The Attention Span

Greetings Family!

I pray this message finds you in a state of God’s rest. I pray that you are internally stirred up and the fire of God within you is spreading everywhere you go.

Don't allow this day to just be another day. Hallelujah!

As we’ve been talking about meditation, the power of it, and the biblical commandment behind it, I do realize that there are many hurdles that can arise in the quiet place and our quiet time with the Lord. 

I’ve personally experienced many of them, and one of them, especially…

The Attention Span. 

As a husband, father, minister, and entrepreneur, there are many things that can come up in a day, let alone in my mind at any given moment. 

The attention span is defined as:

the length of time for which a person is able to concentrate mentally on a particular activity or remain interested.

With all the different hats we wear during the day, we can feel the strong pull and demand of our attention.

Most of us within meditation experience what science calls an overload of our “cognitive load.”

“When a task requires more mental effort or involves complex information processing, attention span tends to be shorter. This is because the brain has limited cognitive resources, and prolonged engagement in demanding tasks can lead to mental fatigue and reduced attention.”

Basically, when there's too much on your mind, it's hard to just focus on a thing for an extended amount of time.

As we spoke about in the message, “The God Pricks,” I've experienced this very thing and God showed me that writing things down in my notebook with thanksgiving was essential in decluttering my mind.

So number one:

Write it down with thanksgiving.

During meditation: Write down all the things / concerns that pop into your mind that are distracting you from the main focus, Jesus.

Why thanksgiving?

Because we’re not writing those things down in hope but in faith, believing and knowing that God is perfecting all things that concern us.

Psalm 138:8 NKJV

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. 

Hallelujah!

Number 2:

Define Your Dopamine

Another scientific variable within our attention span is dopamine.

“Dopamine, in particular, is associated with motivation and reward, and its release in the brain helps sustain attention.”

Defining what motivates you to spend time with God is key to your attention span.

When you're hungry, you're motivated to eat with the reward of satiation in mind.

If your motive to meditate and spend time with God is not Him alone, you will always fall short of the grand Reward He has in store for you.

Him.

You will also be laboring incorrectly in the escapade of the ever growing bliss of spiritual growth.

If you don't personally and authentically see the value of “Him alone,” your motive needs to be sanctified and you need to reprioritize what you deem valuable in life.

Why is it important for YOU… to spend quiet and alone time with God? 

Once you can answer that question with joy, (scientifically speaking, dopamine) you’ve found a launching pad that blasts you into an everlasting reward that man can never give you and “things” can never fulfill in you.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I went from grudgingly forcing myself to spend time with Him alone to thoroughly looking forward to my time with Him with genuine excitement. 

I knew the reward of Him (motive) was greater than the hurdles of meditation and my quiet time with Him. 

So number 1:

Write it down with thanksgiving.

Number 2:

Define Your Dopamine (your joyful motive)

Lastly, number 3:

Extinguish The External Distractions

In the famous movie, “Up”, this is about not being distracted with the, “SQUIRREL!” 😅

Point number one, "Write it down with thanksgiving" has a lot to do with the internal distractions. Point number three, "extinguish the external distractions,” has to do with what science calls, “External Stimuli.”

“External stimuli can significantly impact attention span. With the rise of technology and constant access to information, individuals are often exposed to multiple distractions, such as notifications, social media, or environmental noise. These distractions can reduce attention span and make it harder to maintain focus.”

In other words, it's imperative in strengthening the muscle of our attention span to methodically choose a time in our day where we can truly be alone without any external demand.

I typically find this time early in the morning before Hannah and the kids wake up. This is also the time before a typical workday begins.

I found that in order to wake up early, I needed to train my mind and body to go to bed earlier and MAKE that a part of my daily routine. This is a practical key and prioritizing my time alone with God.

Practicing both in silence and with music is great. I've personally used a lot of William Augusto's music.

Sometimes, I find it helpful not to bring my phone into my time with Him as well. I use it to take notes or search for scriptures, but not bringing it in helps mitigate the risk of being sidetracked.

I can just be God’s SON away from it all. 

These three keys have helped me tremendously in strengthening the muscle of my attention span with faith, patience, consistency and discipline. 

Number 1:

Write it down with thanksgiving.

Number 2:

Define Your Dopamine (your joyful motive)

Number 3:

Extinguish The External Distractions

Remember: the goal is not just to have a better attention span. The goal is - Him - and for His consciousness to be our consciousness. 

This is about denying our old-self and allowing God Himself to BE as you without restriction or restraint.

I encourage you with your heart and your words to offer your attention span to the Lord, even now, that from this day forward He will put His super on your natural and accelerate the growth of your attention span for His glory. 

With God, all things are possible.

I declare that your attention span is glorious with the attention span of Jesus and His divine focus. You have the mind of Christ. The sphere of your focus is impenetrable and protected by God Himself.

Walk with His divine mental strength and may the fortress of His focus and attention span manifest within you without wavering from this day forward.

I love you family!

External sources: ChatGBT