7 tips to get the most out of Adoration

The practice of adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is a habit the saints have made a consistent part of their lives. We would do well to imitate that practice and add more Adoration time to our routines. However, many find it difficult to concentrate or frustrating when they are before the Blessed Sacrament, they get distracted, and then walk away feeling like the time they spent had no impact. First of all, let’s understand that even the smallest and most distracted time we spend praying before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is beneficial. Additionally, the more we add it to our routine then the more we get out of it.

Here are some suggestions to make the most out of your Adoration time.

1.)    Shut off cell phones. – including turning them off or shutting off smart watches connected to it. It does no good if the phone is turned on silent or vibrate and then your smart watch goes off every few minutes with notifications. Turn them both off. Technology free is fuel for focus.

2.)    Prepare ahead of time. Read through a passage of scripture to meditate on. Carefully choose a book, prayers, or Scripture reading you want to focus on and then be intentional. If it is Scripture you want to focus on, read the passage beforehand and then practice Lectio Divino during your time with the Lord.

3.)    Read about the saint of the day and choose a virtue. All saints have virtues in common, but the saints also have things that distinguish them from others. Read about their lives, choose something that sticks out to you in their life, and then use your time in Adoration to pray for that virtue in your life. Meditate on it and ask yourself how you can implement it in your life from the moment you leave Adoration.

4.)    When distracted, pray about the distraction and refocus. It’s always difficult when you sit before the Blessed Sacrament to stay focus. Satan is good at making our minds wander to what we have to do at work, the ballgames, or activities the children have coming up, or the stresses of life. When that distraction comes to your mind, turn it into prayer. Pray about the stresses you are thinking about or pray for the people that come across your mind. If they are a prayer focus, then it is hard for them to be a distraction.

5.)    Remember whom you are adoring. It’s important to remind ourselves throughout our time with the Lord that we are kneeling and praying before the King of the Universe. I often think about if Jesus was sitting before me in human form, what would I say or how would I act. If we are sitting before an earthly king or prince, how would we respond and act? There is no greater royalty for which we are privileged to be in the presence of than the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Remind yourself of that at various intervals during your adoration time. Jesus is truly there with you. He is in your midst.

6.)    Listen more than you speak. Imagine Jesus walking through the door of the Adoration chapel and you begin constantly talking. Imagine Jesus begins to speak but He can’t get a word in because you keep talking. Would we treat Jesus like that if He were to walk through the door? Of course not. If Jesus moved his mouth to speak, we would stop everything and listen. We would not dare call our best friend and start talking from the time they answer, never stop talking, and when we are done just simply say “bye” and hang up without them being able to respond. What kind of relationship with that be? Remember your time with Jesus is a two-way relationship. Let Jesus speak to you just as you speak to Him. Close your lips and open your ears.

7.)    Make it a routine. You cannot go to the gym and work out for an hour and expect to lose weight if you never go back. You cannot go to work one day and never return and expect to continue getting a paycheck. The same is true with Adoration. You cannot go just one time and not go back yet expect to receive abundant graces. We make spending time with our spouse, children, and friends a priority. The same, even to a greater degree, should be said of our relationship with the Lord.

Not everyone can go to Adoration daily. Most may not even have a chance to go weekly if they do not live near an Adoration chapel. However, time with our Lord is essential to our spiritual walk with Christ. The saints made Adoration a priority. We are called to be saints. Let’s make it a priority. Jesus made us His priority on the cross. He should be our priority.