Disturbance in Novenas

[anu]

Hi

Sorry to ask all these kind of questions. I donot have anyone who can clarify these kind of questions. I have found this forum feel at home so asking you people.

Morning when I was doing Novena somebody repeatedly were knocking the door and i had to answer them to come back later. I felt so disturbed. Then I went to church and was praying a 15 day prayer. The candle which I put, someone came and blowed it off and i had to stop the prayer in between get up and blow it on and then told him not to blow it off and continued the prayer. I was very disturbed with the kind of disturbances i was having. Do you experience these kind of situations. I feel that prayers should not have any interuptions in between. I felt so disturbed. So thought of asking you people about this. Please share your experiences and let me know whether it is ok if such things happen.

Sorry in case if i have asked anything which looks silly.

Thank you in advance
Anu

 

[water]

I imagine during the whole day, God is doing something and being disturbed by our prayers. How does He respond to our disturbance? - He does with patience or frustration? You might want to do what He normally does.

Also, those disturbances you got, it could be God’s answer. So pay attention to that.

 

[LilyM]

Hi

Sorry to ask all these kind of questions. I donot have anyone who can clarify these kind of questions. I have found this forum feel at home so asking you people.

Morning when I was doing Novena somebody repeatedly were knocking the door and i had to answer them to come back later. I felt so disturbed. Then I went to church and was praying a 15 day prayer. The candle which I put, someone came and blowed it off and i had to stop the prayer in between get up and blow it on and then told him not to blow it off and continued the prayer. I was very disturbed with the kind of disturbances i was having. Do you experience these kind of situations. I feel that prayers should not have any interuptions in between. I felt so disturbed. So thought of asking you people about this. Please share your experiences and let me know whether it is ok if such things happen.

Sorry in case if i have asked anything which looks silly.

Thank you in advance
Anu

Anu, the only silly question is one you’re too shy to ask.

We’re human beings. Life means things happen - other people happen, mostly - and prayers get interrupted. It’s inescapable.

Take two examples from me. I live on my own and don’t have the most massive social circle, so don’t make or receive phone calls or have visitors that often. Even so there’ll be cars and buses, or sirens of various types, or neighbours vacuuming (which I can hear thanks to paper thin walls), people talking or shouting in the street outside … and if I DON’T have any of those things I will still somtimes find my mind wandering from my prayer onto dinner, work problems, my itchy foot or what have you …

Heck, even in our Cathedral which is usually a lovely peaceful place to pray there will always be something - workmen hammering (it’s increased hugely lately because there’s a major restoration project underway), singers or musicians rehearsing sometimes, groups of tourists or school classes coming through, even groups of people saying the Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet aloud …

Point being do your best to have a calm quiet place and time to pray, but accept and offer up your irritation at the different distractions that will occur both from without and within.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Great responses:thumbsup: …got my vote…

 

[anu]

Thank you for your responses . Thank you for sharing your experiences. As i have very few christian friends, this is the only place where i find people answering me.

Thank you again
Anu

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi
I feel that prayers should not have any interuptions in between. I felt so disturbed. So thought of asking you people about this. Please share your experiences and let me know whether it is ok if such things happen.

Sorry in case if i have asked anything which looks silly.

Thank you in advance
Anu

it would be a very unusual person indeed, maybe a hermit, who is able to pray without disturbances or distractions. do what Teresa of Jesus (Avila) advises and just ignore the interruptions and keep praying.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

anu - it is my theory that we are here not so much to accomplish by our acts as to learn by our acts. Learning to hold tight to God inspite of distractions, and to recover from distractions, is a major goal of our praying.

Just my :twocents: