How To Overcome Distractions When Praying

 The other day I boarded the Qantas flight to Brisbane Australia to visit with my friends in Citipointe Church here.  The flight had a weird schedule.  It left Manila at 6:35PM and would arrive at 4:05 AM, Brisbane time.

Knowing the busyness of the week ahead I needed to gather my soul and find rest.  I have learned that the key to that is prayer. 

Praying in a plane flying on coach is not an easy thing.  Naturally I did not want to show my seatmate and the other passengers that I was praying but I knew I needed a serious time of it.

I began by quietly whispering Psalm 23 which was fresh on my mind as I had just preached on it last Sunday.  My whispering worked very well as my seatmate and most of the others were fixed on the  screen in front of them and were wearing their headphones.

So I closed my eyes and began to whisper “the Lord is my shepherd….." and started thinking of the Lord and how great He is (just as I had preached).  A few second into it and my mind started to wander into what I would be doing in Australia. 

Normally I would be convicted and say :why am I so distracted", instead I prayed for Australia and the work I would be doing, then I went on to pray for the pastors, leaders and members of the church.

A few minutes into it my seatmate a Filipina lady named Juliet started to realign her back and move about thereby distracting me once again, simultaneously the old lady behind me started crumpling some cellophane and caused me to lose my focus.  It was then that I shifted my prayer to Juliet and the lady behind, that they would one day meet the Lord.

A series of bumps on the plane and I was praying for the pilot and passengers.  Sensing a bit of danger I turned my prayers to my wife and children.  Then my thoughts turned to Manila and the work I was leaving behind and so my prayer turned yet another way.

Here’s the point, rather than allowing the devil to condemn me to think I am distracted I used these thoughts to signal me to pray for them instead.  As John Ortberg says: “It is far better to think of these wandering thoughts as stepping stones to prayer rather than as barriers".

When my mind went blank I went back to Psalm 23 – and pictured the Lord making me lie in green pastures and drinking His still waters and my soul being restored.

By the time I got to the end of Psalm 23 I had been praying for over an hour and slept soundly on the plane.  Prayer always works – don’t let your distractions condemn you, instead keep on praying!

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Discipleship and Gardening

Comments

[Roe Manalo]

Wow, I never thought of it that way. I don't like getting distracted myself and am often upset when I do. But yes, this makes so much sense. God can speak to us even through seeming distractions. And we can talk to God even in the midst of a lot of things going on around us.

I do still love to lock myself in a room (or in a ladies' room cubicle) when I want to pray without distraction. :-)

[Jenny Ching]

nice! thanks for sharing..

[diana ramos]

this is so for me right now. i just wondered when can i ever be focused in praying...i get upset too when i get distracted and i feel guilty sometimes.i am more excited to pray now.