Prayer is a difficult thing and a simple thing. It is simple because we can be honest and open and just talk to God. It is difficult because we have these high ideals that we think we have to live up to. Almost a ritualistic structure that has to happen. We kneel down and solemnly pray quietly with serene look on our faces, pouring out worship and intercession to the loving heavenly Father, at 4am. That is a lot of pressure.
Richard Foster writes in his book Prayer that “none of us
will keep up a life of prayer unless we are prepared to change. We will either
give it up or turn it into a little system that maintains the form of godliness
but denies the power of it—which is the same thing as giving it up.”
I don't want us to give up prayer, just because we have a hard time focusing. Here are a few "methods" I have found that help me to pray with an active brain.
1. Pray Out loud
I knew someone who wouldn't pray out loud, because she didn't want Satan to know what she was praying. She thought he might interfere with the person or activity. I also knew a guy who always prayed out loud because he thought Satan would know a head of time he lost those particular battles and wouldn't bother them.
I pray out loud because it helps me stayed focused on my prayers. If Satan hears he can do what ever he wants, because God is bigger and stronger anyhow. But our brains take on several ways of staying on track. By praying out loud I am using my brain, my mouth, and my ears. The more senses stimulated for the same purpose adds control and retention. The same is true for learning. Other people pray out loud for the same reasons. It keeps us from thinking about other stuff and wandering down fox trails.
So find you a quiet spot where you can talk, scream, laugh, or cry out loud to God and people will not have to wonder as much about your sanity.
2. Write as Much as I can.
I like to write my prayers at times. Usually these are worshipful are thankful prayers. When I'm mad or scared out of my shorts, I'm not able to write those types of prayer. Sometimes I will get an idea to thank God for a specific thing or specific way and that should be written down. If we are true and the prayer is true, it can be read or prayed several times. I think God is OK with this sort of things, after all there are 150 prayers recorded in what is called the book of Psalms in the Bible.
If you are poetic or words are a gift to you, this can be a very rewarding practice. I love reading prayers of other people, but more about that in a minute.
Writing prayers is also way to be able to come back to our prayers. We are not likely to start writing about the stupid person who cut us off or what we might wear if it rains later.
Lots of people have written about journaling and this is a benefit of that. But most of us can't even keep up with a journal much less know what to write in it. Regardless where, prayers are a great thing to write. It also helps us see our growth, and if you can find your prayer book months later you can write in how God has answered your prayers.
3. Climb a tree.
I had a professor in college who taught me more about prayer than anyone else I've learned from. I was a young broken college student with a young family and thought I had to have all my ducks in a row and the only thing reason I can think to have ducks in a row would be for a ring toss game. So I had a lot to learn. I really thought being at Bible college was a very short step from the monastic lifestyle. I thought everyone just knew how to pray for hours and study the Bible and prayed for a few more hours. I tried everything. I tried praying at night. I'm not a night person so I usually just fell asleep. I tried to pray first thing in the morning, but I couldn't keep up with all the things I had to do for the day. I tried in the middle of the day literally going into the closet. That caused me a lot of issues I'm not going into here.
Anyhow, this professor everyone called "Doc" because he was one of those cool profs who you could do that with. He would walk to class with one arm stuck out to the side at times. He would walk to class singing and talking to himself. He would ride his bike at extremely fast speeds with lots of focus. So I scheduled a time to talk to him. I told him my problem, and he asked me a lot of questions. He asked me what I liked and disliked. Likes- being outside. Dislikes - my face in the carpet for an hour.
He came up with some suggestions I have modified and added to them:
- Go for a walk with your "arm around Jesus shoulder" and just talked to him. (Oh, that's what he was doing with his arm stuck straight out to the side, I thought he was airing his pits.)
- Climb a good strong tree, and at every branch stop and pray about something or someone. By the time you get to the top of the tree, you will be closer to God. (Get it, closer to God the higher you go? The president of the college caught me climbing the Holy Prayer Oak on campus. That was hard to explain and I immediately through the blame on Doc.)
- Go for a hike when needing to talk about direction or which path in life to take.
- Get on you bike, pedaling hard, and praise God for an awesome attribute of his at each power pole, and by the end of your ride you will better understand His power.
- Chop wood, whether you need it or not, repenting of sin and asking God to cut that out of your life. (Or pray like King David that God would chop your enemies.)
- Pray while mowing the grass. No one else can hear you and you can prayerfully Cut your problems away.
- cooking (lord make me better, God's provisions)
- sewing (keep our marriage bond strong)
- sanding (reconciliation with others)
- building something (the church to grow)
- taking a shower (clean from sin, usefulness of each body part to bring glory to God.)
Hopefully you have the idea by now.
4. Read prayers.
I have a book of Jewish prayers. I have books of prayer and meditation by monks. I have prayers that are from the New Testament. The book of Psalms. The book of Lamentations. Prayers are a great thing to read devotionally because it helps us see we are not the only ones feeling or needing a certain way. I usually read the prayer and if it fits today, that's my prayer and my starting point.
5. Start Small.
Don't expect to sit down and have an hour long conversation with God right off the bat. Some people can, but I can't even do this well with someone in front of me. I have do things in simple forms.
Max Lucado is releasing another book titled "Before Amen" and this is the simple "form" he suggests most all prayers take in the scriptures.
"Father,
You are good.
I need help.
They need help.
Thank you.
In Jesus’ name, amen."
- Max Lucado
It is a good simple pattern for prayer. It's a simplified version of the Lord's prayer and easy to remember. I pray through the Lords prayer, well, most of the way through, at different times. I say my Father in Heaven, Hallowed is your name", and then I praise him for things. "Give me this day my daily bread"here is what I think my needs are. ""deliver me from evil" I repent of this and this and that and those, and you know the list, I've given it to you before.
I would think as we are getting started or trying to get "better" God is good with dozens of 5 minutes honest prayers as he is to one hour long prayer. (Please take note, this is an opinion I've devised to make myself feel better about short prayers)
6. Remove Distractions
Have I ever mentioned the idea of removing distractions. Turn off electronic devices. Turn off lights. Get a drink of water. Have a notepad/ journal and pencil on hand. Have your devotional/ prayer book on hand. Turn lights back on so you can read it. Make sure no one else is around if you can.
7. Just talk ... and listen
Just talk to God. The point of going to God in prayer is to build our relationship and make us closer with the Father. The Point of prayers is to be in contact with our Dad who has the strength, power, and ability to change things. So letting God know what's on our heart and our mind is good for us. It opens us up to the seeing where God is working and making changes. If you want a churchie word for that, it's miracles. Our honestness and openness allow God to work in us. So just talk to him. And then listen. He talks to us in different ways. Sometimes it's in our "intuition", church members, always the Bible.
It might could feel like you are talking to yourself. So find a picture or form one in your mind of what God might look like as you are talking to him. Is he sitting across the table with a cup of coffee with you? Is on a bench outside beside of you? Is your arm around him? Is he pulling you up a tree?
Prayer is all about change. Whether it is us who need to change or circumstances, we have to believe God can change things. That is the purpose of prayer. These 7 things are not a formula, program or system. These are just ways I have learned to pray and find meaning and purpose in my prayers based on my personality and active brain. So spend some time with God in prayer. He understands how our brains work, even if we don't.
Some research and further reading on prayer can be found here, if you enjoy those types of number games.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/05/01/5-facts-about-prayer/
http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/150915-us-statistics-on-prayer.html
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