QUICK Qs: How Do You Focus During Prayer?

We dive into the challenge of staying focused during prayer time and share our personal struggles and practical solutions. Prayer isn't about perfect concentration but building a relationship with God through both speaking and listening.

• Jason shares how he stopped beating himself up over lack of focus and switched to short prayers throughout the day
• Praying out loud helps maintain concentration and engagement
• Writing prayers down can help articulate thoughts more clearly than speaking
• Sitting in silence after prayer creates space to hear God's response
• Creating an intentional environment free from distractions improves prayer focus
• Prayer shouldn't be treated as a task to check off, but as relationship-building
• Even during mental wandering, God remains present with us "in the fog"
• Setting yourself up for success might include quiet spaces or background worship music

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Episode Transcript

David (00:02):
Welcome to the Boundless Bible.
My name is David Shapiro, hey,I'm Javi Marquez and I'm Jason
Holloway.

Jason (00:14):
Happy Monday.
It is Quick Questions withDavid time.
We got a good one for you today.
David, kick it off.

David (00:21):
All right, my question of the day how do you stay focused
when you pray?

Jason (00:25):
The question is how do I stay focused ever?
And the answer is I don't.
You don't, and that actually isa very big part of my prayer
life, which is that I'm not goodat being focused on prayer and
for the longest time I used toreally beat myself up over it
because I'd sit down and I'd goall right, I'm going to pray it.

(00:47):
I used to really beat myself upover it because you know I'd sit
down and I'd go all right, I'mgoing to pray.
It's at night, you know it'sready to go to bed and I want to
say my prayer, because Ilearned to pray as a kid at
night and about seven seconds inI'm somewhere else and then I
pull myself back and then 12seconds later I'm back somewhere
else and I used to really getupset with myself.
So over time I just realizedthat maybe long-term prayer
isn't for me.
Maybe I just need to talk toGod all day long.
Anytime something happens good,bad, otherwise I bring it to

(01:11):
God and say, hey, whatever ithappens to be, and we speak
about it.
And that's just been how myprayer life has evolved and I
don't beat myself up over itanymore, but I have started to.
I realized that when I praywith my son and when I pray with
other people, I can stayfocused.

David (01:30):
Yeah.

Jason (01:30):
So recently, what I've started to do, what I've
recently started to do, is topray out loud.
Yep, I've started to pray outloud, and praying out loud
allows me to do it.
It's a little.
It feels a little silly atfirst because I feel like I'm by
myself talking to myself, butthen I realized I'm not talking
to myself and I'm gettingthrough that.
But it does help.
So that's mine.
Yeah, I agree, I, that's what Ido.

Javi (01:50):
I pray out loud, um, sometimes just maybe in whisper,
just kind of to myself, um, butI am audibly saying a prayer,
um, what that?
That helps me to to reallyfocus and just focus on what I'm
saying, focus on what my heartis saying me.
To really focus and just focuson what I'm saying, focus on
what my heart is saying.
And I think, once I startthinking about my heart,

(02:10):
thinking about what's, when Istart thinking about others and
what I want to pray for, thereseems to be a focus that happens
for me, a shift that happens tome when I do that, when I do
those things.
But it's hard, it's hard toreally really stay focused and
without hearing other things orthinking about other things,
like the things for the day,especially when you pray in the
morning, right you?
think about the day.

(02:31):
So staying focused is hard.
What's even harder is actuallywhat we should do is staying
quiet after you pray and hearingfrom God.
That's even harder too, to kindof like sit there in your
silence and go.
Okay, god, speak to me.

Jason (02:46):
But we all should do that .
I read that recently and that'sbeen something I'm trying to
incorporate because it's I thinkthe comment was made that it's
one thing to tell God what youwant in your prayer.

Javi (02:57):
It's another thing to listen back to the response yeah
, it's not one-sided at all.
It's not one-sided.
It shouldn't be one-sided, itshouldn't be.

David (03:03):
David, what about you?
For me, one of the things thathappens is I think that
sometimes we put it on a tasklist hey, I need to check this
off today, I prayed today.
And as soon as it becomes that,it doesn't matter what you're
trying to focus on anyway, thatprayer is not what it's designed
to do, which is relationship,where my mind is racing and I'm
just not there for prayer, evenif it's quote unquote prayer

(03:24):
time.
You know, there's power in hisname.
Sometimes I'll just say hisname, I'll just say Jesus.
There's power in that alone andit's okay if I don't continue
with.
You know, a long list ofprayers or words.
Another thing that happens thatI do is I'm not a technology guy
, I'm still a pen and paper guy.
So I write down my prayers andwriting them down, you know,

(03:46):
puts them, puts them out there.
They come from my heart,sometimes better than I can
speak them.
So I write them down.
And the last thing and you guysjust said it, you know is being
silent with it, but not onlybeing silent, but not silent in
like, hey, I'm listening for youback, or I'm feeling guilty
because I don't have the words.
I'm silent because I know he'sthere with me in the fog and
what will happen is I'll startthinking about all these things
and I'll think about him again,and then I'll think about

(04:07):
something else and I'll thinkabout the prayer again, and he's
just there with me.
Even in the fog he's there withme.
So sometimes I'll just enjoythose moments and go man, we're
on this ride together.
God and I are literally in mybrain taking this ride together
with me, and that's okay.
So it might not be the bestanswer for somebody to go great,
I'm ready to go and pray, butyou know, everybody struggles

(04:27):
with those moments.
Don't make it a task list,don't be.

Javi (04:30):
You know, beat yourself up for not being able to
accomplish that I think it helpswhen I think about maybe, like
Jewish, you know how they maybego to a temple and really really
get themselves and beintentional to pray to God or
coming together like that.
I think we need to do the samething, like we need to set
ourself up.
What is happening?
Are you listening to music inthe background while you're

(04:51):
praying?
You know what I'm saying?
Are you?
Are you the kids running aroundwhile you're trying to pray in
the living room?
Like, go to a silent place.
Jesus went to a silent place topray.
So we should do the same thinggetting ourselves to
intentionally pray, setourselves up for success, to
actually pray and hear from God.

David (05:08):
Yeah, although there are some very successful prayers
during music time as well.
God loved music.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So you know sounding thetrumpets and prayers.

Javi (05:17):
Some of the distractions right, yeah.

David (05:20):
Yeah, I suppose if you have something in the
inappropriate plank in thebackground it's gonna be very
hard uh, but sometimes musicdoes help.
The prayer time, you know,worship music sometimes just
bring you know, brings you rightinto it.

Javi (05:30):
Yeah, I think whatever works for you that's what I'm
trying to say, like really beingintentional to set yourself up
for that is it.
Is it a candle light, a candleon, and maybe the scent would
kind of get you in this, thismood, to kind of ease your mind
of what's.
Yeah, it's each each to his ownright Like I'm distracted right
now.

Jason (05:46):
So I need, I need, I need , I need quiet space with
nothing else going on.
You know, I think we're all.
We all have to find what'sright for us, but yeah, so
hopefully this could you know,any one of these number of ideas
can help you guys if you'restruggling with that or looking
for new ways to look at it.
But you know, tell us your ways.
David is very active on our newFacebook group.

(06:06):
You can find it the boundlessBible discussion group.
We'd love to hear you guystelling about how you focus on
prayer and and a great number ofother things as well.
So let us know, we'll talk toyou there.

Javi (06:19):
Looking forward to it.
Bye guys.