Prayer is essential to the Christian life. Sometimes we feel that we’re doing well with it and other times we feel that we’re just going through the motions. For those challenging times, what do you do? Do you power through it? Or skip it? Have you ever wondered why it was happening?

Recently I had a challenging situation with a smoke alarm. The battery in the upstairs hallway, over the steps, decided that its life was almost finished. Due to the location combined with my vertical challenge, I was unable to reach it. At first it would beep a number of times then stop. While it was annoying, I figured I could power through it until my nephew came over, which he was scheduled to do later in the week. However, two days before his arrival, the battery decided that it was going to make sure I knew it needed to be changed. It chirped every few minutes for most of the day. Since I work from home, I heard it all day and most of the evening. I thought it would eventually give out. Nope, while it would stop for a few hours every so often, it was still periodically chirping when my nephew came. After he changed the battery, the silence was bliss! Even my cats seemed to enjoy the quiet. I realized how much that one, simple, periodic noise affected me. I was exhausted from filtering it out. I then started to wonder if there is a parallel of spiritual noise that affects our prayer? Is this why prayer sometimes feels like another item to check off on our daily list of things to do?

God hears all prayers. Yet knowing how sinful we are can seem to prevent us from reaching out to God. If we want to be forgiven, we do need to pray: to prepare for confession, in the sacrament, and afterwards. For minor sins that we may not need to immediately run to confession, but if we repent, ask God for forgiveness, and make a resolution to avoid the sin, this could be all we need at the moment. But our sinful nature can distort our thinking, making us question if God will hear our prayers as a sinner, or remind us how often we fall and that we should wait a bit longer before reaching out. This kind of thinking is a spiritual noise that we need to be on guard against. 

Prayer is a conversation with God. In it we are to adore Him, be contrite for our sins, thank Him for His blessings, and petition Him for those who need His aid. Sometimes our attitude towards prayer can be more of ordering from a fast food drive thru rather than a holy chat. We quickly offer up a prayer and expect it to be addressed in the way we want it to be. To be sure, a quick prayer for a friend in need or to say thank you for a blessing is never wrong, but we need to make sure of our attitude when we pray. Expecting God to answer prayer is also not a bad thing, but expecting Him to answer it the precise way we want things to happen is not appropriate. That is asking God to do our will rather than leaving Him to answer it in the best way He sees fit, not just for life now, but for eternal life. Our own attitude can be a spiritual noise that prevents us from seeing God’s intervention in our lives. 

While I’m sure there are other sources causing spiritual noise, what can we do about it? First, we need to acknowledge that something is keeping us from a fruitful prayer life. Given how blissful silence is in a physical sense, perhaps seeking a quiet, holy place is the answer. An adoration chapel is ideal, since you can visually focus on Jesus in the Eucharist. Any chapel or church with a tabernacle would also be conducive to reconnecting with God. If neither option is possible, a quiet place wherever you are with a visual focus like a cross or an image of Jesus could also be used. Then just be with God. Know that He is there with you. Focus on His presence and open yourself to Him. You don’t need to talk, you just need to be open and listen. You may not hear anything or feel anything. You may even need to repeat the exercise. The important thing is to be open and let God lead you. 

Spiritual noise can affect our prayer life. But we have the communion of saints, Blessed Mother Mary, and our Triune God who all want us to have a healthy and fruitful prayer life. Let us be mindful of our prayers and seek the silence when we need it.