Struggling to Focusby Lisa Kennedy | More from this Blogger 30 Dec 2006 01:31 PM If you are anything like me you may struggle time to time with keeping focus during worship to God. I am not sure what it is, but sometimes my mind really gets to wandering and the next thing I know I am not thinking about what I am singing or reading or listening to, but rather what I am going to eat for lunch, the afternoon baseball game (yes, I am a baseball fan), or how long of a nap I might get that afternoon. I absolutely hate that I allow my mind wander and it is one of the things I am constantly striving to overcome. I love the Lord with all my heart. I want to worship Him. Yet somehow I still struggle with my focus. I suppose one of my "resolutions" this New Year is to have a better focus on God, it is something I have been striving after for a while now. I especially desire to have better focus when I am worshiping Him on Sunday, praying to Him, or reading His Word. How am I going to try to have a better focus? Below I have listed a couple of things I am going to try to do to improve my focus on the Lord.
What are some things you do to help you maintain your focus? Relevantchristian tags User Comments Nola Redd (7081) 01 Jan 2007 03:14 PMI didn't have any suggestions for helping with focus - during church, I somehow have to try to get my 5 yo, 4 yo, and 2 yo to focus - but I wanted to empathize. Some of the 'worst' times for me are when I am praying before bed. Somehow after we were married, my dh convinced me that it was okay to pray while laying in bed, which helps with the mind-wandering. I've found that when I kneel down in prayer, instead of taking a more casual attitude, I tend to stay better focused. Similarly, I've found that carrying my scriptures and any lesson manuals with me to church helps me stay focused in class on Sunday. I tend to make notations of what impresses me, and I also probably annoy the teacher by contributing in class; both of these keep me on topic. Lastly, I've followed a friend's often-given advice and started keeping a 'spiritual journal' while studying my scriptures at night, which sometimes ends up as summaries and sometimes ends up in me relating what I've read to current problems, and then...helping me solve them, or at least resolve on a different course. On the other side, my inlaws took my kids to church and said the older two were very reverent - put away their 'distractions' - while the sacrament was passed (the most reverent part of our meeting), without being prompted. So I guess that means they ARE listening! Look, I wound up answering your question anyway, huh? LOL.  QueenAngie Central Illinois, USA (60086) 02 Jan 2007 08:08 PMThank you for sharing. Our church has gallon sized baggie children packets that one former teacher makes up for each Sat/Sun service. Each has a Bible story book, the Bible verses for the day, a coloring page to go along with that Bible verse & crayons, a word search with the Bible verse for the day words, and other things to help kids stay focused on church..... but it is on the child's level, not on the adult's level as many church services may be. We also have a children's sermon and that same message goes along with the sermon. Any age can understand the children's sermon. For Holy Communion, while young children do not receive HC in our church, they do receive a blessing from the minister and he always uses their 1st name in the blessing. When my kids were young, I was not able to focus on the service because I was being the Mom, and helping them to sit quietly in church. Now that they are teens and sit quietly in church, it is a great time to be able to focus during church. Prayer in the quiet evenings or quiet mornings is a good opportunity daily. Sherry Holetzky (11404) 05 Jan 2007 08:08 AMI can relate, Lisa! Great article. With so much going on and running through my mind at any given moment, it can be difficult to focus. I have to stop and pray and ask God to clear my mind then actively work to concentrate.  Dale Harcombe |
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