- Silence your phone and put it out of sight.
- Take a few deep breaths, letting go of tension as you exhale. Breathe in the life of God and exhale your distracting thoughts.
- Give yourself time to transition from activity to attentiveness from doing to being present.
- If you get distracted, just come back to focusing on God.
- Keep paper handy to note tasks that come to mind. Writing relieves you of the fear of forgetting something important.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to help you focus on God and block distractions from your mind.
- Read a Psalm or short devotion as helpful “warm up” for your attention. Devotions and other spiritual reading instruct, inspire, and equip us. Be sure you don’t let them replace a consistent practice of meditating on God’s Word.
- Journal thoughts and emotions on days when you feel overwhelmed with an issue. Write it out to God, getting it out of your head and onto paper. When problems are consuming, this practice can help us clear our heads. Written prayers remind us of God’s presence in the midst of challenges we face. This can be helpful before or after your time of meditative reading. Trust the Spirit to lead you as there isn’t a right or wrong order to any of this.
- Read a short passage of Scripture. Pause to listen to the thoughts and impressions the Holy Spirit brings to mind as you read and pray. You may find it helpful to read the passage a couple of times, pausing after each phrase.
- Write the Word. When a verse stands out, write the verse in a journal or notebook. Many enjoy being creative with how they write the verse, tapping into both sides of the brain. Emphasize words that resonate with larger print, color, picture, or different style (you don’t have to be a great artist). Writing slows our minds and focuses attention. Adding a creative element integrates the right and left brain. Expect the Holy Spirit to speak through insight, observation, impression, or reflection.
- Ask God, “What do you want me to know about this today?” Stay on the topic rather than wander into your prayer list of needs and concerns. (You can pray about those in a few minutes). Write thoughts, feelings, questions, or observations that come to mind. View this interchange as a relaxed conversation between trusted friends. For those who don’t like to journal, try using bullet points and short phrases instead.
- Invite the Holy Spirit to continue the conversation and help you to commune with God during your day.
- Take a pause during the day, a mental time out. Turn your attention to God with a quick prayer as you remind yourself of his presence.
- Memorize a Bible verse on attending to God. Trust the Holy Spirit to remind you of God’s presence through the verse.
- Trust God with your spiritual attention. Ask for his help and then trust him to develop deeper attention over time. You will discover your own ways of settling your thoughts and opening your ears to God’s voice.
