DON’T LET DISTRACTIONS DISTRACT YOU!

            One day after Jesus had finished praying his disciples approached him and asked, “Lord, teach us how to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Lk 11:1).  A disciple is more than a student.  The disciple seeks from the master not only learning but wisdom that will shape his or her life and make the disciple like the master.  The disciples admired the way Jesus prayed, and watched him closely when he did it, until they wanted to do it also.  Many people embrace faith in Christ because they see how it has improved someone’s life.  They want what they have, moved not by envy but by a holy longing that exists in every human heart.  This longing is one of the ways that the Father draws people to Christ, as Jesus said: “No one can come to me, unless the Father draws him” (John 6:44).   

            Jesus gave his disciples a model for all prayer, the Our Father, which the ancient writer Tertullian referred to as “truly the summary of the whole gospel.”  There are seven petitions; the first three are centered on God, and the other four on our needs.  I bring this up to make the point that Jesus gave his disciples a pattern for prayer.  We need a pattern not only for vocal prayer, but also for mental prayer.  Haphazard prayer, the kind without any direction or form, will not bear lasting fruit.  This does not preclude all spontaneity, but the prayer that will bring us closer to God and make us more like Jesus must be planned into our day, and it needs structure.  Clearly, communal prayer requires this so that everyone can join in.  Meditative prayer also requires some kind of form and pattern, even though as we mature in it we can discern the movement of the Spirit and be more flexible.  Consistency is very important; without it we will remain babes and not mature.  Before we begin, we should have some idea of how we will start and end it.  As St. Paul wrote, God is not a God of confusion but of order (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33).  Prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart to God.  We need to be conscious of how and what we are lifting up! 

            Distractions in prayer can be helpful in revealing the heart.  Everyone experiences them, so we should not fret.  It is not helpful to analyze them, especially during prayer. The Catechism advises, “To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified” (#2729).  When our attention drifts from God to other things while praying we realize how attached we are to those things.  This realization should not discourage us but cause us to refocus our mind and heart.  Consider that even the struggle with distractions is pleasing to God, because we are trying to commune with him.  We are resisting ourselves for his sake.  The Holy Spirit purifies our intentions when we allow him to draw our thoughts back to prayer.  Even if distractions happen a thousand times, persevere, and you will wear out the devil. 

            Last week I wrote of how external distractions should be lessened as much as possible by choosing the best time and place to pray.  Unfortunately, the wandering mind cannot be so easily settled.  However, there are practical ways to set internal distractions aside.  For example, you remember something you have to do while you are praying.  You are afraid you will forget it.  Write it down on a piece of paper as a reminder and then go back to your meditation.  Or perhaps a concern pops into your mind about someone you love.  Breathe a short prayer and say, “Bless him/her Lord” or “I offer him/her to you, Lord.”  Then return to your meditation.  We will not have victory over distractions by suppressing them or ignoring them.  It is best to deal with them gently, without questioning why they are there.  Simply and calmly offer them up and move on.  If you give them to Jesus, he will be pleased to take them.    

 

 FATHER SCOTT