Some days my mind is running a million miles per hour, juggling numerous to-do lists, conversations, and ideas. It’s the energy that keeps me going, but also what keeps me from focused time with God. When I can’t shut off the inner monologues streaming through my head, I can’t sit in the silence and listen for God.
Just this morning, I sat down with good intentions of having some focused time of stillness and listening with God, yet only a few minutes into that time I got distracted by other thoughts in my head and moved on to other tasks. Does this ever happen to you?
How can find greater focus for our time with God?
In order to deeply experience God and give Him all our focus, we may need to first prepare ourselves for prayer. Just as an athlete needs to warm up and stretch before competing, we also may need to do some warm ups for prayer.
In our church, we begin each service with a moment of silent prayer. I always take that time to ask God to block out the voices of the world and let me focus my ears, mind, soul, and heart to hear Him in that hour. That quick prayer serves as an entry into worship for me, a way to center myself on the reason I’m there. It’s my warm up prayer, so I can focus on the prayers ahead.
Warm up and focus your heart, mind, and soul so you can be fully present in prayer.
How do we stop the chatter in our heads? How do we set aside that to-do list that just keeps growing? How do we pause the ideas that keep popping through our minds? How can we prepare to listen for God’s still small voice and be fully present in our time with Him?
Below are some ideas for warming up our listening abilities. Incorporating times of stillness into our lives will prepare us for deeper prayer focus. Learning to quiet our minds and open our souls to hear God requires practice and intention. Try using some of these techniques during your week to practice clearing your mind. These are also ways to just “be” with God and spend time in the quiet with Him.
Breathing Exercises
One way to focus is to use a breathing exercise to focus your mind and calm your body. There are many different breathing techniques to relax and clear your mind, but this is one I was introduced to at a conference. I found it very effective and easy to remember.
- Get comfortable and begin breathing full, normal breaths, in and out.
- Take a breath in. Then on the exhale, start counting down from 50.
- Count down on each inhale and exhale until you reach 20. (Exhale… 50… inhale… 49… exhale… 48… inhale… 47…)
- After you reach 20, only count on the exhales. (Exhale… 20… inhale… exhale… 19… inhale… exhale… 18…) Count down to 0 and then just breathe and relax.
Centering Prayer
This form of prayer is intended to be a preparation for deeper prayer. It’s a way to rest in God and still our souls so we can hear His voice more clearly.
- Choose a sacred word, such as Jesus, God, Abba, Listen, Love, Peace, Stillness, Trust, Mercy
- Sit comfortably with your eyes closed and relax. Quiet your thoughts and ask God to enter in.
- Let your sacred word be present as a symbol of your intention to be in God’s presence. Focus on your word, but try to keep it unspoken.
- When you feel your mind drifting, return to your sacred word as an anchor.
- As you end your prayer time, linger in the silence with eyes closed for another minute or two.
Additional information on Centering Prayer can be found at: Centering Prayer @ ContemplativeOutreach.org and Centering Prayer Pamphlet @ Intervarsity.org
Guided Meditation
Sometimes we need a little help getting focused. A guided meditation can help take you on that journey of stillness.
I just heard about a “Holy Yoga” class with meditations on the Sunday lectionary readings while doing restorative yoga. I really want to try this one!
We’ve had Pilates class at church that uses Christian music and scripture. You get a workout, but also that guided meditation time during the warm up and cool down breathing exercises. What a way to combine prayer and exercise!
If you don’t have something like these offerings near you, there are also some great guided meditations on YouTube.
I also found this meditative prayer using Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Be Still from The Gravity Center on Vimeo.
So, how do you practice stillness? How do you prepare yourself for deeper prayer? How do you quiet your mind so you can better hear God’s still small voice?
PRAY DEEP CHALLENGE: Choose one of these techniques today and try practicing stillness. See how you can quiet your inner monologue and bring greater focus to your time with God.
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sarahgirl3 says
Great ideas! I am way too easily distracted when it comes to quiet time.