Is it OK to pray while you know you aren't going to be well concentrated?

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lifesoldier

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I have heard that some people pray while driving a car, walking, etc. So I am wondering is that OK? Is it OK to pray when you know that you aren’t going to be well concentrated? In cases like driving a car, you don’t even try to be fully concentrated (because then driving would be imposible)… Is that using God’s name in vain?
 
YES!!! IT’S FINE!!! God judges the intentions more than the concentration. Silent prayer, where you keep an awareness of God in your forehead and therefore always on your mind, is a most excellent form of prayer. And as St Paul states so clearly, “pray without ceasing.”

LOVE! ❤️
 
lifesoldier said:
I have heard that some people pray while driving a car, walking, etc. So I am wondering is that OK? Is it OK to pray when you know that you aren’t going to be well concentrated? In cases like driving a car, you don’t even try to be fully concentrated (because then driving would be imposible)… Is that using God’s name in vain?
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Pray always…

Always…
 
But when you are, for example, driving a car, you don’t even have an intention of being fully concentrated.In that case you are, unless God gives you special grace, going to cause car accident…
 
lifesoldier said:
But when you are, for example, driving a car, you don’t even have an intention of being fully concentrated.In that case you are, unless God gives you special grace, going to cause car accident…
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I DO intend to concentrate. I say the prayers thoughtfully. I drive the same route to the church every day. Have for 15 years. Got it down. I say the rosary coming and going.
It’s fine for me.
Never once even had a fender bender. I use a finger rosary to keep count.
It’s not as hard as you’re making it out to be. 🤷
 
lifesoldier said:
But when you are, for example, driving a car, you don’t even have an intention of being fully concentrated.In that case you are, unless God gives you special grace, going to cause car accident…
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Do you ever talk to yourself, or run things through in your mind about your life /day?
Are you able to drive while thinking about something.

then you can easily drive and pray

We can ask something of God, anytime any where and in any manner.
 
lifesoldier said:
I have heard that some people pray while driving a car, walking, etc. So I am wondering is that OK? Is it OK to pray when you know that you aren’t going to be well concentrated? In cases like driving a car, you don’t even try to be fully concentrated (because then driving would be imposible)… Is that using God’s name in vain?
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Why would not praying be using Gods name in vain. When do you think a prayer would not be a good idea? Do you suffer from scrupulosity?
 
From the pope

To laughter from the crowd, he described how he prays each day before an altar before going to bed.

‘Sometimes I doze off, the fatigue of the day makes you fall asleep, but he (God) understands,’ he said.
 
Focusing on God always, is a form of prayer. It´s impossible for me to have an evil thought while praying. I try to see God in everything and everybody. When I fail at times, that is the only time that I´m tempted. God bless:thumbsup:👍👍
 
Hi lifesoldier,

It is certainly fine to pray while you are doing something else. I do it all of the time. I pray while I am reading the posts, right here on the forum. 🙂

I pray when I am cleaning. I pray in the car too, but usually my husband is the one driving.

I try and stay as close to God as possible. I guess that you could say that it is “second nature” for me to pray, and to try and “turn my mind” towards God.

Hi Ben,

What a nice post, and a nice pic. of you and your family, by the way. 🙂
 
So there were these two Jesuit novices, and they were wondering if it was ok to smoke and pray at the same time. They decided to ask the superior.

A couple of days later, one saw the othe smoking and praying. “Hey, the superior told me I couldn’t do that!”

“That’s funny, he told me it was ok. What did you say to him?”

“I asked if it was ok to smoke while I prayed.”

“There’s your problem–I asked if I could pray while I smoked!”

So, life soldier, it’s good to pray while doing other things. But there should also be times when all you do is pray, exclusively for God.
 
lifesoldier said:
I have heard that some people pray while driving a car, walking, etc. So I am wondering is that OK? Is it OK to pray when you know that you aren’t going to be well concentrated? In cases like driving a car, you don’t even try to be fully concentrated (because then driving would be imposible)… Is that using God’s name in vain?
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As posters in other threads have advised please speak to your priest as scrupulosity will ruin your life.
 
lifesoldier said:
I have heard that some people pray while driving a car, walking, etc. So I am wondering is that OK? Is it OK to pray when you know that you aren’t going to be well concentrated? In cases like driving a car, you don’t even try to be fully concentrated (because then driving would be imposible)… Is that using God’s name in vain?
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God’s concentration is never lacking. It’s no more wrong to pray without full concentration than it is to tell your wife or child ‘I love you’ as you finish talking on the phone. We should alays make sure to take a small part of the door to give Him our undivided at the opening and close of the day.
 
pianistclare said:
I pray the rosary every day in the car. No problems. 🤷
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This is me as well. Car, doing dishes, getting dressed in the morning, while in the shower etc. etc. Sure, there are times when I am able to sit quietly and pray the rosary in silence and uninterrupted. but most days are just to hectic. I’ve been praying this way for so long to be honest, it just feels natural. In some ways, I pray more than I ever did when trying to just find some quiet time. I pray constantly, and figure that God knows my intentions are good; He is always on my mind whether I myself am aware of it at all times or not. 🙂
 
Yes and indeed it is good. Short prayers during work or recreation or walking or shopping etc - are very very good and ancient…it is good to lift up ones heart often in prayer (with or without words).

“It is possible to offer frequent and fervent prayer even at the market place or strolling alone. It is possible also in your place of business, while buying or selling, or even while cooking.” (Saint John Chrysostom)

(But of course for some prayer can distract from driving -so they may need not say not pray the rosary while driving - where as for others it is not a problem…and if your a heart surgeon - keep those prayers real short -not rosaries while working on someones heart!)
 
I pray driving to and from work, long and very detailed prayer, talking over with God what I am studying or how I see Him working in my life, both contemplation of sorts and petitions and thanks. Most of the drive is on interstates, but at rush hour you still have to have focus on that also. And the prayer gets interrupted from time to time, but I stay in the “slow lane” at a speed equal or slightly slower than the majority of cars for fewer needs to react, and as a kind of “self-control” of my appetite to get ahead of everyone.

But when interrupted, after it is over, I get back to this conversation with my Friend. The drive itself is done for Him, to go to the spot (work) where he can use me today to do his will. The drive might be considered as a parallel to the disciples walking with Jesus on the road to Capernaum. They talk on the way and listen, and also make way for people from the opposite direction, greet them, or make way for others walking faster or riding, then get back to their conversation. I am on that road with Jesus every morning and evening. We do not wait to sit by the lake or by a well to talk.
 
John_Martin said:
I pray driving to and from work, long and very detailed prayer, talking over with God what I am studying or how I see Him working in my life, both contemplation of sorts and petitions and thanks. Most of the drive is on interstates, but at rush hour you still have to have focus on that also. And the prayer gets interrupted from time to time, but I stay in the “slow lane” at a speed equal or slightly slower than the majority of cars for fewer needs to react, and as a kind of “self-control” of my appetite to get ahead of everyone.

But when interrupted, after it is over, I get back to this conversation with my Friend. The drive itself is done for Him, to go to the spot (work) where he can use me today to do his will. The drive might be considered as a parallel to the disciples walking with Jesus on the road to Capernaum. They talk on the way and listen, and also make way for people from the opposite direction, greet them, or make way for others walking faster or riding, then get back to their conversation. I am on that road with Jesus every morning and evening. We do not wait to sit by the lake or by a well to talk.
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Exactly, well stated. Thanks!👍
 
It is the devil who makes us want to self-regardingly judge the “quality” of our own prayer, which, as St Teresa of Avila tells us is “merely the lifting up of the heart and the mind to God–loving attention to one we know Who loves us” – which means prayer is often wordless.
Yes, there are many kinds of prayer: liturgical, mental, oral, devotional, meditational, contemplative (which is a gift we cannot achieve ourselves) all of which has different contexts. There are 4 “themes” of prayer: Adoration, Thanksgiving, Contrition, Supplication (or petition) The Mass is the Perfect prayer, because we become one with Christ’s loving sacrifice on Calvary for the Salvation of Mankind to the Glory of his Father.

The Devil would LOVE for you not to pray until you judge that you are “well concentrated”. (St Paul somewhere in his epistles warned about this-- he said, “I do not even judge myself”–which is good advice, because it keeps your attention off your own ego.) If you wait for conditions for prayer to be perfect in your mind, then you might pray very seldom if ever, – which would be “making the perfect the enemy of the good”, casusing you anxiousness, despair, and so playing right into the devil’s hands. Distracted prayer is way better than no prayer at all-- St Teresa herself suffered distraction in prayer and said, “We pray not as we wish, – but as we can!” After all, the only people in the history of the world who ever prayed “perfectly” were Jesus and Mary–! God kindly takes our intention to pray well into his merciful consideration, and is always happy to hear from us even when we are distracted-- which in some cases, may be the best time for us to lift our thoughts to God . As long as we do not “will” the discractions, they do not harm our prayer. Most distractions are an attempt by the devil to stop our prayer anyway. St Teresa compared these to “a swarm of gnats about one’s head” which though annoying, does not stop us from walking to our destination.
 
Yes, it is fine and good to pray while driving or doing lots of different activities. Although you should still make time for mental prayer in silence once a day as well.
 
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