How can I listen better during a long prayer?
Question:
Hello Jeffrey,
I hope you're doing well by the grace of God. I need your help with a challenge I face during worship. I find it hard to focus when someone called to lead the congregation in prayer gives a relatively long prayer. Can you please share any helpful tips you know that can help me remain focused during prayers and, if possible, during other acts of worship?
God bless you.
Answer:
People tend to ignore things that they have decided will not affect them. On an extreme, consider how many times Jesus tells the disciples that he will die, and they continue to argue about who is going to have the greatest position in Jesus' kingdom. It isn't that Jesus was mumbling. The disciples heard him. However, it didn't register in their minds because it wasn't what they expected. You can also see this in yourself. Many stores and elevators play background music, but I doubt most people could name the tunes they heard while shopping or riding in an elevator. You know it won't make a difference in your life, so you focus on other things. The same thing happens in prayer if we think the things being said are not important.
Decide that you are going to use what is being said later. Make notes (mentally or physically) about who is ill so you can visit them later (physically, calling them, or sending them a note). Have a notepad to jot down the main points of the prayer. Consider which topics are being brought up that should be added to your prayer. What would you say if you wanted to tell the person leading the prayer what stood out most to you after services? Was something said that you can do? Did the one praying allude to a passage? Where is the passage located in the Bible? In other words, don't let the words go into your ears and dissipate like smoke. Find an application so that you have to consider what is being said.
Be empathetic with the person praying (Romans 12:15). What is he feeling? Ask yourself if you feel the same way about what is being said. Make a mental note to talk to the one praying later about anything troubling him or something that has brought him joy.
