When I try to pray, I cannot always pay full attention. My mind wanders many times. I am cautious about my prayers, but I still drift away in my thoughts.<\/p>\n\t
When you read through the prayers recorded for us in the Bible, what becomes noticeable is that most of them are short and to the point. Many of us try to pack too much into one prayer — perhaps because we save up too many things for our “prayer time” instead of taking a moment to ask God then and there for help.<\/p>\n
When a need comes up, go to God in prayer about it as soon as you can. When there are many things to discuss with God, then pick one or two issues, pray about them, and then take a moment’s break before returning to pray about the next few issues.<\/p>\n
Finally, don’t fall into the trap of ritualistic prayers. Pray in your own words about the things which are important to you at that time. This is your conversation with God. When it comes from your heart, then it will take more of your concentration to express it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: When I try to pray, I cannot always pay full attention. My mind wanders many times. I am cautious about my prayers, but I still drift away in my thoughts. Answer: When you read through the prayers recorded for us in the Bible, what becomes noticeable is that most of them are short and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-21080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32125,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-a-hard-time-focusing-while-praying-and-end-up-thinking-about-sinful-things-how-do-i-pray-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":0},"title":"I have a hard time focusing while praying and end up thinking about sinful things. How do I pray better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Day, Before I ask my question, I want to thank you for giving us all this opportunity to ask questions and get a reply based on the scriptures. It's enlightening and a humbling experience. My question can be termed very basic, but still, it is something very important\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25566,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-trouble-remaining-focused-in-my-prayers-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":1},"title":"I have trouble remaining focused in my prayers. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a couple of questions regarding my prayer life that are bothering me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve searched for the answers to these myself, but the only places I\u2019ve found them addressed is from the Catholic church, and I\u2019d rather hear an opinion from a member of the church of Christ.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-bad-to-keep-on-praying-the-same-prayer-all-over-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":2},"title":"Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This is a question about prayer. Is it bad to keep on praying the same prayer all over again? It could be from desperation, or it can be another reason. For example, you have a problem or worry you share with the Lord and you think that you are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19458,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unanswered-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":3},"title":"Unanswered Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lewis Willis via\u00a0Guardian of Truth; April 4, 1991; Vol. XXXV, No. 7; pp. 193, 215 When I think of prayer, I think of it as the very essence of the Christian's relationship with God. It is our link of communication with him, as the New Testament is his link\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/prayer-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32077,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-proper-to-publish-your-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":4},"title":"Is it proper to publish your prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Pleasant good morning, I'd appreciate some guidance, please.\u00a0I have observed prayers in the comment section under news articles of tragic incidents. When tragedy strikes I could, in the privacy of my home, say a prayer for those involved, and believe that God hears my prayers. However, others are posting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49297,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-and-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":21080,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts and Prayers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford People in our society say lots of dumb things. Surely among the most foolish, though, are the denials of the power of prayer. This usually comes up after mass shootings, when conservatives send \"thoughts and prayers\" on behalf of the victims' families. In reply, progressives sneer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/prayer-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}