The Cure for Whispering during the Prayer

Question :

I am a woman who performs the acts of worship which Allah has ordained for me, except that in prayer, I am very forgetful: While I pray, I am thinking about the events of that day - I do not think about them until I begin to pray and then I cannot prevent it, except when I am reciting aloud. What is your advice to me?

Answer:

Many people complain of the same problem which you are complaining, and that is that Satan opens up the door of whispering for them during prayer. So it might be that a person goes out (to pray) and he does not know what he is saying in prayer; but the Prophet has pointed out the solution to this, which is to spit over the left shoulder three times and say: "A'uthu Billahi minash-shaitanir-rajeem" (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan). If he does this, the devil will depart from him and he will not find him, by Allah's permission. Therefore, it is incumbent upon a person when he starts to pray, to believe that he is in front of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful and that he is confiding in Allāh, the Most Blessed, Most High and that he is drawing closer to Him by his magnifying and extolling Him, his recitation of His Words, the Most Glorifed, Most High, through supplicating Him in the places of supplication in the prayer. And if a person feels that then he will approach his Lord, the Most Blessed, Most High in a state of humility and awe of Him, the Most Glorified, Most High and love for the good which is with Him and in fear of His punishment if he neglects what Allāh has enjoined upon him.

Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 2 Pages 205-206