Prayer and Drifting Thoughts

[ColoradoCatholic]

I do my best to pray the daily rosary. It’s been a wonderful year since I’ve started doing this but I wanted to ask how often your thoughts drift during prayer. Typically I will pray the rosary and be able to say the prayers in my head while meditating on the mysteries but recently it seems as if I have a harder time focusing on the mysteries and my thoughts drift.

Do you have any tips to stay focused? (Could be any type of prayer)

Do you always think of the mysteries of the rosary?

I tend to think I’m getting bored of the mysteries and try to stay motivated by thinking of other religious moments/events during the rosary? Does anyone else do this?

Other thoughts?

thanks!

 

[Inbonum]

Do you have any tips to stay focused? (Could be any type of prayer)

My personal experience:
I don’t fight against thoughts which come, I just ignorire them and try to move on. Like driving in car and looking through window - things pass and I am still driving!

I just try, with strenght of my will to ignorire whatever is going on and keep going on with my prayer.
As long as we don’t deal with those thoughts and don’t accept intentional distractions everything is great. Then it doesn’t matter if there is this or that kind of thought, if there is boredom, dryness or something else.

I have alot of distractions I cannot avoid. I always remind myself that God sees my prayer and knows my abilities.

Do you always think of the mysteries of the rosary?

Yes but often it’s thinking about one thing like “why Jesus did that when suffering” or “how He endured this, how he felt, why he did/didn’t react”. I am just trying understand some part from Gospels and connect it with my life situations.
Other times it is just spending time with Jesus and Mary without deep thoughts.

 

[ColoradoCatholic]

I have alot of distractions I cannot avoid. I always remind myself that God sees my prayer and knows my abilities.

I think a part of me is just frustrated when I want to spend this time, but I cannot because my mind is just “everywhere” sometimes.

Yes but often it’s thinking about one thing like “why Jesus did that when suffering” or “how He endured this, how he felt, why he did/didn’t react”. I am just trying understand some part from Gospels and connect it with my life situations.

Thanks.

Other times it is just spending time with Jesus and Mary without deep thoughts.

I think my biggest frustration is trying to not be “robotic”…I understand that spending the time is good, I think a part of me wants to be more connected with Jesus and Mary on a deeper level…Call me ambitious, but I want it so bad.

 

[Inbonum]

I think a part of me is just frustrated when I want to spend this time, but I cannot because my mind is just “everywhere” sometimes.

If you do what you can and keep going with prayer then you are winner. Even if your thoughts wandered. The key is to do what is in your power, God sees that.

I think my biggest frustration is trying to not be “robotic”…I understand that spending the time is good, I think a part of me wants to be more connected with Jesus and Mary on a deeper level…Call me ambitious, but I want it so bad.

I think it’s normal to wish deeper relationship but don’t be confused with feelings of failure when you don’t succeed in some things or when it seems like you didn’t succeed because it wasn’t perfect without mistakes.

If you can try to pray rosary out loud and meditate. Maybe that will help. I find it harder to meditate when I pray rosary internally.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Sometimes I find looking at a picture of the mystery helps.