Prayer For Staying Focused

Undistracted Prayer

Prayer For Staying Focused

How To Stay Focused When You Talk To God.

Have you ever struggled to stay focused while you pray? I often begin to pray with great expectations of unhurried, undistracted time before God. But, inevitably, my mind dredges up urgent requests, inconsequential facts, or mundane tasks that seem to demand my immediate attention. Then, having been sidetracked by the temporal, it seems even harder to concentrate on the eternal.

We might be tempted to think that such distractions are simply symptoms of the frenzied times we live in. But saints throughout the ages have wrestled with wandering thoughts during prayer. F. W. Faber, a 19th-century hymn writer, wrote about his struggle with such “unmannerly distractions.”

Ah dearest Lord! I cannot pray,

My fancy is not free;

Unmannerly distractions come,

And force my thought from Thee.

My very flesh has restless fits;

My changeful limbs conspire

With all these phantoms of the mind

My inner self to tire.

I cannot pray; yet, Lord! Thou knowst

The pain it is to me

To have my vainly struggling thoughts

Thus torn away from Thee.

The disciples also struggled to stay vigilant in prayer. When Jesus took them to the garden, He asked them to keep watch with Him. When He arose from prayer and found them sleeping, He said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mt. 26:40-41, RSV).

What can be done to overcome the flesh in prayer? What can we do to stay attentive during communion with the Lord? Here are a few suggestions to consider.

Shut the Door

Jesus gave His disciples specific instructions on how to pray: “But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you” (Mt. 6:6, LB).

“Shutting the door” is one of the most important keys to undistracted prayer. I must find a quiet place, free from distractions and interruptions. But shutting the door means more than barricading myself in my bedroom.

When I spend time in this secret place with the God of the universe, I close the door on everything that would disturb or hinder me. I set my heart’s attention on the living God.

This is an act of the will, a decision to be quiet, to listen, and to be sensitive to the Spirit and His presence.

When I shut the door, I recognize the high privilege and blessing of intimacy with my Lord. I am not in a hurry, but have made a commitment to slow down and allow myself to experience His peace and rest. Shutting the door insulates me from the world and enables me to focus on the Lord.

Eugene Peterson’s translation of Mt. 6:6 in The Message captures the essence of shutting the door:

Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

Read Scripture First

George Mueller, a great man of prayer, wrote that he would often spend up to a half hour suffering from wandering thoughts before he really began to pray. Then he made a simple discovery that helped him eliminate distractions during prayer.

I saw that the most important thing was to give myself to the reading of God’s Word, and to meditation on it…

Now prayer, in order to be continued for any length of time in any other than a formal manner, requires, generally speaking, a measure of strength or godly desire, and the season therefore when this exercise of the soul can be most effectually performed is after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God, where we find our Father speaking to us, to encourage us, to comfort us, to instruct us, to humble us, to reprove us… Thus there is far less to be feared from wandering of mind than if we give ourselves to prayer without having had time previously for meditation.

Reading the Bible provides spiritual nourishment and is the best preparation for communion with the Lord. Listening intently to God’s Word is a major part of prayer. Through the Scriptures, God speaks to us. When we read His Word before we pray, our hearts are prepared to respond in prayer to what He has already shown us.

Pray Out Loud

One of the quickest ways to eliminate distractions in prayer is to pray out loud. The act of speaking forces us to articulate our thoughts, anxieties, and requests more clearly. Praying out loud also causes us to slow down.

It has been said that the average person thinks at about 1,300 words per minute but can only speak about 50 words per minute. If your heart is heavy with the pressures of life, your thought life may be an ongoing flood of anxiety.

Speaking your prayers instead of just thinking them allows you to address one issue at a time and can help stem this torrent of anxious thoughts by bringing them before the throne of grace one by one.

Pray Scripture

Often as I read Scripture, I find myself praying several verses for myself or for others. I enjoy praying through the psalms, particularly Psalm 145. It helps me to praise God for His attributes and graciousness toward us.

For example, verse 14 says, “The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” Verses such as these help me battle distraction by taking my thoughts off myself and fixing them on God.

As I pray sections of this psalm and other Scriptures back to the Lord, I rarely have wandering thoughts.

We can also emulate the prayers of the New Testament. Paul’s prayers for believers in his epistles have transformed my intercession. Paul prayed the following for the Colossians: “We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom” (see Col. 1:9).

This is just one verse the many great prayers that can be found in the epistles (see Eph. 1:17-21, 3:14-21; Phil. 1:9-11; Col. 1:9-12; 2 Thess. 1:11-12). Jesus' intercession in John 17 is another passage I often use as a model to help me pray for family and friends: “Lord, keep them in Your name. Keep them from the evil one. Sanctify them in the truth.

May Your love be in them. May they behold Your glory.”

Sing Spiritual Songs

Paul admonished the Ephesian church to “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:19-20).

Spiritual songs help me focus in several ways. If I'm struggling to keep my mind on prayer, a favorite hymn or praise song draws my attention back to spiritual things. Hymns and songs enable me to express my heartfelt worship and praise to God.

If I'm anxious or worried, praise before prayer helps settle my soul. When I bring hymnals and chorus books into my quiet times with God, I can reflect in prayer upon the truths eloquently described in these songs.

They become a rich source of devotional material that enhances my prayer times.

Pray the Principles of the Lord’s Prayer

When one of Jesus' disciples said, “Lord, teach us how to pray,” Jesus responded by providing His disciples with a model of prayer—known as the Lord’s prayer—that contained six main elements. The first three relate to God: He is our Father, our King, and our Master.

The last three concern us: our daily bread, our forgiveness, and our protection from temptation and evil. These elements can be prayed simply with few added thoughts, or amplified with scriptures, hymns, or songs. This pattern of prayer can take a few minutes or a few hours. The Lord’s prayer helps me focus on the essentials.

It helps me to remember that my prayers do not always have to be long to be good.

Pray with Thanksgiving

Scripture encourages believers to “devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Col. 4:2). Thanksgiving has the power to transform our attitudes and perspective.

Choosing to give thanks helps me remember God’s blessings and faithfulness instead of just dwelling on the difficulties in my life.

Those who are truly thankful for gracious acts cannot help but express their thankfulness earnestly and repetitively.

A few years ago I began to ask the Lord to show me His goodness. I realized that often I did not acknowledge God’s hand in my life. I was oblivious to His loving attention to me, and, as a result, I did not have an attitude of thanksgiving—especially in my prayer life. Slowly, I have been able to come to the Lord with a more thankful heart.

I am now more ly to recognize and give thanks for small blessings, the ones that can be easy to miss or take for granted: a friend who calls to encourage, a new thought from Scripture, protection while driving, a sense of His presence. There are countless opportunities to thank the Lord as we remember His goodness toward us.

Recounting God’s goodness is a good antidote to restlessness in prayer.

Write Your Prayers

Writing out our prayers also helps keep us focused. It is often easier to maintain our concentration if we are doing something physical such as writing.

As with speaking our prayers aloud, writing them down slows our thoughts and helps us concentrate on one issue at a time. Another great benefit of recording our prayers is rereading them later.

Writing down our prayers not only helps eliminate distractions, it also creates a unique written record of our struggles and God’s faithful responses.

Pray while Walking

I greatly enjoy praying while walking. Something about the active nature of walking helps me concentrate as I pray. Most of the time, very few things disturb me while I am on a walk.

I feel very comfortable with any silences while I'm praying, and I'm not bothered by any physical distractions that a room might bring—such as dust! As I observe and enjoy God’s creation, I tend to have a more relaxed conversation with Him.

Pray with a Friend

It is much easier to stay alert when praying conversationally with a friend. I must listen attentively to her thoughts if I am to add my requests to hers. I need to be mindful to pray for our mutual concerns and for her personally. Some of my richest prayer times have been with others.

Delightful Communion

God has called us to pray. He is well able to direct our time. We need to come with an open and loving heart, ready to let God set the agenda through His Word and His Spirit. As we begin to use these simple methods of focusing our attention during prayer, we'll experience deeper freedom and joy while communing delightfully—and undistractedly—with our Lord.

Источник: //bible.org/article/undistracted-prayer

5 Steps to Staying Focused on God

Prayer For Staying Focused
“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.” -F. Scott Fitzgerald

Staying focused on God in today’s ever changing world is not easy. Life happens so fast in the 21st Century that if your cell phone is 12 months old it’s date!

Did you know this hectic rush of life we experience isn’t unique to our generation? Surprising, because how many times have you heard about “the good old days,” when life was slower and more simple?

While the above quote sounds something our parents and grandparents probably didn’t experience, that is actually from the book, The Great Gatsby by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925.

Still, I’m fairly convinced that there have never been as many distractions in the life of a person as we have now. So how do we stay focused on God in the daily grind while so many things are competing for our attention?

1. Begin the day with God

I know it sounds simple enough and it’s going to be one of the first suggestions you’ll find in any article this, but that’s for good reason.

If you or I are going to stay focused on God, we have got to include the things of God in our daily lives!

You’ve probably heard that when something is repeated twice in the Bible it’s something to pay attention to, right? How about something that’s repeated 10 times in one teaching? That’s how many times Jesus used the word “abide” or “remain” in John 15:1-11!

Jesus said in John 15:4, “Abide in me.” He repeated that in 2 other ways in John 15:5-7 while also providing a stark warning and a vast promise:

Staying focused on God requires abiding in Him. I know your mornings are rushed, but if you create the discipline to spend the first minutes of your day reading the Word of God and talking to Him about the day ahead, you will have a greater focus on Him throughout the day.

If you don’t know where to start, try reading John 15:1-11 each morning for a week. It won’t take long and the passage is crazy profound.

2. Remain in prayer

Do you want to create and develop the habit of a prayerful life? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 makes one simple yet bold command: “pray without ceasing.”

This is a habit worth developing and isn’t as difficult as you might think. Plus, prayer has a way of changing lives.

When you see or hear a news report that bothers you, pray for the people and the situation. When you come across someone that annoys you or tries your patience, silently pray for them. When you hear of someone facing some problem, large or small…pray for them.

We had a friend that taught her children about staying focused on God by offering up a quick prayer every time they heard the sirens of a police car, ambulance or fire truck.

God doesn’t need your eloquent, long-winded pious sounding discourses, laced with “thees, thous” and “almighties.” He wants your heart, and often in prayer that sounds as simple as “God, help!

3. Limit the distractions

In the post 3 Ways to Having More Faith, I wrote that we have to keep a clear space between us and God. You can’t keep your eyes on what you can’t see, physically or spiritually.

In Joshua 3:4, the people of Israel are commanded to keep a distance of 2,000 cubits between them and the ark of the covenant. That’s about a half of a mile and the purpose was so the people of Israel would always be able to see the ark in all types of terrain that they were traveling through.

In our spiritual lives, when we fill the spaces with all kinds of conveniences and distractions, it becomes very difficult and even impossible sometimes to see where the Lord is leading us.

We can overcome this by limiting the distractions, the busyness and our own lack of discipline by making a conscious effort to keep our Lord in the number one spot in our lives.

4. Serve God

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus teaches, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

You’ve heard that verse. You’ve probably also heard the term mammon in place of money at the end of it.

Though “mammon” was a word that primarily represented money and possessions, it was also used to refer to lusts of all types.

If you’re serving God with your resources of time, energy, talents, and with your money, then staying focused on God will naturally follow.

5. Remove sin from your life

This could have been the first point in the list.

What I mean by this is to remove the habitual, continuous sinful habits and patterns from your life.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us.”

If there is something, someone, some place or anything in your life that leads you away from God in any way, or that keeps you prayer, away from fellowship with other believers or distracts you from reading your Bible, you have one option: remove that thing from your life.

Staying focused on God or growing in your spiritual, prayer, or Christian life in any way with any habitual sin in your life is next to impossible. Kill the sin or it will kill you spiritually, physically, or both.

Kill sin or it will kill you spiritually, physically, or both.Click To Tweet

Running the Marathon

It’s been said countless times that life is a marathon, not a sprint. When staying focused on God, this becomes especially evident.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us that “We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up,” and the next verse tells us how to do that: “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2).

Taking these 5 steps and making them daily habits will deepen your spiritual life and they will help when staying focused on God.

Источник: //genewhitehead.com/staying-focused-on-god/

Learning to Focus and Concentrate on your Daily Prayer A Complete 30-Day Workbook

Prayer For Staying Focused

The ability to focus attention with sufficient intensity to accomplish the goal five times a day is a skill that needs to be developed.

Those people who have learned how to concentrate and can apply their minds to a particular task whenever necessary appreciate this fact.

Unfortunately, it is more difficult to concentrate on the act of Prayer simply because it is a repetitious act of worship. As a result, the effort required to fulfill this task is greatly increased.

The 25 strategies for concentrating in Prayer discussed in the Prayer booklet can be further divided into three categories: those that have to be well analyzed and understood; those that have to be applied before the Prayer, and the remainder applied after you complete your Prayer.

This workbook includes a 30-day exercise to significantly increase your concentration in Prayer and solve the problem of distracting thoughts and sounds.

Category One: Knowledge And Awareness

1 Have I understood and convinced myself of Allah (SWT)’s presence?

2 Am I aware that I am standing in front of Allah (SWT)?

3 Do I understand what I recite?

4 Am I making the correct pronunciations in Arabic?

5 Am I aware and practicing the Rules for Reciting The Qur’an?

6 Have I understood the main reasons behind The Five Daily Prayer?

7 Do I have the motivation and energy to sustain my attention?

8 Am I confident enough that Allah (SWT) is with me and that He is assisting me in my Prayer?

9 Have I refrained myself from heedless conversations?

10 Do I remember death often?

11 Do I fast often enough to increase my mental clarity?

12 Have I convinced myself that each Prayer I recite maybe my last Prayer?

If you have answered YES to 6 of the 12 questions above, you may proceed with the workout. However, even one negative answer means that you have to go back and invest more time and reflection in that particular aspect. Otherwise, the workout will not be very effective.

Category Two: Setting The Scene Of Prayer

1 Am I satisfied with the environment, the surroundings?

2 Am I wearing pure, clean, preferably white clothes?

3 Am I clean, pure and scented?

4 Am I confident enough in alternating recitations?

5 Am I in a relaxed and alert state of mind?

6 Have I been moderate in my food intake?

7 Am I grief-stricken and submissive?

8 Have I satisfied my hunger and thirst, as well as other needs?

9 Have I separated myself from the disapproved world and all its attractions?

10 Am I confident enough in arresting distracting thoughts in Prayer?

11 Have I connected my Ablution to the recitation of Adhan?

12 Have I connected my recitation of Adhan and Iqamah to the Takbeer in Prayer?

If you have answered YES to 6 of the 12 questions above, you may proceed with the workout. However, even one negative answer means that you have to go back and invest more time and reflection in that particular aspect. Otherwise, the workout will not be very effective.

This exercise works effectively with FOUR units of Prayer, employed only once a day, AFTER evening (‘Isha) Prayer. Your intention for this four unit Prayer should be for any lapsed Prayer (Qadha).

In this workout, you will employ a Trigger Mechanism and pay the Debts you are obligated to. There are TWO types of debts: one, which has to be paid during your Prayer and the other, after you complete your Prayer. You have to work and complete the whole program as laid out.

Using a personal Trigger Mechanism will provide you a signal to get ready for a moment of concentration, while you complete the obligatory task assigned to you. The detail of this workout is described below and has to be employed for a full 30 days, without a break. Answering a complete YES to 6 the 12 items (in both categories) is also a requirement for the 30 days.

Workout: 30 Days

Your first Trigger Mechanism is the Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) that you pronounce before you start your Prayer. This is the signal to your mind that you are now standing in front of your Lord, the Most Powerful in this Universe. You have to appreciate the fact that you are standing in front of Allah (SWT) and He is watching over you.

al-Sadiq (AS) is quoted to have said:

When you say, Allahu Akbar, slight whatever is there between the high (heaven) and the earth, regarding it below His Majesty, because if Allah (SWT) looked into the heart of the servant while telling the Takbir, and saw therein something contradicting his Takbir.

He would say, ‘O’ You Liar! Are you deceiving Me? By My Might and My Majesty, I will deprive you of (tasting) the sweetness of remembering Me, and I will exclude you from My proximity and from getting pleasure through your supplication’.

(Mustadarak al-Wasa’il, Chapter 2, Tradition 9)

You promise to recite 5 SUBHANALLAH each time you have a significant distraction and you entertain the distracting thought for a few seconds. This debt has to be repeated as many times you get distracted and whenever you can pay the debt. All debts are to be paid ONLY in the state of Ruku’ (bending) or Sajdah (prostration).

For example, while reciting Surah al-Hamd, you get significantly distracted twice, then on your next Ruku’, you will pay your debt of 10 SUBHANALLAH first and then continue with the recitation normally assigned for Ruku’. If the distracting thought happens to occur whilst in Tashahhud or Salaam, then you will pay your debt as soon as you complete your Prayer.

The above debt and SUBHANALLAH forms part of your prayer and you should have that intention before and during your practice prayer. The debt should be paid ONLY in the state of bending (Ruku’) or prostration (Sajdah), the additions will otherwise make you Prayer NULL and VOID, even though your practice Prayer is lapsed and not a compulsory Prayer.

In any case, you have 4 Ruku’ (bending) and 8 Sujood (prostration) in the four unit Prayer to pay the debts you owe. Do not concentrate on how many times you get significantly distracted as you will be aware of this fact when it happens, and you will pay your debt in your next Ruku’ or Sajdah.

You will generalize this activity throughout your 4-unit Prayer. After you complete your act of worship, you will recall how many times you had to repeat the 5 SUBHANALLAH and how many debts you had to pay.

Now you promise to recite 5 ASTAGHFIRULLAHA RABBI WA ATUBU ILAYH for every debt.

If you had paid 10 debts during your Prayer that means you recite 50 ASTAGHFIRULLAHA RABBI WA ATUBU ILAYH as soon as you complete your Prayer.

You will now record in your chart the number of times you had to pay the debt during your Prayer, 5 or 10, may be 3.

This is the end of the WORKOUT.

The above exercise is ONLY a workout to increase your concentration and plays no role in your daily obligatory Prayer. Also, this workout is to be practiced passively during the Prayer and only active after your Prayer – meaning that if you concentrate too much on the debt, then you might distract yourself from the major objective.

Category Three: Self-Assessment

As soon as you complete your workout, the four units Prayer, you will rate the following in your personal chart – concentration, energy and motivation.

Concentration – your ability to focus and attend to Prayer.Energy – strength or vigor; interest to perform Prayer

Motivation – an intervening process or an internal state that impels or drives you to Prayer. An energizer of behavior.

Источник: //www.al-islam.org/concentration-in-prayer-jameel-kermalli/learning-focus-and-concentrate-your-daily-prayer-complete-30

10 Ways to Focus and Make Prayer More Meaningful – Counting My Blessings

Prayer For Staying Focused

My brain functions a pinball machine.

For those of you who don’t remember, pinball machines are arcade games where a plunger is used to shoot a steel ball onto a slanted field filled with obstacles. The goal . . . keep the ball in play as long as possible.

So, back to my brain.

It feels my thoughts are always fighting through an obstacle field of distractions. I do my best to keep them in play as long as possible, but it’s not easy.

I can be a good student and a great listener if I plan in advance to eliminate distractors.

When I really want to pay attention I grab a piece of paper and a pen . . . and turn off all electronics.

Maybe you can relate. Life is noisy and fast. You have dozens of ideas bouncing around in your head. Concentration takes intentional effort and discipline.

This is especially true during prayer.

I can have the best intentions to spend time with the Lord in prayer – but when I pray for Ann, I start to think about Bobby or something that happened last week, or last month, or years ago. And suddenly I realize I haven’t prayed for the last ten minutes.

So, I’ve come up with some things that are helping me stay focused and make prayer more meaningful.

10 Ways to Focus and Make Prayer More Meaningful

First, this is not a how-to post. It is just a list of things I’ve tried and found helpful…

Pen and Paper – Grab a journal and write. I’ve started pouring my heart into my prayer journals. Praise. Repent. Ask. Yield. I also write Scripture verses and quotes I find while studying,

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” ~William Wordsworth

Prepare – I started the year sitting down for my quiet time as soon as I got bed, but I couldn’t keep my mind from wandering to the things I needed to do to meet my morning goals. So now I prepare by doing my must dos first and then ready my heart and mind to sit quietly with the Lord.

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 1 Peter 1:13

Praise – This is my favorite. I thank God for who He is and remember all He has done and is doing. I want to pay attention and appreciate the countless ways He blesses me every day.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Colossians 4:2

Pardon – Next I ask for forgiveness AND forgive others. This one is never easy. I’d to gloss over it. Blame someone else. Make excuses. But it’s important. When I stop to recognize my sin and God’s forgiveness I’m overwhelmed by His grace. I need that to help me forgive the people who have hurt me. I don’t think I’d be very good at forgiving without God’s love.

“We pardon to the extent that we love.” ~François de la Rochefoucauld

Personal – This is where I stop and pour my heart out. I talk with God about my joys and struggles. My hopes and dreams. And all the things I’m tempted to worry about. I give it all to Him again and again and again.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Philippians 4:6

People – It’s easy to say “I’ll pray for you,” and then forget. Keeping a list helps. Using a prayer app works, too. Praying for others is the reason I’ve added Blessing Counters Pray Page. Head over and leave a request. I’d love to pray for you.

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 1 Timothy 2:1

Persistence – I love that Jesus taught about persistent prayer. Do you have things you’ve prayed about for years? Me too!  It’s okay if you and I have prayed for something hundreds of times. If it’s on our hearts and minds it’s important enough to talk with God about it. Jesus said so.

One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. Luke 18:1

Patient – Waiting is hard. Trusting God’s perfect timing isn’t easy, but saying it out loud or writing it down helps. Sometimes I just have to say, ““Lord I trust Your perfect will for me. Give me peace while I wait on You.”

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:13–14

Ponder – This part is really hard for my pinball brain. Just sitting. Listening. But it’s important. So, I’m intentionally sitting still in His presence and asking Him to speak to my heart.

“Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue; God’s voice is its most essential part. Listening to God’s voice is the secret of the assurance that He will listen to mine.” ~Andrew Murray

Possible – I end my prayer time trusting that with God all things are possible. He is able. He will change my circumstances or He will change me. I simply pray, “Your will be done.”

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” Mark 10:27

If you can relate. If staying focused and having a meaningful time of prayer has been hard for you. I suggest you give these things a try.

Here’s a printable to help. Just click on the graphic and print…

Remember – Your Father loves you. He hears and answers every prayer.

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Источник: //countingmyblessings.com/make-prayer-more-meaningful/

10 Tips to Stay Focus Praying When Busy

Prayer For Staying Focused

Islam know 5 times of prayer and it is an obligatory worship. Performing prayer is one of our obligations to achieve the blessing from Allah SWT. Praying is important, even we involve in strict activities, Allah SWT oblige us to pray first than other activities. There are things we should aware about things that spoil prayer in Islam including busy work and activities.Sponsors Link

Prayer is our way to remember and communicate to Allah SWT as our Creator.

“And i have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed (to you). Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.”

(QS. Taha : 13-14)

In the verse above Muslims are encouraged to perform prayer. We are the chosen mankind as Muslims, it will be a great loss if we can not perform the order from Allah SWT. There is an important and significant thing of praying in Islam prayer to get your hope accepted and prayer to look beautiful everyday in Islam.

No matter how much amount of good deeds we perform in this world, if we do not want to perform prayer then everything will be vain. It is the most important aspect in human relationship to Allah SWT (Faith, taqwa, ikhlas, and ibadah). The relationship will be actualized or simply performing as prayer.

The Prophet said in the following Hadith,

“If a person had a stream outside his door and he bathed in it five times a day, do you think he would have any filth left on him? The people said, ‘No filth would remain on him whatsover.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) then said, ‘That is the five daily prayers : Allah wipes away the sins by them.”

(Al Bukhari & Muslim)

What Make Us Lose Focus When Praying?

We know that prayers are important especially five daily prayer as mentioned in the previous paragraph. But sometimes we attached into daily routine and make us busy until we forgot to perform prayer. There are several things that may affected our focus to perform prayer :

  • Sometimes we also attached in tight schedule that does not allowed us to perform prayer.
  • When we included or in the middle of the meeting or presentation in the office.
  • When we travelling far and is being chased for time.
  • In the middle of a crowded place or noisy place and lots of people around us.
  • Carrying out time-consuming activities or in an uncomfortable place to perform prayer.
  • When there are disruption from surrounding environment.

The distruption above will make us lazy especially during ramadhan. When we did our activity even harder than in other day since we have to focus on fasting either. Therefore, we need to learn on how to not be lazy doing prayer when Ramadhan

Tips to Stay Focus Praying When Busy

Those distraction above may disturb our praying and the most worrying thing is that Allah may not accepted our praying. Therefore, we should learn some tricks or tips to stay focus praying when busy. Here we would to tell you how to keep your mind focused during praying time.

  1. We must set our place to perform prayer as comfortable as possible. Even we already in a very tiny place or uncomfortable one, we should make it at least clean. So better for you to clean your place first before performing prayer.
  2. Do not forget to perform wudhu before prayer. Believe it or not that wudhu may increased your mind focus to perform prayer. Wudhu is a form of purification, it is also called as ablution and the intention of performing ablution is not only to clean our body but also to clean our mind.
  3. Keep relax and set aside our wordy matter. remember that we as human only belong to Allah SWT as our Creator and Owner. Remember that this is one of the way for us to talk to them, to worship them, and to appreciate what He has been bestowed to us. Remember that in the hereafter there is no turning back, and this is our last opportunity to perform prayer.
  4. Muslims should understand the context of praying in Islam. We should appreciate the presence of Allah SWT in our life. Thus, we may increased our focus on praying and will not disturbed by anything else.
  5. To understand fully of what we recite during prayer and the du’a we used in prayer will also tips to stay focus. If we understand it, we will know the purpose and the reason of why we recite certain Ayat or Surah. It will help you to keep your mind for not wandering around, think of something else.
  6. Learn on how to pronounce your recitation during prayer properly. Why is it so important to increase our mind to be focused? By maintaining our pronunciation in prayer, it will help to lead our attention into one thing. Of course it will help you keep focus even when you are busy.
  7. Prayer is not only as the form of worship from human to their Creator. But it is also a form of human to seek forgiveness and trying to accept their limitations. And also the virtues of each prayer virtues of dhuha prayer. After knowing this or feeling that human is nothing compare to the Creator, it will make us more humble and genuine to perform prayer.
  8. If we perform prayer in congregation, keep focusing on the voice of Imam (leader of prayer). Try to follow the reading and soon you will be connected to prayer fully.
  9. Do not look around while praying. And think that this time maybe our last time offering prayer (prayer of farewell). We never knew how we would live in this world, that maybe we never offer another prayer after that. This will help us develop intention and focus our mind on prayer.
  10. Try to eliminate or move any kind of item that will distract us when performing prayer. Those item can be image, adornment, sounds and forbidden sounds or voices singing or music. It will help us to stay focus on praying even we are busy.

The ultimate goal of the tips above is to keep our mind from wordly matter while we performing prayer. Remember that those time are the precious time we spend to communicate with Allah SWT.

There are prohibition in Islam of wandering whilst praying, the law of crying during prayers in Islam, and law of yawning prayer Islam.

The prohibition of wandering itself are falls into two categories which are :

  • When our mind wanders and our heart is distracted from Allah SWT. It is clearly the action of Evil or Satan and its strongly forbidden.
  • When our vision or gaze are wanders and someone looks around when praying as mentioned before is also forbidden in Islam. Sponsors Link

Источник: //azislam.com/tips-to-stay-focus-praying-when-busy

How to Stop Getting So Distracted During Prayer and Bible Study

Prayer For Staying Focused

Do you constantly find yourself distracted during prayer and Bible study?

If so, it’s not just you.

In fact, when I surveyed the Equipping Godly Women reader community a few months back to find out “If you aren’t sitting down for a consistent quiet time with God, why not?” the word “distractions” kept popping up again and again and again.

From a lack of focus and discipline while actually sitting down to read the Bible to a busy life that leaves little time for prayer, distractions during prayer and Bible study can be a seriously pesky obstacle for many Christians’ spiritual growth.

The good news? There are plenty of things you can do to make stop getting so distracted during prayer and Bible study, so you can continue to grow your faith.

Here are seven techniques that work great for me — maybe one of them will help you too?

*This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. This helps cover the many costs of running this site and allows me to help provide for my growing family. Thank you!

1. Choose the Right Time and Place

Are you trying to spend time with God right in the middle of your busy day (when your mind is going a million miles per hour) or last thing at night (when you’re tired and ly to fall asleep)?

If so, something as simple as choosing a different time and place can really make a huge difference – whether you’re learning how to read the Bible for the first time or you’re ready to dive deep and learn how to study the Bible for yourself.

For example, you could choose to read your Bible:

  • First thing in the morning, before your children are awake
  • In the car (Listen to an audio Bible or show up to work 5 minutes early)
  • At the gym (Again, audio Bible to the rescue)
  • On your lunch break
  • While the kids are napping/having quiet time/watching cartoons
  • While your kids are at sports practice

It doesn’t matter when – as long as it’s a time that works well for you that you can stick to consistently enough to read the Bible daily and make it a habit.

Need help creating the perfect quiet time for you? Grab your Quiet Time Planning Guide!

This super simple guide will help you:

  • Determine what the ideal quiet time looks for you
  • Stay focused during your quiet times
  • Hold yourself accountable
  • Experience real spiritual growth

And it’s free!

Just let me know where to send it:

2. Have the Right Materials on Hand

Once you’ve used the Quiet Time Planning Guide to choose the perfect time and place, the next step is to show up prepared.

Now, it’s true that you don’t really need any special materials to pray and read your Bible (other than a Bible, of course), but having some additional things on hand can be REALLY helpful.

For example:

  • A Good Study Bible in an Easier Translation: The New Living Translation (NLT) is a good one to start with. And The Message is also a very easy read as well, although it is a paraphrase, so it’s not as close to the original translation. Personally, I typically read the New International Version (NIV).
  • A Prayer List: Even something as simple as writing out the people or situations you’d to pray for in a list can be tremendously helpful for staying on track. Or go through these lists of prayers for your children or prayers for your husband if you need additional ideas.

3. Write it Out

Your prayer list and list of distractions aren’t the only things it can be helpful to write down either. You may also consider Bible Journaling, writing out your prayers in a prayer journal, or writing out notes by hand as you read your Bible.

Not only do these two simple actions make staying focused during prayer and Bible study that much easier, but it’s always fun to look back later and see all the ways you’ve grown, all the things you’ve learned and all the prayers God has answered.

Plus, it’s a good excuse to buy a cute little prayer and Bible study notebook if you don’t have a good one lying around already. 

Источник: //equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/distracted-during-prayer-bible-study/

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