Prayer: Overcoming Problems
by David Roadcup
Throughout the year, I am invited to do seminars at conventions, clinics, and churches on prayer and fasting. In these seminars, we always discuss the barriers that present themselves to prayer. Things like interruptions, lack of planning, guilt and emotional hesitancy can all stand in the way of or cancel a wonderful time of connecting with our Heavenly Father. But by far, audiences tell me that there is one major stumbling block or pothole that thwarts a good prayer experience for them. It is this: the wandering of our minds while we are praying!
We begin our prayer with a great start only to realize that just minutes later, instead of focusing on the prayer point we were presenting, we are thinking of what we are going to have for dinner that evening or our favorite sports team or a hobby we enjoy or the latest headline from the day’s news!
How frustrating! “How disrespectful of our Heavenly Father!," we think. We are addressing the Creator of the Universe and cannot keep a thread of thought focused for more than a few minutes! If this is your experience as an elder or church leader, this tells me something about your personal spiritual journey: it tells me that you are normal! I would say, “join the crowd!”
By far and away, most believers would agree that the greatest problem we face as we pray is having our minds wander. The continual struggle to maintain a consistent focus in prayer is a continuous problem with believers who are seeking to build strong prayer lives. It’s universal! I instruct students from over fifty different countries in my ministry as a professor for TCM International Institute and they, also, face the same issue.
In years past, I would say to myself, “I am a product of the TV generation!" My family of origin watched TV most evenings throughout my elementary and middle school years. “My ability to concentrate has been destroyed because of this medium!” I would think to myself.
A few years ago, I was in a Christian bookstore and found an interesting booklet. It was titled Martin Luther’s Quiet Time. Martin Luther went to his barber who was a member of his church to get a haircut. His barber asked him, “Martin, what do you do in your personal devotional time each day? Give me a guideline." Luther responded by telling him that he would return to his office and write down a guideline to share with him. He did so and wrote fifty-four pages of direction! That document was lost for hundreds of years, later discovered and translated into English. I was amazed to read that the number one problem Luther had in his prayer life was his mind wandering! Luther had no TV, radio, or internet but still had problems in this area.
Great Christian leader and philosopher, Saint Thomas Aquinas, wrote that “even holy men sometimes suffer from a wandering of the mind when they pray.”
So, it isn’t necessarily only TV or other forms of entertainment that cause our problem.
Here are a few encouraging observations that I have developed over the years that have helped me, personally, to manage the issue of one’s mind wandering while in prayer.
1) The Lord understands that this is a universal problem. We should ask Him for help! We all struggle in this area. We have feet of clay. We are all human. We know that we are not alone and should ask our Father for help in this area. After our mental break, why not come right back to where you were and continue?
2) We know that fatigue, stress, worry, and other emotional struggles can add to our difficulty in this area. ADHD or other issues can take our concentration to places we had not planned.
3) I have come to believe that our Heavenly Father would rather have a sincere, heartfelt prayer from our hearts, broken up occasionally by an unplanned mental focus lapse, than have no prayer at all.
4) Maintaining the mental/emotional/spiritual focus required by prayer requires a lot of effort. Prayer is work. It is understandable that we might take an unplanned mental break during our prayer time.
Here are a few practical suggestions that will help you handle this problem:
1) Try praying out loud. Verbalize your prayers. This can, at times, ease our struggle with this stressor.
2) Write your prayers. If you have begun the spiritual practice of journaling, you can write your prayers. This is an excellent discipline. It can be a powerful reminder of past prayers answered. If you are not journaling on a regular basis, secure a personal notebook and start a prayer journal. Write your prayers as they flow from your heart.
3) Employ a prayer list. Keep a list of items, occasions, and people that are important to you to remember in prayer. Using this list can help maintain focus.
Friends, why is it important that elders, staff, and church leaders focus on building a stronger, more consistent prayer life? It is because focused, powerful prayer might be the most important aspect of our ministry and service. When we work, we work. When we pray, God works!
Let me encourage you not to be defeated or dismayed when you are struggling with your mind wandering in prayer. Just know the Holy Spirit is communicating before the Throne of God in every prayer you utter (Romans 8:26). And it is understood in the portals of heaven that we are trying! God is so gracious and receives our prayers to Him, unintended interruptions and all.
Friends, keep praying – and lead well.
