𝘛𝘩𝘦 “𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳” 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳.

For many of us, when we sit down to pray, we are bombarded by constant distractions. It could be anything from the ticking of the clock on the wall, the honking of a horn outside, or even a barrage of thoughts about various people or relationships in our lives.

It can be difficult to focus our attention on God and remain in a conversation with him.

However, sometimes these distractions aren’t “distractions” at all, they are thoughts introduced by God that are aimed at our spiritual benefit.

For example, here is what St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote about being distracted during prayer.

𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 [𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴] 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

Sometimes God wants to divert our attention and shed light on a struggling friend or family member. They may need our prayers or our charity. This way the distraction is turned in the right way and instead of taking us away from God, it brings us closer to him and his divine plan.

The key is to be attentive when that happens and notice when you being thinking about someone in your life, or even something you saw on Facebook. In some instances God may want you to be praying for that individual or extending a helpful hand to them.

St. Josemaria Escriva instructs us that, “The closer an apostle is to God, the more universal his desires. His heart expands and takes in everybody and everything in its longing to lay the universe at the feet of Jesus.”

So the next time you feel distracted during prayer, offer it to God and open your heart to whatever God wants to communicate to you in that moment.

Source: Fear Not