How to pray when your mind is racing
Focus is hard when your mind won't slow down...
As someone who wrestles with anxiety, I fully understand what it’s like to try and pray when your mind won’t slow down long enough for you to focus.
Music can sometimes help…
…but there are days when panic starts to set in or where there is too much going on around you for you to focus on praying.
So what do you do?
What can you do?
…
I’d like to remind you of breath prayers.
They aren’t for everyone, I know. But, in those moments when you just need a second to calm your mind and refocus and pray…if just for a moment…then focusing only on taking a big breath in and then saying a short prayer while breathing out can be a huge help.
But sometimes, even then, my mind doesn’t stop.
I keep panicking.
I keep overthinking.
My mind keeps racing away from me before I can grasp onto a thought long enough to do much with it.
And in those moments, I can do nothing else but repeat something over and over.
Sometimes it’s The Lord’s Prayer, if I can manage to remember it.
Sometimes it’s just a call for God to help.
Sometimes it’s just the word help.
Repetition can do wonders for taking back your focus. And so can breathing. Doing both can go a long way to help you reclaim your mind, focus, and prayer life.
And, in those moments, prayer is important.
Because God is listening.
And, often, that’s when I can feel God responding and comforting me if I can manage to silence myself.
My prayer for today
Our Father, I can tend to let my thoughts run wild and then they can overwhelm me. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Either way, Spirit, I need your constant reminder to focus and reclaim my mind so that I can come back to the center of prayer. Help me, guide me. Give us all grace. Amen.
Remember
If you struggle with anxiety or your mind racing or your brain feeling so busy and buzzy that you can’t think straight, then come up with a repeated phrase (or memorize The Lord’s Prayer) so you have it ready for when you need to re-center yourself and root yourself in prayer.