how to pray

I pray for you to be healed and restored. Memorize a Bible verse; it will need to be read several times every day. But will eventually sink in. Write it down and then add another verse.
Do you know John 3:16 from memory?
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that all who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
A good place to start.

mama2one said:

inability to concentrate, easily distracted, & fibro fog has contributed to inability/very poor ability to pray like I used to in the past

reading is severely hampered, also
unable to read books anymore Christian or not
long posts on CF- forget about it

^ this has led to me feeling further away from God

any suggestions?
thanks in advance for ideas

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Make a list of who you want to pray for.
Make a list of things you want to pray for.

Then choice one person or place and one thing and pray simple in a few words for that perso/place that they might know what you are praying for.


Example.
List of sick people at church.

Choose one, pray for one thing for them, like a day free from pain.
Rest, do your exercise and start again.

Look through Psalms and find one that looks like a prayer. Read that as a prayer to the Eternal. I've prayed for your ability to focus.

It may not be comfortable for us, but God works what he does through our weaknesses, not so much our strengths. This life is for Christ, not for us.

The Jesus prayer is very helpful: Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. It can be shortened to Lord have mercy. Simply saying "God help me" can be a very effective prayer as well.

mama2one said:

inability to concentrate, easily distracted, & fibro fog has contributed to inability/very poor ability to pray like I used to in the past

reading is severely hampered, also
unable to read books anymore Christian or not
long posts on CF- forget about it

^ this has led to me feeling further away from God

any suggestions?
thanks in advance for ideas

Click to expand...

Sorry you are going through some difficulty. God knows your heart and that is more important than anything! Scripture tells us that the Gospel is spread through hearing. There is a plethora of audio to listen to. You can start with The Narrow Path. Steve has a verse by verse teaching all on audio. The Narrow Path | Home
Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. This means meditate (think) about Him in everything you do.
Blessings

Hi @mama2one

It sounds like you are in a difficult position.

When praying, try to imagine you are with Israel back in the wilderness and you've been invited into the Tabernacle to pray...

You enter in the tent and are surrounded with gold lit up by the Menorah and sense the glory behind the veil on the Ark of the Covenant. All is silent.

When you pray keep this scene in mind and let whatever comes into your heart to be said, however much however little. Because this scene isn't too far from the truth of what is happening as we pray.

Peace.

mama2one said:

inability to concentrate, easily distracted, & fibro fog has contributed to inability/very poor ability to pray like I used to in the past

reading is severely hampered, also
unable to read books anymore Christian or not
long posts on CF- forget about it

^ this has led to me feeling further away from God

any suggestions?
thanks in advance for ideas

Click to expand...

Pray, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." One of the oldest and common Christian prayers. It is a very short but powerful prayer. You can also pray variations of it: "Lord, have mercy on me."

In this small prayer the heart is free--all that we could say is said, and God knows the depths of our heart, and all our heartache. Mercy to cleanse us of our sin, mercy to wash away our guilt, mercy to comfort the weary heart, mercy to love us, mercy to let us love others.

Have mercy on us, O Lord. You are Good and Gracious and Faithful. Your mercies are never ceasing and new each morning.

He is Faithful, put your trust in Him. Hold firm to Jesus.

He is yours, you are His.

-CryptoLutheran

mama2one said:

inability to concentrate, easily distracted, & fibro fog has contributed to inability/very poor ability to pray like I used to in the past

reading is severely hampered, also
unable to read books anymore Christian or not
long posts on CF- forget about it

^ this has led to me feeling further away from God

any suggestions?
thanks in advance for ideas

Click to expand...

You need to fast.

Start small. Only a meal if its all you can do. Slowly work your way up. Your cognitive functions will reset as the body heals during fasting.

Educate yourself first on how to safely break a fast. Anything over a couple days and you need to know how to not injure yourself by overeating.

As always consult your doctor beforehand.

Unless he doesn't know anything about fasting.

Then get a new doctor.

Pray the scriptures. Set an alarm to pray. Pray with your hub praying with someone else helps alot. Helps cut down the load.

mama2one said:

fasted a whole year by going down to 2 meals/day in 2019
someone told me that it was intermittent fasting

lost weight

did nothing for fibro fog
if anything, it became worse
still eating less

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I fasted for close to 3 weeks a number of years ago and although it was longer than I should have gone and that caused problems I did see a lot of my health issues disappear over the next year or so afterwards.

mama2one said:

inability to concentrate, easily distracted, & fibro fog has contributed to inability/very poor ability to pray like I used to in the past

reading is severely hampered, also
unable to read books anymore Christian or not
long posts on CF- forget about it

^ this has led to me feeling further away from God

any suggestions?
thanks in advance for ideas

Click to expand...

Dear mama2one,

I understand the “brain fog” of “fibro.” I have a similar illness of CMT. The pain and confusion is sometimes overwhelming. I describe it as ”I call my body parts together as I rise from the bed in the morning. Sometimes it seems like all of them don’t show up and not all of them are ready to work together. So I have to make adjustments and be thankful for the good days and pray for help during the not the best days.” I spend a lot of time calling on Jesus to just help me thru. This has grown my relationship with my Father God and made me more dependent on the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I have found that two natural remedies help me. One is the essential oil of grapefruit and the other is Hylands Calm for sleep. I use the Calm during the day to just settle my mind and help me to focus. I also find that playing Christian music quietly in the background helps. I am praying for you to find whatever will help you to focus. I am praying for God to help you to concentrate. I am praying for relief and hope. God’s grace is sufficient, I call it “grace grease.” I pray that you will have abundant “grace grease.” God bless you as you cope with these challenges. God is there, He knows and He cares for you. Hold His hand and He will get you thru. He will never leave you nor forsake you. That is His promise. Ps, with His help I raised five children and cared for grands and all survived and are healthy.