Questions on prayer: perseverance and distractions

[kikiki32]

Hi. I’m a man who is searching for God. I lived for many years in sin, and I’m slowly trying to get out of there, but sins of the flesh still have a huge grip on me (they have the force of an almost 20 year habit).

Up to this point, I’ve been inconsistently trying to pray more and more. And I say inconsistently, since I alternate days in which I’m able to pray a full 15 mystery rosary twice (once in the morning and once in the afternoon) with days in which I just turn my back to God, consciously forget prayer and actively search for distractions. On those latter days, I end up slipping in sin, which is no surprise, since I’ve learnt that I’m weak. So I ask you:

1. How can I improve my consistency in prayer, specially when it’s hard?
2. What does a good prayer life look like?
3. How can I kill distractions, both voluntary and involuntary?
4. How can I make sort of a “self-spiritual retirement” during my active daily life (I’m fairly interested in doing something like this)?
5. How may I find God and fulfill the thirst I have for Him in the depths of my soul?
6. Could you pray a little bit for me?

Thank you very much!

 

[EugeneCharles]

These are only opinions:

1. I ask prayers to my friends/family and I used to read the Bible to know the reason why I pray and to whom I was praying further.
2. You’re in peace with God most of the time. Fewer worries and less stress because you have someone who’ll work with you.
3. The answers are yours but I kill distractions by removing them out of my sight.
4. You may ask your priest about that.
5. Ask for prayers, read the Bible, listen to good Christian music. I listen to Catholic music if possible. These are the simplest thing that I do when I’m on spiritual dryness, other users may give a better idea.
6. Sure, why not?

This is the music that I always look with:

 

[kikiki32]

Thank you very much. I’ll listen to the music you linked and perhaps use it before prayer (since music tends to distract me a lot!).

 

[Dan_Defender]

Keep praying, patient endurance conquers. ‘Go, cast your feebleness before God, and you will find relief.’ - The Sayings of the Holy Desert Fathers

 

[Daniel27]

Up to this point, I’ve been inconsistently trying to pray more and more. And I say inconsistently, since I alternate days in which I’m able to pray a full 15 mystery rosary twice (once in the morning and once in the afternoon) with days in which I just turn my back to God, consciously forget prayer and actively search for distractions.

It might be more effective for you to concentrate on a full rosary once a day but every day, and working towards that goal first? Idk, just a suggestion.

5. How may I find God and fulfill the thirst I have for Him in the depths of my soul?

Many saints remind of us of the importance of meditating on God’s word as a form of prayer; this could be letting it seep into your psyche and trying to implement what you read in your daily life, or it may take the form of a dialogue between you and God.

Kindest regards.

 

[John9]

I can relate to what you have written. It’s wonderful that God has given you the grace to start turning to Him.

The real point for me was simple. I went to confession after a gap of 30 years. God was good to me - I had a priest who was patient and joyful that I had returned. The following Sunday I received communion for the first time in as many years.

My experience comes down to this. The sacraments are essential.

I will pray for you - please do the same for me.

 

[kikiki32]

@Dan_Defender Thank you for the reminder!

@Daniel27 It’s probably as you say. My minimum goal is to pray the 5 daily mysteries. But there are days in which I don’t feel strong (migraines!) and that’s difficult and some other days in which I continue praying after I end it. My logic: When I’m strong I must ‘gather’ graces for the days I’m not well, so praying more is worth the effort. Maybe I’m wrong. As for mental prayer, this is something I’m interested in, but never exactly know how to do. Would you mind sharing how do you pray that way? Thank you.

@John9 My returning to God is being a long way of almost a decade. For me, the starting point was realizing through a series of events that my death would be real and not a theoretical possibility. I now see the subtle hand of God behind all of that. I’ve been nearer to God each time, but I now want to take a new step. But I want to intimately be with God in my soul. I don’t just want to be a Sunday Catholic. I know that God exists, and that means I must completely surrender and turn my will to Him. That I must detach myself from sin, distractions and disordered affections (both to creatures and material things). I want to clean everything that is between God and me, but I still don’t have the courage to do so. Thank you for your prayers. I’ll pray for you too.

 

[Daniel27]

But there are days in which I don’t feel strong (migraines!) and that’s difficult

Yeah, I get them too quite frequently and oh… they’re not fun. Check out St. Gemma Galgani and the tribulations she went through for some help and inspiration.

For mental prayer, a lot of people go charging in assuming that ‘I’ll meditate on God’s word for [insert excessively long time here] and I’ll become a great saint and mystic!’ That is not a good way to do it. For example, try reading a passage from the Bible slowly and methodically a few times, think about how you could apply that to your life, then relax your body and close your eyes for approximately 10mins whilst keeping what you read in your head. This is only a simple suggestion for starting off on; once you feel more comfortable with it, you could maybe try moving onto Lectio Divina or Ignatian meditation, for example.