A Prayer to Refocus on God When You’re Feeling Distracted - Your Daily Prayer - August 20

A Prayer to Refocus on God When You’re Feeling Distracted
By: Jaime Hampton

Bible Reading:

^"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” - Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Listen or Read Below:

Distractions are part of our daily lives, maybe more so now than at any other time in history. Daily, our brains are being trained by technology and society to not only have shorter attention spans, but to multi-task, and to expect instant answers.

It should come as no surprise, then, when we struggle with distractions in prayer.

The problem with struggling with being distracted in your prayer life goes deeper than the distractions themselves. The biggest problem? The guilt and shame that we carry around because of perceived failure as a Christian due to our inability to focus.

These feelings of defeat must be recognized as tools our Enemy uses to drive a wedge between us and God, and to make us feel unworthy of approaching the throne room of God in prayer.

But what if, instead of beating ourselves up over struggling with being distracted when we pray, we used those distractions as an opportunity to stretch and grow our focus and reinforce our devotion to the Lord?

St. Francis de Sales had this to say: “If the heart wanders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently... And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back, though it went away every time you brought it back, your hour would be very well employed.”

What St. Francis describes here reminds me of exercise for your prayer muscles. Would you consider yourself a failure at sit-ups just because you didn’t stay in the upright position the whole time? Of course not! The act of lying down, then sitting back up is part of the exercise which strengthens your abdominal muscles in the process.

In the same way, if we look at the recognition of distractions and subsequent refocus on God as strengthening our prayer lives, we will no longer be bound by the chains of guilt over being distractible. Instead of sitting back and conforming to the world’s pattern of increasing distractibility, we can be transformed by renewing our minds through this exercise of refocusing, just like Romans 12:2 says. And I can attest that over time, you will find yourself growing in the capacity for both the duration and intensity of your prayers.

Let’s Pray:

Lord, we praise you for your compassion, mercy, and lovingkindness. You are slow to anger and abounding in love. We thank you for the incredible gift of prayer, for including us in two-way communication with you, and partnership in ushering your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

We confess that our minds are easily distracted, and prayer is no exception. We pray for protection from the enemy’s lies that we are unworthy to approach you in prayer because of our struggles with focus. Show us how to reframe our distractions as opportunities to exercise our prayer muscles, and to grow in our faith and in our relationship with you.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

©Getty Images/Oleksandra Polishchuk

Jaime Hampton is a Christian author and co-host of the Praying Christian Women podcast with Alana Terry. She enjoys camping with her family, roasting (and drinking!) coffee, and the crazy life that comes with being a hockey mom. You can find more encouragement for your prayer life at PrayingChristianWomen.com, or @PrayingChristianWomen on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Related Resource: Establishing a Routine of Rest

For a long time, rest felt less like a gift and more like a guilty indulgence — something to be earned, something to feel vaguely ashamed of, something that productive, faithful people did not really need. In a world that measures worth by output, the idea of stopping feels dangerously close to falling behind.

But what if rest is not optional? What if it was never meant to be? Tonight, lay down the hustle. Receive the gift. This is exactly what you were made for. Your Nightly Prayer is a daily Christian prayer podcast from the LifeAudio Podcast Network and Crosswalk.com. Each night, the team behind Crosswalk.com brings you a devotional and prayer to help you end your day in conversation with God. May these nightly prayers help you find the words to pray and focus your heart and mind on the love of God as you end your day. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!