Where Were We? (Distractions & Prayer)

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The best-selling Prayers for Prodigals and many other books on prayer provides weekly biblical insight to help you learn to love to pray. And now, here's James. So James, what about today? I'm afraid it slipped my mind.

Distractions in prayer, Robbie. I get it. Very cute.

Squirrel. Oh, I thought you would like that. And I also, I like today's topic because, you know, man, this is a topic for everyday life, if ever there was one.

I know, right? I mean, even the English poet John Donne wrote about this back in the 1600s. I shared this quote in my book, Praying the Prayer through the Bible. He said, Sometimes I find that I forgot what I was about, but when I began to forget it, I cannot tell. A memory of yesterday's pleasures, a fear of tomorrow's dangers, a straw under my knee, a noise in my ear, a light in my eye, and anything, a nothing, a fancy troubles me in my prayer.

Wow. I guess that about sums it up. A nothing, even the noise of a fly. I mean, when we pray, so, you know, what do we do about it? Well, first let me say I know this topic personally because I am ADD, and nailing down thoughts can be like shingling a roof in a windstorm. But I found the first and best thing to do about it may be something we overlook, and that is, first, we just need to talk with God about it. Oh, do you mean if you're distracted when you're praying any given day or in general?

Well, both. Asking for God's help with this in the moment and just as a matter of course are good things, but don't stay focused there for too long. The point is we want to take our eyes off of ourselves and put them on God. So even talking about our distractions with Him can be a distraction if we go on too long about it.

Yeah, that makes sense. So what else do you do when distractions come? For example, let's say you're praying about something and all of a sudden you have ideas about several things you need to do that day, and there's only room in your head for so much. Great question, and that happens to me all the time. And often when I'm praying, God gives me reminders of things I need to do, or just because it's a quiet moment, things may just come up in my mind. So I always keep my planner right beside me when I'm trying to spend time with God in prayer, and as soon as something comes to mind, I just write it down and forget about it. Because it no longer needs to take up space in my head.

Oh, I like that. But that brings up something else. Do you ever feel guilty when this happens? I mean, it's like Jesus said to his disciples, could you watch with me for at least an hour? But sometimes it's not even an hour, it may be every minute that a distraction comes. You know, I used to really feel guilty about this, and then I was reading in Brother Lawrence's Practicing the Presence of God, he's writing something about distractions as well, and he says just deal with it and be done with it. And I mean, it can be so frustrating. I especially think of that mom who finally has a moment to sit down with God in the quiet, and then as soon as she does, it's too quiet.

And you know how that is, you know, you gotta check on the kids. But that's why it's also best not to feel guilty about it. It's best to just humble ourselves and see all of this as an opportunity to realize how much we need God in every little thing. And I think if we just meet this with humility instead of frustration, it just goes better. After all, God knows us, Jesus knows how we struggle, and he'll meet us right in that place. I like what Augustine wrote about this. He wrote, God gives where he finds empty hands.

Wow. I mean, you know, another thought about all this is that we can sometimes try to fit too much into really just a few moments with God. Yeah, that's a great insight, because as important as it is to have a daily quiet time with God, it's really just the jumping off point for the rest of life with him that day, right? So if our goal is to just be in his presence as much as we can through the day, you know, learning to do that more and more, then we can sweat our distractions a little less.

Because as we keep coming back to him, we'll miss out on less and less. You know, what we drop somewhere, we'll pick up somewhere else. Not sweating our distractions seems to be a common theme here. Yeah, it is. Again, the goal is to make as little of the distractions as possible.

Don't sweat the small stuff, you know, so that we can make more of him. And I would suggest one other thing. Oh, cool. What's that? I forgot.

Seriously? I'm just messing with you. Sometimes, okay, here's the point. Sometimes those distractions may be interruptions from God. They're not always from the devil, although our Basset hounds seem to have a knack for knowing just when I'm trying to take a moment with God, I wonder if he isn't someone else's minion. But maybe there's something about these distractions that God wants me to notice and to pray about.

So, you know, sometimes it helps to just go with it, and again, not take ourselves too seriously. I like what G.K. Chesterton wrote about this. He said that, he wasn't just talking about distractions in prayer, it was just an applicable quote.

He said, angels can fly because they take themselves lightly. That's perfect. I like that. So again, the less we make of them, the less we make of ourselves, and the more really we can focus on him.

Exactly. Well, thanks, James. Let's finish this talk by asking for God's help whenever distractions come. So, Jesus, thank you for this wonderful insight today, and I pray that you would help us to find more time and better time and then guide us and help us just to turn to you as our shepherd that will lead us into these still waters where we can find you and not be distracted.

And when we are, to realize how quickly we can just come back. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You can hear more from Pastor James by visiting his website, jamesbanks.org, or by visiting Peace Church in Durham, North Carolina. May God bless you and encourage you as you pray.