The Catholic Message Board

So as part of my prayer routine I include 10-15 minutes of silent prayer where I simply try and sit in the Presence of God and listen but most of the time instead of turning my mind and heart towards the real invisible Presence of God there with me as I pray I invariably get distracted by my own thoughts, emotions, or the temptation to direct my mind to images....all of which seems to make the time spent in prayer if not at the least unfruitful almost wasteful.

Am I expecting too much? My earnest desire in this is to come know God more fully but all that seems to come out of it is my own states of mind.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Internal quiet is not something you can make happen on demand. Your mind needs to be taught how to slow down. Perhaps looking at a crucifix or other religious image can help. That way your mind has an anchor of sorts.

A pastor who knew I had trouble being distracted in prayer advised me to keep a pen/paper in hand. To write down what was my distraction "I need to buy bread on the way home" or "that light bulb is flickering" and then to direct myself back to prayer. It helped.

May I offer a suggestion? You seem to have a lot of energy with respect to some subjects. Even when a person is right about something, paying a lot of attention to things that aggravate is a sure fire way to make sure you cannot achieve a calm state of mind. That internal calm is far more important than any contribution you might make to anything else, even a good cause.

In other words: if you want to learn to be quiet, step away from the noise.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Tue Dec 19, 2023 2:43 pm May I offer a suggestion? You seem to have a lot of energy with respect to some subjects. Even when a person is right about something, paying a lot of attention to things that aggravate is a sure fire way to make sure you cannot achieve a calm state of mind. That internal calm is far more important than any contribution you might make to anything else, even a good cause.

In other words: if you want to learn to be quiet, step away from the noise.

Fair enough.