more you’re constantly distracted with technology, the more likely you will be distracted during the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading.
But there are also tech tools that help foster faithful prayer. The PrayerMate app helps me pray by organizing a myriad of prayer priorities and requests into prayer cards that it regularly cycles through. But I have to exercise self-control using it, because it is after all on the most distracting device known to mankind!
If you’re wondering, what about the distracting thoughts that are important? I need to return that call! I can’t forget to pay that bill! 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.
This is perhaps the simplest tip: when you notice that you lost focus in prayer, refocus. Run back to God. Puritan Thomas Brooks writes: “Vain thoughts pass through the best hearts; they are lodged and cherished only in the worst hearts.”
This point may be the most practical. Implement focus-inducing tools when distracted. Here are a few to consider[1]:
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.
Let this encourage you: you may battle to squeak out just a few sentences in prayer, but God can hear them and can change your life and even the world through them. Just because distractions land a punch against you doesn’t mean you can’t fight back in God’s strength and serve them a knockout blow. Don’t give up!
You may also enjoy: 10 Free Prayer Tools that You Can Use Today
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