Do you ever struggle to stay focused in times of prayer? I know I do! Often times when I enter into a time of prayer it is not long before my mind begins to wander and begin to think on things that have nothing to do with what I was praying about it. Over the years I have done several things that have helped me stay a little bit more focused. I would have to say that one of the most helpful things that I do in regards to this has been using a journal in prayer. It helps me to have items written down on a piece of paper that I am able to look at and recall. It helps keep focused.
This morning I was reading, "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. In one of the letters that he wrote he specifically addressed the issue of wandering during prayer and had something very insightful to say. "One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times." It really is no surprise that so often I struggle with staying focused in prayer when the rest of my day has very few, if any, thoughts of God. Too often we have moved God to a specific time each day, and that is "God's time." When we get to that time we often leave feeling like it was wasted time, as we are unable to focus upon prayer, and the study of God's Word. However, should we really expect anything different? We spend all day, every day consumed with everything but God, and when we try to enter into our "God time" is should not be a surprise that we can't remove from our minds and hearts those things that consume our life. I know that I need to spend a lot more time throughout my day focusing on God, praying to God, thinking about God, praising God. If I do that, if we do that, I really believe that our "God time" will become so much more beneficial as it is not a break from the rest of our lives, but a continuation of the rest of our lives.
Brother Lawrence lived in a monastery, so you might think that all he had to do was pray, and read his Bible and think about God, but that was not the case. While Brother Lawrence did have set times of worship, that was not all his life consisted of. Brother Lawrence's primary duty at the monestary was to work in order to free up time for the monks to worship God. He was a dishwasher, and it was through doing dishes day in and day out that He learned how to practice the presence of God continually. So it doesn't matter if you are a stay at home mom, a youth pastor, a teacher, a plumber, or a CEO, you too can learn to always be about practicing the presecence of God, regardless of what you do. My encouragement to me, and you, is that today we would think much, pray much, and praise much in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Then the next time we enter into "God time" it won't seem so foreign, instead it will seem very common, we will feel at home.
