Praying and noise

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RileyG

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Ok. Before I start I’m going to begin by saying I’m very sensitive to light, sounds, noises, smells etc because of the way my brain is wired. How can I just pray without getting distracted or too scrupulous about it?
Thanks.

God Bless +
 
How about praying to God that you don’t get distracted? This isn’t offered flippantly as I get distracted easily and now my prayers are punctuated with apologies and requests for help getting back on track. I offer my best and keep asking for His help.

In other words, take it to God, He understands.
 
RileyG said:
Ok. Before I start I’m going to begin by saying I’m very sensitive to light, sounds, noises, smells etc because of the way my brain is wired. How can I just pray without getting distracted or too scrupulous about it?
Thanks.

God Bless +
Click to expand...
Let’s take a look at the Catechism about distraction (the parts that I bolded I think are important for u):

2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve.

There really is no way to stop the distractions from coming, but it is how u handle them when they do come, that matters the most. Basically, as soon as u notice u are distracted, don’t give it much attention and energy (for that’s what the devil wants), instead, immediately and very calmly turn your attention and your heart back to the Lord.

Also, please see this great 5 minute video on distractions in prayer! I think it’ll help u! There are also some good comments after the video as well.

God bless! 🙂
 
I feel your struggle. I too am horribly sensitive to noise and touch and smells. Light is not that much of a problem.

Somehow God gifted me with the ability to block out surrounding noises and distractions since I can remember. But I have to say that as I get older and the amount of noise that is shoved at us in society has increased, it has become more difficult.

I don’t know if this will help, but try using ear plugs when out and about. This will decrease the amount of noise (name removed by moderator)ut. You might also try blindfolds at night to block light. As far as smell my sister and I use nothing that is scented to any large degree. A lot of perfumes, air fresheners and soaps give me blinding migraines. I can’t stand them.

By decreasing daily (name removed by moderator)ut you might become more able to block out other distractions when praying. Set a time aside for prayer in which you can close the door, shut down the lights and block the sound. Then just sit quietly for 10 minutes before even mentioning your intentions. I hope this can help in some way.
 
When you are distracted in prayer, commend it to the Heart of Jesus, to be perfected by Him, as our Lord Himself taught St. Gertrude. One day, when she was much distracted in prayer, He appeared to her, and held forth to her His Heart with his own sacred hands, saying: Behold, I set My Heart before the eyes of thy soul, that thou mayest commend to it all thine actions, confidently trusting that all that thou canst not of thyself supply to them will be therein supplied, so that they may appear perfect and spotless in My sight.

(From the revelations of St Gertrude the Great)
 
hi, well indeed-i share this…and very agreeable of the previous post-ask…

i find this asking to be a begging…because…not a weakness of faith…it melts the frozen ice from around the spiritual heart- and yea, everybody is different-i have some issues-i have adult ADD and depression often…i speak to myself as well as to you when i make pointers for you to consider…so, firstly, consider though (to think through it)-not put limits on the Holy Spirit as for what he can do…and so the soul is greatly involved, before and after, the fact-as prayer is the presence of God-now the mind wonders-as if to say-i am like God’s border collie (i have a border collie)-border collies are smart, and he hears with doggy hearing/i have a level of intelligence and am hot wired-unchangeable/.as much as i enjoy my border collie-God must enjoy those moments with my soul…on topic, i take my dog for walks in the park; he rides in jeep with me like a human passenger/ he like sto leave the house and seems to say, GO GO GO in doggy howls; he needs me…we enjoy playing fetch-but he keeps the ball sometimes/ My dog does not always listen-and i give him option as he seems a person too, he gets scared and angry or hungry/i love my dog without conditions/let him have his own free will-even as i see him distracted from any task-(perhaps a cat enters the scene)…there seems to be a behaviorism in this…i love my dog. I am the master…for me-in prayer, the master speaks- i listen
while as it could be said-prayer is following the Master…yet being hot wired with senses-extrodinary…is both gift and sadness…i would say that my border collie is descended from wolves…and i am …Well, perhaps the metaphor plays out in distinction of dog and man…(as mark twain tells of irony that a dog could never be pope) but my leaping for God tells me -i need divine love with out conditions…yet just at that moment of need-the refrigerator motor distracts me…i think each distraction can be taken one by one…!!!
if practical, as every one is differnt-ask for the grace and gift to listen to your own body-the body gets thristy, hungry(weak)…it pains-ask God, to allow you to listen to remind yourself to get a drink of water, or eat -or to feel the hurt at pain…this is compared to the soul…body verses soul…now for sensitivity…ask God to allow you to take each sensitivity
(in my case my hearing) and listen to how the body responds to (noise of that motor); more senses, more suffering…there is a suffering here in the body (biological brain)…there is a real need to personally define suffering as a belief…if belief, then with belief verses the soul/God loves border collies too, and God has has infintie-divine love unbounded-beyond each distraction…hope that helps
 
RileyG said:
Ok. Before I start I’m going to begin by saying I’m very sensitive to light, sounds, noises, smells etc because of the way my brain is wired. How can I just pray without getting distracted or too scrupulous about it?
Thanks.

God Bless +
Click to expand...
In my life, when I have prayed, the only thing that exists, at that moment in time, is myself and the prayer. There is no thinking, there is no alert conscious awareness (of environment, surroundings, the daily life). There is only the prayer, and my connection to it.

Here, you’ve acknowledged a whole bunch of things, that get your attention (which is mentalism). What you could do, is pay attention to prayer, by feeling (which is the Heart). In other words, your Mind must be connected to your Heart. You feel the prayer as you pray.

Say, for example, if you would like to pray for Earth. The prayer will begin with feeling pure love, for Earth. For myself, my head is always bowed, which is natural for me, not taught, when I pray. There is even a very good feeling, just in bowing one’s head (at least, there is, for myself). So maybe, the bowing of one’s head, has an effect, of dimming that alert sort of consciousness, so to speak. Or, toning it down.
 
gmx2014 said:
Say, for example, if you would like to pray for Earth. The prayer will begin with feeling pure love, for Earth.
Click to expand...
I don’t mean any disrespect, but for some reason, this sounds very New Agey. 🤷
 
suko said:
I don’t mean any disrespect, but for some reason, this sounds very New Agey. 🤷
Click to expand...
lol, is it, new age, to love Earth?

It was the easiest thing to think of, in order to provide an example, of prayer. Some people pray for the family, or friends, or strangers - people - others pray for guidance, or forgiveness. Earth was just a quick go-to example.

🙂
 
I believe it is said, when you pray, go to a quiet place. For me it was after everyone else was asleep. But for other times, I learned a technique early on. It helped me in home life and in school and in the workplace. It simply is… tune everything out. It takes practice, some training on your part, but it is possible. For example, when reading Catholic material, I concentrate on what I am reading and everything else is tuned out. I don’t hear or listen to chatter. Doors closing, dishes rattling won’t disturb me. I’ve made up my mind that I will not be distracted. One thing I remember is my friend’s dad who would always say, “Shut up, I’m reading the paper.” It was almost scary to hear him shout. And I often thought, why doesn’t he learn just to tune it out. We were not loud or boisterous. It struck me as something selfish. We have “rights,” too. But who’s to say. Of course, I had an open ear if my parents, and later my boss spoke to me, or emergency situations. Some things you just can’t reasonably tune out. If you really need quiet and getting used to the world’s noises is a challenge, try developing a resistance to giving in to the noise. One thing for sure, the noises will not go away. You had just as well get used to them. And locking yourself in a closet to read does not guarantee no noise. Noise is a gift from God - the tweet of a bird, laughing, talking, singing. We thank God for those who teach us how to listen and to hear His words. Well, now I’m going off into another level of discussion. God bless./SIZE]
 
suko said:
Let’s take a look at the Catechism about distraction (the parts that I bolded I think are important for u):

2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve.

There really is no way to stop the distractions from coming, but it is how u handle them when they do come, that matters the most. Basically, as soon as u notice u are distracted, don’t give it much attention and energy (for that’s what the devil wants), instead, immediately and very calmly turn your attention and your heart back to the Lord.

Also, please see this great 5 minute video on distractions in prayer! I think it’ll help u! There are also some good comments after the video as well.

God bless! 🙂
Click to expand...
👍 Thank you 👍
 
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