Afraid to pray.

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Hi everyone,
I know this sounds ridiculous but as a child my parents taught me to pray. As I got into my teen years I started to notice when I would pray life got very rough for me.And when I didn’t pray life was wonderful. So I stopped praying altogether. Throughout the years this has deeply bothered me,and I feel so guilty I can not even begin to tell you. I need to get back on track.Any suggestions on what is going on? Has anybody else experienced this? Thanks. God bless.
 
Are you a practicing Catholic?

When you participate at Mass you are praying. So if you go to Mass and participate then maybe your next step would be to talk to your priest.

Do you also have problems when you pray for others or is it just when you pray for what you want?

God bless you and I hope you can find the answers you need. :signofcross:
 
The Fathers said that when we have difficulty praying it means the evil one is trying to keep us from praying.

It goes against our (fallen) nature to pray, in fact. When we begin to pray and Grace comes pouring into us, that can be a frightening experience in more ways than one.

If I may, I would like to give you the same advice a priest gave me years ago.

Take a rosary, make the Sign of the Cross and say, out loud, 100 times, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Say it out loud, paying no attention to what you may feel when you say it.

Try saying 100 morning and night and slowly increase this number.

Return to this prayer during the day when you have free moments, before working and eating, say it over people “Have mercy on this person.”

Alex
 
For me its the other way around…

I suggest you to pray because that helps you to stay in touch with God.

We ought always to pray, and not to faint (Lk. 18,1). Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation (Mt. 26,41). Ask, and it shall be given you ( Mt. 7,7 ).

The reason of this is evident. Without the assistance of God’s grace we can do no good thing: “Without me, you can do nothing” (Jn 15,5).

Because we are human,
we are not strong.
Because we are not strong,
we pray.
  • St. Augustine of Hippo
 
slp said:
Hi everyone,
I know this sounds ridiculous but as a child my parents taught me to pray. As I got into my teen years I started to notice when I would pray life got very rough for me.And when I didn’t pray life was wonderful. So I stopped praying altogether. Throughout the years this has deeply bothered me,and I feel so guilty I can not even begin to tell you. I need to get back on track.Any suggestions on what is going on? Has anybody else experienced this? Thanks. God bless.
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Do you feel guilty more because you quit praying, or because you feel that it was wrong to enjoy non-prayer life more? Or do either of these really fit the situation?

Alan
 
I have gone though what I call praying blocks before. When my husband pass I had a hard time going to mass! lately for me sometimes situations disrupt my praying but I get over it pretty quick, cause it drives me nuts. I will pray hard for you. .
 
I totally understand what you mean! Life does SEEM more difficult for me when I have a strong prayer life. But, the beauty of having a healthy prayer life is that you’re strengthened within to be able to handle difficult times better. And I’ve always figured that Satan wants me to quit praying and he’ll do whatever it takes to make me stop. But whether these stumbling blocks are of God or Satan, the fact is that in the long run, our life overall will be better with prayer than without. Perseverance and consistancy is key to most anything in life! It is hard. Personally, I’m not a fan or praying, as terrible as that sounds. It’s kinda mundane and boring to me. BUT, that makes it all the more meaningful in God’s eyes, I would think–that we’re doing this thing out of pure love for him, not because we get any enjoyment out of it. Now, that’s not to say that I ALWAYS feel this way. I’ve been touched while praying, even brought to tears.
Anyway, the point is that you shouldn’t let the idea of hardships keep you from praying. Prayer is all we have, really!
 
slp said:
Hi everyone,
I know this sounds ridiculous but as a child my parents taught me to pray. As I got into my teen years I started to notice when I would pray life got very rough for me.And when I didn’t pray life was wonderful. So I stopped praying altogether. Throughout the years this has deeply bothered me,and I feel so guilty I can not even begin to tell you. I need to get back on track.Any suggestions on what is going on? Has anybody else experienced this? Thanks. God bless.
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did you find the way you communicate with your parents, family and friends has changed and matured over the years? or did you just stop talking to them when things got hard. Just start talking to God. use facebook or your cell phone if it helps, but start talking.
 
puzzleannie said:
did you find the way you communicate with your parents, family and friends has changed and matured over the years? or did you just stop talking to them when things got hard. Just start talking to God. use facebook or your cell phone if it helps, but start talking.
Click to expand...
This is a great idea. Just talk to God and stop thinking about it being prayer. The way you would talk to a friend.

puzzleannie, thanks, this was a very good post and a great idea. 👍
 
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