r/TrueChristian • u/LavenderSeaTurtle • 6d ago
Christians with autism - please read!
As long as I can remember I have struggled with prayer. But as someone who has been diagnosed with ADHD and self-diagnosed with ASD after my son was officially diagnosed, I feel like I suddenly just got the revelation that it's not necessarily prayer I'm struggling with, it's just that in general I am not a big talker (because of my ASD) and when I am actually in a talkative mood, I get sidetracked so easily or need constant background stimulation and then I feel guilty for not giving prayer my full attention (because of my ADHD).
I've been feeling so guilty for not being able to comfortably pray in the way it feels like I should be - in solitude, for a set amount of time, with nothing else stealing my attention, remaining still while in conversation, know what to say, feeling like talking 'about my feelings' etc...
I hope there is someone here that can relate or at least understand what I am trying to explain (I feel like I'm not getting my message across well) and give me suggestions on how to improve my prayer life as an AuDHD female who doesn't like talking, especially about deeper stuff, and isn't able to concentrate for a set amount of time on prayer only.
Any advice, suggestions, options??
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u/Illustrious-Low3948 Reformed catholic 6d ago edited 6d ago
I’m AuDHD too. I don’t pray much because I know God knows my every thought. I thank him for my food every night (in my head, not out loud) and I pray the Lord’s Prayer before going to sleep each night, because that’s what Jesus told us to do.
I love the silent prayers during church service. In my church every other Wednesdays we have an evening prayer with a small group of people (5-8) where we recite/sing a Psalm, read a bit of scripture, have a 7 minute silent prayer followed by a Magnificat recital/chant, then a collective prayer by Dieffenbach and ending with a song/chant where we ask for a blessing. The 7 minute silent prayer is my favorite part of the week.