How to pray properly with Adhd

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JesusIsLord1

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Hi, i can’t focus in prayer, my prayers are very short because of that, when i start with long “from heart” prayers i easily get distracted and forget I’m praying, so they are very very long and without much content because most of the time I’m thinking of something completely unrelated.

I am mostly just praying the Our Father, specially the “forgive us of our debts…” part when i sin.

These historical prayers (Our Father, Jesus prayer etc) are very handy, it’s short and very complete, but there are some personal situations i have to pray for and i can never have enough focus to do so, i feel very anxious when i think “oh this is going to be long” and cut it short, or i don’t pray at all for that situation.

Do you guys have any tips for praying in that situation? I’m not medicated
 
The only improper prayer is an insincere prayer. Give yourself a break and keep trying.
 
the Jesus prayer or the Maranatha prayer would be perfect for you
 
Keep trying and do your best. It could be that you will grow in holiness in a better way than some one who looks holy and doesn’t have adhd.
 
Would it help with looking at a picture or icon when you pray? If for example, you are going to pray for your family members then have a picture of them in front of you or if you are praying while reading Scripture to have an icon of the story portrayed to focus your eyes.

Prayer doesn’t need to be long or with many words. It could be very simple with just a sentence. What is more important is that you take time during the day to pray.
 
Don’t forget your intention to pray matters much and God knows what’s on our heart even if we are unable to focus enough to see it through.

I don’t have adhd but I pick three intentions that I want to pray for each day, whether it’s for myself or for others who I said I would pray for and I put them in the notes section of my yahoo mail account. I type the intentions out as I would like to say them but only a few sentences, not paragraphs that way when I take time to pray, I can pull them up and read them.

Other things you can do are to light a votive candle at church each weekend and as you light it, mention to God that it is your hope that the light of the candle will serve to keep your written intentions that week ever before Him, even when you aren’t thinking about them.

You can also write the names or intentions in the book at the back of the Church when you go to Mass as a way to honor your intentions when you are having trouble focusing yourself.
 
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Dear J,

Prayer is our relationship with God – He knows your heart and every heart He created. He permitted you to have attention deficit and so He knows your difficulty. He sees your effort and the love with which you seek Him and the love which impells you to pray for others.

St. Teresa of Avila suffered from many distractions in prayer as we all do for we are imperfect creatures. The Word of God tells us:
… But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will. We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose… Rom. 8: 25-28
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St. Theresa of Avila encouraged her sisters with these words:
…Love does not consist in great delight, but in desiring with strong determination to please God in everything and not to offend Him, in asking for the advancement of the honor and glory of His Son…the important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love…
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God looks at our hearts when we pray… we need to be as little children, believing, and trusting and above all loving Him and others because of Him. Hope these words help.
 
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Is there a ‘warm-up’ you can do to calm yourself and put yourself in the right mindset? Repeating the Jesus prayer might help. Meditation might help. You’ve got to calm yourself. I’m certain there are periods when you are focused. Even if you don’t realize you’re focused at the time it’s happening.

It absolutely will not work if you are in the midst of mental crazy ricochet whiz bang thoughts and declare, “I will pray now!..Now!..I will praaaay…NOW!..”

How about the Rosary? It’s a long prayer. That might be exactly what you need. It has beads for you to hold, touch, feel—and keep count with. Get started. Maybe your mind zings away almost immediately. But keep churning through the words, even if they seem like “just words.” Maybe even whisper them quietly to yourself to get your mouth moving. Do you do any sort of exercise? Running, walking? Pray the rosary while you’re doing that. You probably realize that you can help yourself focus if your moving around and doing something ‘mindless.’

Maybe your brain will focus back in with, “Oh yeah, I’m praying” and then skip town again. Eventually, hopefully, your thoughts will start to think about the prayer.

But do it day after day. Every day, set aside a time to do it. Whether you’re paying attention or not. Eventually, hopefully, you’ll start to calm and come into focus.

Maybe the act of praying the Rosary will help you, not necessarily in a sense of a Great Mystery of Praying to the Blessed Mother, but by giving your brain a time-out to recover itself. Which would in itself be an answer to a prayer, no?
 
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I think many or perhaps most of us struggle with distractions in prayer. I sure do, but of course, the more you struggle against it, the stronger you get, and the better it goes. In response to my own distractedness I began to get a notebook and write out a letter to God every day. I still do this. Some people call this journaling. I write my letter to God, I’ll write down Bible verses that come to mind in a different color ink, and then in a third color I’ll even try to write down what I think God might be saying to me. It is so rich and so good. As you struggle with prayer, never lose sight of the fact that God is absolutely crazy about you and loves you completely; he never takes his eye off you. You really can think of yourself as his favorite. We all are…! God bless you.
 
I have a mild ADHD and I hear you. Many mystics say that the prayer is preferred even if we can’t lift our mind to Heaven, whenever we call Him the Holy Spirit is there. Try reading the prayers. Preferably out loud and concentrate on the sound of your voice.
Mind prayers are hard for me, as in reading in my mind something I look at. My head hurts. Shorter prayers are easy and a rosary or a prayer rope keeps me counting and grounded.
Said prayer is just as important as mind prayer.
 
JesusIsLord1 said:
Hi, i can’t focus in prayer, my prayers are very short because of that, when i start with long “from heart” prayers i easily get distracted and forget I’m praying, so they are very very long and without much content because most of the time I’m thinking of something completely unrelated.

I am mostly just praying the Our Father, specially the “forgive us of our debts…” part when i sin.

These historical prayers (Our Father, Jesus prayer etc) are very handy, it’s short and very complete, but there are some personal situations i have to pray for and i can never have enough focus to do so, i feel very anxious when i think “oh this is going to be long” and cut it short, or i don’t pray at all for that situation.

Do you guys have any tips for praying in that situation? I’m not medicated
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I was once given the advice “pray as you can, not as you can’t.”

In other words, don’t stress over not being able to pray a certain way. Everyone is different, and God understands your difficulties.
 
One thing that helped me focus—

Pretend you’re lying on your back at the bottom of a river, looking up above.

Boats pass overhead.

If you have a distracting thought, put it on a boat, and let the current carry it away. Bring your mind back to your prayers or meditations or whatever you’re trying to focus on. And each time something distracts you, don’t hang onto it… let it drift downstream and gently turn back to what your main focus is.
 
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