[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fpraying-when-your-mind-wanders":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fpraying-when-your-mind-wanders-surround":73},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":55,"date":56,"description":17,"extension":57,"image":58,"meta":59,"minRead":60,"navigation":61,"path":62,"postType":63,"publication":64,"publicationUrl":58,"seo":65,"stem":66,"topics":67,"__hash__":72},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fpraying-when-your-mind-wanders.md","Praying When Your Mind Wanders",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Matthew","1 Peter",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":51},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45,48],[15,16,17],"p",{},"Do you ever find it hard to focus your thoughts when you talk with God? You bow your head and close your eyes as someone prays aloud, but after the final \"amen,\" you can't recall a word that was said. Or maybe you offer a prayer when you go to bed, only to fall asleep in mid-sentence. Or during devotions, your thoughts flit involuntarily from one topic to another: \"Lord, thank you for this day . . . boy, it's cold in here . . . and help me do your will . . . I can't believe what happened at work yesterday . . . and bless our missionaries, Lord . . . hmmm, I wonder if any of that pizza is left over from last night . . .\" And on it goes.",[15,19,20],{},"It's frustrating. We want to communicate meaningfully with God and love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We don't want to be like the hypocrites Jesus warned about who mouth impressive but empty prayers. After all, the Bible says, \"Be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray\" (1 Peter 4:7).",[15,22,23],{},"Remember when you first learned to ride a bicycle? You wobbled along, unsure of yourself, weaving unsteadily—until one day you got the hang of it. If only prayer were like that! Yet even after you've been a Christian for years, you may struggle to concentrate in prayer, as your thoughts wobble and weave.",[15,25,26],{},"John Calvin wrote that no one \"is so intent on prayer as not to feel many thoughts creeping in.\" According to Brother Lawrence, famous for writing The Practice of the Presence of God, \"You are not the only one that is troubled by wandering thoughts. Our mind is extremely roving.\"",[15,28,29],{},"Martin Luther told the amusing story of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) who complained to a friend that he couldn't even pray the Lord's Prayer once without being distracted by foreign thoughts. His friend disagreed, contending that it really wasn't very difficult to stay focused; so Bernard made a bet with him. If the other man could pray all the way through the Lord's Prayer without his mind wandering, Bernard promised to give him a horse. So the fellow began to pray, \"Our Father . . . ,\" but soon found himself wondering whether he would also get a saddle if he won the horse—and so he had to stop and concede victory to Bernard.",[15,31,32],{},"How can we win the battle with wandering thoughts? Effective prayer is more about perseverance than procedures, more about trust than fancy techniques. But there are some steps we can take.",[15,34,35],{},"Ask God's help. We can be honest with him. He understands our struggles.",[15,37,38],{},"Write prayers in a journal or notebook, or keep a list of your requests and God's answers. (David wrote many of his prayers, as did the apostle Paul.)",[15,40,41],{},"Find prayer partners. Praying aloud with others helps us pray more clearly and less selfishly.",[15,43,44],{},"Read—the inspired words of Scripture, and the insights of devotional writers.",[15,46,47],{},"Follow the outline Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:9-13. Let your mind wander to the throne of Heaven (\"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name\") and to the ends of the earth (\"Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven\"). Let your mind wander to today's needs (\"our daily bread\"), the marvel of God's grace (\"forgive us our debts\"), your relationships with others (\"as we also have forgiven our debtors\"), and the spiritual battles you face (\"lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil\").",[15,49,50],{},"Our gracious heavenly Father listens to us because we are his children, not because our words are profound. Our wandering thoughts can give way to thoughts of wonder as we come into the presence of the one who owns \"the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever,\" and realize that we can call him \"Abba.\"",{"title":52,"searchDepth":53,"depth":53,"links":54},"",2,[],"From the Editor's Desk","1997-08-24","md",null,{},4,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fpraying-when-your-mind-wanders","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fpraying-when-your-mind-wanders",[68,69,70,71],"Spiritual Formation","Biblical Theology","Intergenerational Ministry","Perseverance in Suffering","RjyMOxWuVD20QGZ65TLlxovCZCL_7J-nnL678lR0www",[74,78],{"title":75,"path":76,"stem":77,"description":75,"children":-1},"Praying Uneasily","\u002Farticles\u002Fpraying-uneasily","articles\u002Fpraying-uneasily",{"title":79,"path":80,"stem":81,"description":82,"children":-1},"Preaching to the Choir","\u002Farticles\u002Fpreaching-to-the-choir","articles\u002Fpreaching-to-the-choir","Do you ever talk to yourself? Most of us do, I suppose—though not out loud in public. Even in the Bible, David engaged in some self-talk when he reminded himself, \"Praise the Lord, O my soul\" (Psalm 103:1). Sometimes we need to talk to ourselves in order to keep ourselves in line!"]