One of the major struggles with prayer is the problem of unwanted thoughts. When we are physically still and in a quiet place our mind takes the opportunity to think about the concerns of the day as well other concerns. Some of these will go away in a few minutes but others will intrude anytime. They can be very annoying and we can end up thinking that we are wasting our time. The good news is that everyone has them and that we don’t need to be discouraged by them.
The normal strategy for unwanted thoughts is to just let them float by. Nearly everyone has unwanted thoughts no matter how mature they are; don’t think that you can you rid yourself of them. Instead, when you’re praying picture a stream with all your stray thoughts floating by. This way you do not spend energy and attention trying to address all the unwanted thoughts. In other words, apathy is better than energy. Just let the thoughts fade away. Go on with what you were praying even though the unwanted thoughts are in the background. We need to let them be there and not be perfectionistic; if they are not really interfering with your prayer then ignore them. Sometimes an idea or task will come to mind that you want to remember; you can just write it down then forget it.
“We need to let them be there and not be perfectionistic”
If a thought keeps intruding it may be a thought you should address. If it is an anxiety then ask yourself why you are persistently anxious about it. What is your root fear? If it is an insight from the Lord then you can let it sink in. If it is a destructive belief then you can find the roots of the belief, cut off the roots and then replace the belief with God’s truth. If it is conviction of sin then you can repent. If it is a blessing or spiritual sweetness from God then you can just soak in it while keeping your focus on God.
It is important to learn to discern between thoughts you participate in and thoughts that you don’t. Some of our unwanted thoughts are actually thoughts that we embrace, at least in part. They are thoughts or actions that we have welcomed in. Even if we can let those thoughts float by we shouldn’t. We need to deal with them. If they are ingrained from years of acceptance then it will be a struggle to withdraw your participation. Unless you receive special grace from God it will be a matter of activating the new will of your New Adam self. You can finish your prayer time but then you will have to go to work on your ingrained thinking habits. Do this by pursuing meditation on relevant Scripture and talking with a spiritual counselor. Keep a helpful phrase of Scripture in your mind throughout each day.
But most of our unwanted thoughts are not thoughts we participate in. A thought enters, then we examine it to decide what to do with it, then we execute our decision which hopefully does not include entertaining the thought. When we entertain it then we can stray into distraction or even sin.
When we do entertain a distraction, which will happen a lot, then as soon as we realize that we are distracted we can just come back to our prayer. Don’t spend energy beating yourself up about it and don’t fear unwanted thoughts. Fear of unwanted thoughts can make us think that we embrace a thought when we really don’t. Sometimes unwanted fearful thoughts show up in our body. Try to be aware of any tightness or anxiety in your body and put your hand on that area and tell yourself to let go and relax. Speak some truth to it.
If an unwanted thought feels like an attack from the enemy then decide whether to quickly reject it with some Scripture or just ignore it. Just remember that it is normal to get distracted; it happens to everyone and you will get better at focusing as time goes on. Focus is a skill.
Obviously we will also have unwanted thoughts when we are not praying. Many of the same principles apply to such thoughts, the main difference being that we are not trying to come back to prayer. If we are trying to get back to a task we need to do then the process is the same as with coming back to prayer. If the thoughts are something that we need to deal with, then we can do so when we have time.
In these ways you will overcome the problem of unwanted thoughts in prayer!
