To the girl or guy who is struggling with prayer,

We all have periods of time where we feel extremely distracted, discouraged and deserted from having a deep relationship with Jesus in prayer. Here is something you need to know: prayer will always be a battle. We are all striving for the same thing—to grow closer to Christ in order to meet him in heaven.

Prayer is the best way to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. Prayer, however, is a battle; it is not easy. Whether we realize it or not, “prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for Him.” (CCC 2560). One thing to remember is that sometimes we will feel this “high” after prayer and feel warm and fuzzy inside. Sometimes we will have prayers answered immediately. However, a lot of the time we will be in this “desert” of prayer. We will feel distracted from Christ.

One of the most important things to remember about the distractions we have during prayer is that we must analyze them. For instance, if you are in the middle of prayer and you get distracted by what you have to do on Friday night; you need to know why it is distracting you. Think to yourself: am I worried, overwhelmed with work or nervous? What can I do to help this and glorify God?

A second occurrence could be becoming distracted with thinking about a certain person for an extended amount of time. Do you have a problem with them? Do you need to take care of something with them? Think of these things and notice why things are getting in the way of your time with Jesus! Distractions can be fixed—but the devil is tough to deal with, and they will always be there.

Mother Teresa had an amazing prayer life during her time at the convent, which led her to discovering her “call within a call” to go out on the streets and serve the poor. However, for the next 50 years she was in this “desert” of prayer. She felt darkness over her in suffering as the people she would serve and felt deserted, but she never stopped pursuing Christ. Remember to stay in constant pursuit of Christ. He is your best friend, your greatest confidant, the one you can trust, and the one that loves you most. Prayer is a battle -- but a personal relationship with Christ is worth fighting for. You can do this!

“Prayer makes your heart bigger, until it is capable of containing the gift of God Himself. Prayer begets faith, faith begets love, and love begets service on the behalf of the poor.” – Mother Teresa