Lately, I’ve been struggling with distractions during my day. I have a list of things I want to accomplish, but I find myself flitting from one thing to another without real purpose or thought. When I go to pray, I find myself doing the same thing, flitting from one topic to another with no real purpose or thought. Sometimes I don’t even stay awake long enough to complete my list of things I wanted to talk to God about, and forget giving God the opportunity to speak to me! So I found it fitting that our latest Women’s Ministry message was on keeping our focus in a busy and distracting world.
There are lots of sources of distraction in our life: kids, spouses, our health, the health of others, financial challenges, job challenges, deadlines, social media. Pretty much everywhere you look there is something waiting to distract you from your goals. So what do you do? How do you keep focused?
First, I think it’s important to figure out what things are distracting you. Make a list of your worries. Figure out what you’re spending your time thinking about. Are you letting your worries and emotions control you during the day? Are you so worked up in thinking about all the things that you need to do or being blown about by every piece of information coming at you all day that you can’t find peace? When you have an idea of what kinds of things are stealing your focus, you can make a plan to address them.
Next, look at your time wasters. Part of figuring out your list of distractions includes figuring out where your time is actually going. If you’re not accomplishing your list, maybe it’s because you’re putting too much of your time and energy into things that aren’t actually on your list! Are you spending too much time on the phone? Take a break and give yourself some time when you let your calls go to voicemail so that you can accomplish your priorities first. Are you sitting down and getting sucked into the vacuum of Facebook? Take a break and give yourself some off-the-grid time, or set a timer so that you have more control over the time you spend online. Tracking where you’re actually putting your time will also make you more aware of the expectations you have for your day. Perhaps you aren’t finishing your list because you have an unrealistic idea of what you can accomplish in a day. Tracking your time will show you if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. It will help you scale back if you are overdoing it, and it can show you where you need to set boundaries and say “no” to things that aren’t high on your priority list.
Third, be intentional. Make a plan and write it out. Be intentional in what you put your mind and energy into doing. Make sure you’re doing things that are high on your priority list. Accomplish your high priority goals first. Being intentional with your planning and time can keep you focused on what you’re doing.
Finally, write it out. Make sure your vision of your day, your week, your month, your year, whatever is plain, and write it out. Writing it out helps you run with it. Keep it in a place where you will see it often. Check your progress occasionally to make sure you are sticking to the plan.
Since my biggest struggle has been in my personal prayer and quiet time with God. I asked the ladies in my group for suggestions on how I could cut back on the distractions and be sure that I got the time with God that I need. After all, it’s number one on my list of priorities, so it should be something that I am accomplishing each day. Here were their tips:
- Make sure you’re rested. One woman suggested that the reason I was falling asleep during prayer might be because I really needed that rest. If you’re over-packing your day with items to do and you’re shorting yourself on much needed rest, you may not be aware how tired you are. Rest is important. God gave us the Sabbath to be sure that we had scheduled rest in our lives. So take a look at your schedule and make sure you’re getting the rest you need.
- Prepare a place and time. God honors a prepared place. The women of my group recommended setting up a War Room like in the movie of the same name. Have a quite area where you can seek God’s face. Write your prayer requests, your questions to God, your dreams and visions, whatever you need to. Write it out and keep track. This can help strengthen your testimony of what God is doing during your prayer and quiet time. I don’t have a separate closet or area that I can go to to pray or read my Bible, but I can still set a time and prepare my heart.
- Play worship music. Part of preparing a place includes preparing your heart. One mom of several very young children said that she would pray in her livingroom. Before she began to pray, she would turn on worship music. Her children began to learn that the worship music was a signal that mom was praying. They would settle down and give her a bit of space. They even encouraged her on days when she was feeling rushed and wanted to skip worship time. Her kids were holding her accountable! They were learning through her modeling the importance of time with God.
- Add movement. If you find that distraction is coming from your flesh, you might try adding movement. If you’re a kinesthetic learner or find yourself tapping your pencil or twitching your leg while you read, walking around while you pray or read might help minimize those bodily distractions. For me, if I find that I’m getting plenty of rest, moving would tell my body that we’re going to be awake now.
- Write out the Scriptures. During your quiet time, write the verse you’re reading in a journal or notebook. The act of writing slows you down and gives you time to ponder what it is that you are reading. This is a great technique if you find yourself reading the Bible and realizing that you don’t remember a thing you’ve read!
- Write down distracting thought. This is going to be a big one for me, I think. Joyce Meyer often tells the story of how she would be distracted with thoughts during her prayer time. She began keeping a notebook near her while she prayed. If a thought came to her during prayer time, she would right it down and go back to praying. This freed up her mind to continue to pray for the things she wanted to pray about and also allowed space for God to speak to her. When prayer time was done, she could look at her list and see what things she really needed to do and what promptings God may have given her during her prayer time.
- Take advantage of the time and space you have. With small children, it’s hard to find long periods of time to pray or read your Bible. You have to take advantage of the time that you have. Pray in short periods throughout the day. While you fold laundry, pray for the person whose clothes you are folding. If some worry pops into your head while you’re cleaning house or running errands, say a quick prayer about it right then. Place Scripture around your house. This can be a helpful tool for memorizing Scripture or just for reminding yourself of various Scripture promises that you are standing on in faith for something you want to see happen in your life. Place the Scriptures in places where you spend a lot of time: by the sink where you wash dishes, on the bathroom mirror, etc. When you’re doing dishes or getting ready in the morning, read the card and meditate on the Scripture you have chosen. We end up going into the kitchen and bathroom for various reasons throughout our day, and this is a good way to use that space to add a bit of time with God to our normal routine.
- Leave the Bible open where you can see it. I have my Bible out on the table most of the time. But I’m not always aware of it throughout my day. One woman said she had begun the habit of leaving her Bible open on the island in her kitchen. It was a location she saw frequently throughout her day. Seeing her Bible open reminded her that her conversation with God wasn’t over. It prevented her from just checking “Bible reading” off her daily to-do list. It kept her open to speaking to God throughout her day and also to hearing from God. It gave her time with God a more natural feel rather than an item to do, be done with, and forget about.
- Give yourself some grace. Planning things out and making sure things happen a certain way can easily tip the scales from quality time with God to just checking of a box in our own strength. God blesses the intentions of our heart. He blesses our attempts, no matter how many times we fail, to connect with Him and to seek Him. God can not bless works of the flesh. If you find that you are ticking all the boxes but you aren’t seeing any benefit, you might be operating in works. Re-evaluate your motivation for doing what you’re doing and make sure that your intentions are righteous. And remember that God does not condemn. If you miss a day or you make a mistake or you fall prey to distraction, it’s okay. Confess it to God. Repent. Get back on the wagon. Try to avoid a black-and-white, all-or-nothing mentality. Life happens. We are only human. It’s okay. God offers forgiveness and grace to us when we ask Him; we need to offer the same to ourselves.
A Beautiful Mess 