I was laying in bed last night and after attempting to pray, it occurred to me that my thoughts were jumping around all over the place and I was not able to focus on the prayer.
So my thoughts jumped to that thread and I wondered why. Why can't I focus on prayer right now? I had just read a section from Mike Macintosh's book "Falling in Love with Prayer" and I wasn't even able to pray!
A couple of reasons popped up. Maybe my heart wasn't right. Had I confessed what I needed to? Maybe I was just tired. But then another thing came to mind. Maybe my gaming habits were causing a problem?
Most video gaming forces you to shift focus on a continual basis. Especially the first-person shooters I enjoy. I did a little research. Hit livescience.com (which didn't help much), USA Today (which did have one good article), and a few others that either overwhelmed with "possible matches" or had nothing at all.
I'm 30 years old. I know I can still learn things, but I'm certainly not as malleable as I was as a kid. So do you think playing Gears of War 2 is affecting my concentration? Or is it something else? My work also forces me to multi-task and change focus a lot throughout a given day. That's just the nature of being a manager of more than one type of department.
I can concentrate. If I put my mind to it. And I can shift focus fairly well. But I have a very hard time dividing my attention. Meaning that I shouldn't really drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time. I certainly can't type and listen to someone at the same time. So having trouble praying when there's nothing else to occupy my attention is a little disturbing.
There are a few things I can do to improve concentration while praying. Not praying while laying in bed is one. Getting on your knees is more than just a show of humbleness, it's also a means to help focus. I should also try "winding down" a little sooner. My typical weeknight routine is to put the girls to bed, get the chores done, play Gears for an hour or so, take a shower and go to bed. I usually read a little and finish by praying. I plan on taking more time right before or after my shower to slow my brain down. (Tips for that would be great!) Praying throughout the day might be another way to get it done. Having a continuous open conversation with God has become very important to me lately, and when I'm successful at maintaining that throughout the day, it's a lot easier to focus when I can to set everything else aside and just pray. Of course, maintaining that conversation is another topic that could fill a couple posts...
So what do you do to focus when praying?
Your post made me think..what I do when I pray is to close my eyes and to focus in what I do. I try to close the outside world, meditate and try to breathe deeply before I pray.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be that you'll just have to work at staying focused. Following the Lord's prayer as an outline will help to maintain your focus and yes, pray continually to the Lord all day or whenever it comes to mind. Reading and studying the word of God daily will help in your prayers.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Dawn