At a loss...

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Please pray for me, I am at a loss and feel that I am on the edge of despair.

I do not doubt God’s ability or desire to forgive me of my sins. But I am beginning to doubt whether or not I can truly change and lead a devout life. I try very hard to do so.

Not to sound like a modern day Pharisee, but I go to daily Mass when possible, I love spending time with our Lord in adoration of the Holy Eucharist, I pray the rosary and divine office daily, I love reading Sacred Scripture and the writings of the saints, I make regular use of confession, and yet I cannot seem to overcome the same pathetic sins I’ve struggled with since I came back to the Church ~4 years ago.

I find myself constantly thinking of Saint Paul when he said, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” I know the answer to this cry is of course: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

I just don’t know. I want so badly to follow Christ and yet I so easily am led astray. I know we all stumble and that it takes time to make progress in the spiritual life, but it seems like I should have made at least a little more progress by now than I have. I apologize if this comes off as self-piteous.

Getting to the point, I ask you please to pray that Christ may liberate me from my attachment to the sins which I am particularly vulnerable to and help me to serve Him and my fellow man better. Thank you.
 
Saints of God who strove for goodness and to live wholly in love of God and in practical kindness for others,
yet continued to be plagued by human temptations,
because you were human,
Please pray for this struggling soul.
 
Heavenly family

Heavenly Family, please intercede powerfully for us when we are demoralised by disappointments and loss of fervour. A history of apparently ‘fruitless’ service and ‘unanswered’ prayer may lead us to discouragement and depression, deepened by remembrance of earlier zeal that seems irretrievable. The gospel way is difficult for anyone worn by years of sorrows and effort.

You also experienced dilemmas and pain of earthly trial. Even one of the dearest Saints of our time, Therese of Lisieux, endured trials of faith. She, along with all you citizens of heaven now experiences the wondrous eternal realities of God.

Pray for our renewal and growth when religious discussion seems tedious, or when intercession begins to feel almost like assiduous ‘blackmail’ instead of request to a loving God.

Help us to escape the trap of requiring God to be a ‘fairy-godmother’ deity! Obtain for us maturity of faith in life’s difficulties and tragedies. Pray that we continue to serve others in prayer and act, trusting that God will provide. Pray that we do justice to the gift of our lives and talents, and God’s will for our lives. October 25, 2002

Conversion: Your way

Loving God, if You wish, You can cure and convert me instantly. All goodness comes from You, so any ‘merit’ of my life is already part of Your holiness. Therefore, so that no moment of my life is wasted in sin or emptiness, please transform me with Your holiness now, as a channel of grace to others and a delight to Yourself!

That You do not hasten to grant this prayer reminds me that You are God who creates in gradual progression, moulding Your masterpieces, no one like any other. You hold each creature in profound love that touches and moves each instant of life!

Help me to accept the quiet evolution of my life to wholeness as You seek my cooperation, while respecting my free will.Your wisdom neither transforms souls on demand nor coerces the unwilling person. Like the greatest silversmith, Your love delicately forms each tiny second and each unique shape of holiness and wholeness in our lives. That is Your glory in us, to form us in our prayerful obedience to the fire of love and the sharp tools of effort and tribulation.

God please grant me patient faith to accept Your fashioning. Yet, if anyone can persuade You to purify and sanctify all in my life from this instant, please let it be so! If not, then grant me to continue to live in quiet faith and faithfulness.
 
The Cross of my life

Jesus, my cross is sorrow for others in their anxieties and afflictions, and in the limited help and comfort that I can give them. The nails are my mistakes and inadequacies that distress or fail others. No sooner do I inhale the breath of Your grace for others than it fouls with my failings. I must again drag up on my nailed wrists and push up upon my transfixed feet, in order to exhale the vapour of lukewarmness and sinfulness—so once again to draw in Your grace.

The faults that characterise much of my life, scourge my soul until it is bruised and faint, sapping my hope and faith. Acts devoid of generous love lash into the wholeness of Your image in me. I am sick with hunger, for I accept too little food of loving, sharing and serving in each moment of Your offering. My hunger is the more intense because others may suffer deprivation for my omissions and sinfulness.

A crown of idle thoughts, and words, of prayer neglected, of reparation postponed, of temptation undefeated, binds up my head with wounds. My inconstancy and unlove are my nakedness. The taunts are my lack of witness of Christ. My every nerve is pain, and it pours from my body in stinging sweat of regret. My lack of love makes my soul a living wound—at times benumbed, or raw with returning consciousness. Repeatedly I seek to escape this crucifixion, but I remain nailed to my weakness, fighting for hope and trust.

“Why do You abandon me, Lord?” Yet not You! Why do You allow me repeatedly to abandon You, in this lingering death of my faults and negligence! Yet, Jesus, because of Your mercy I affirm faith in Your love that brings marvellous blessing out of wretchedness, failure and sin. I cannot transform or resurrect myself, Jesus, but I offer You all that constitutes me, humbly asking that You will do what I cannot.

I give my self, crucified in its egoism and materialism, its pride and disobedience, its unbelief, unlove and ingratitude. Offer it to the Father with Your own crucifixion, so that in You I die to all these imperfections and rise again with You forever in the love and life of the Holy Spirit. Your mercy thereby draws many souls after me. Thank You, Jesus for this resurrection that You share with us.
 
St. Michael the archangel,
Defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
And do Thou O prince of the heavenly host,
By the power of God, cast into hell Satan
And all the evil spirits who prowl about the world
Seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

You are doing the right thing with adoration. Keep at it and ask God right there and then to help you rid you of the temptations.
 
God please make me who I am created to be

Loving God You loved me into existence. Please help me to fully live Your dream of me. Please help me to become truly that person, so that others can experience Your love, goodness, and beauty in me, and can receive the blessings You intend for them through me.

Let me delight You, by being an open doorway into You for others. Let me be a living tabernacle of Your love, an overflowing crystal chalice of Your love, a powerhouse of prayer and an instrument of Your love and healing to others.

Please make me who I am in the dream You always had of me.

Seeking union with God

God, please do not allow us to interpret our desire for You as zeal for any ideal, activity, devotion, or person. Do not allow our passion for God to lead us to hidden selfishness. Inspire us with wisdom and discipline to seek You as we authentically serve each other.

I cannot make myself worthy of You. I come with my fragments of prayer, goodwill and kind acts, while others perhaps arise with extraordinary gifts to offer You, but we all have only trust in Your merciful Love, as means to union with You. Therefore, I pray, “Draw us. We will run” to You.

In our human poverty before You, we ask everything of Your mercy, for we are Your children and You are rich beyond imagination. If You require sacrifice, we offer the Sacrifice of Your Son, together with the sacrifices and goodness of countless saints though all ages. If You require selfless Love, fill our beings, ‘pressed down and running over’ with Your own Love. God our only God, unite us in Your Love.

“Do not gloat over me, my enemy: though I have fallen, I shall rise; though I live in darkness, God is my light. I must suffer the anger of God, for I have sinned against Him, until He takes up my cause and rights my wrongs; He will bring me out into the light and I shall rejoice to see the rightness of His ways.” [Micah 7:8-9]

“Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” [Psalm 43:1] “I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart…I shall put my spirit in you…You shall be my people and I shall be your God.” [Ezekiel 36:25-26, 29] “I will smelt away your dross in the furnace; I will remove all your base metal from you.” [Isaiah 1:25]

“Be God’s true subjects; stand firm against the devil, and he will run away from you; come close to God and He will come close to you. You that are sinners must wash your hands clean; you that are of two minds must purify the intention of your hearts. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” [James 4:7-8, 10]

For the Lord said*: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways…Yes, and the heavens are as high above the earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.”* [Isaiah 55:8-9]
Isaiah says**,***** “I was thinking: ‘I have toiled in vain, I have exhausted myself for nothing.’ And all the while my cause was with God, my reward with my God.”***** [Isaiah 49:3-4]**
 
If it’s any consolation, God wants us to be patient with our sins. It is the patience that shows the fruit of adherence to charity-- not the mere avoidance of sin. As it has been said, “our greatest triumph is not in never falling, but in rising always when we have fallen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen

Thank you father for the gift of jtodisco! You have graced the world with this gift of yours, and you are rightly glorified for it.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
for Jtodisco, the Prayer Warrior

Dearest Lord, the armor has been battered on this warrior, and arrows of despair are pummelling greatly. Although the demon is at the door there is nothing that can destroy, because You Lord are our strength, our refuge, our help in times of trouble. You, Lord, who helped David in his times of despair, and when he called out to you, in his greatest sin, you were there Lord. Even King David, who sinned, was redeemed and made clean by your Mercy. He repented and became a great King.

Go deeply Lord, into the heart of this warrior. Please Lord, go deep into the heart. Heal the wounds that this sin is binding onto the soul. Go deeply into the wounds, and create in this soul a true hatred and distain for this sin. A hatred that burns so hot that the sin attachment is gone. If there are connections to the evil one, Lord, bind those evil beings or things in the name of Jesus. Bind them and send them away in the name of Jesus.

Daily Prayer for Protection & Strength.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I pray this prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ Your one and only Son who died and rose again for remission of sin, I bind, rebuke and render powerless: all division, discord, disunity, strife, wrath, criticism, condemnation, pride, envy, jealously, gossip, slander, evil speaking, complaining, lying, false teaching, false gifts, false manifestations, lying signs and wonders, poverty, fear of lack, fear of spirits, deceiving spirits, religious spirits, hindering spirits, retaliatory spirits, occult spirits, witchcraft spirits, spirits of antichrist and all familiar and territorial spirits.

I bind all curses that have been spoken against me. I bless those who curse me, and pray blessings on those who despitefully use me. I bind all spoken judgments made against me, and judgments I have made against others. I bind the power of negative words from others, and I bind and render useless all prayers not inspired by the Holy Spirit; whether psychic, soul force, witchcraft, or counterfeit tongues that have been prayed against me.

I am God’s child. I resist the devil and declare that No weapon formed against me shall prosper. I take authority over this day, Let it be prosperous for me Lord and let me walk in your love.

The Holy Spirit leads and guides me today and fills me with all needed gifting and graces. I discern between the righteous and the wicked and I take authority over Satan and all his demons and those people who are influenced by them. I declare Satan is under my feet and shall remain there all day.

I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am God’s property. Satan, you are bound from my family, my mind, my body, my home, and my finances. I confess that I am healed and whole. I flourish, am long lived, stable, durable, incorruptible, fruitful, virtuous, full of peace, patience and love. Whatsoever I set my hands to do shall prosper for God supplies all my needs.

I claim a hedge of protection, by the Precious Blood of Jesus, around myself and my loved ones throughout this day and night. I ask You God, in the name of Jesus, to send angels to surround us today and everyday, and to put them throughout my house and around our souls, bodies, wills and emotions. I call on Your holy angels to protect my house from any intrusion and to protect myself and my family from any harmful demonic or other physical or mental attacks.

I ask all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen and Amen

“God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my Savior” (Isaiah 12:2 NAB)
 
I pray that you always feel the presence of God in your heart. Let him be your guide in times of darkness. May you devote all aspects of your life to glorifying His name. Amen.
:signofcross:
 
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God. pray for us, sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Mary, come and help us, I pray. Take us unto your cloak and embrace us. Show us the way to your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Help us to reciprocate the precious and divine love that our Lord gives us. It is for him who we live for! Tell us your sorrows when you saw him scourged. Show us your heart break when you saw him carry his cross. And show us to know what utter anguish you felt when you saw our blessed King crucified. Show us to the foot of the cross to find Jesus, our King, when we are lost. Show us your love for your son.

Mother Mary, to thee do we send up our affection to the Lord. On our behalf, kiss his most precious feet for us, and embrace him.
 
Thank you all for your wonderful prayers. I was in a pretty dark place when I posted that prayer request last evening. I’m not out of the woods yet, but I can see the path that leads out more clearly now. This is no doubt due in large part to your prayers. Thank you all very much.
 
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray:
O God who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us through the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
Entrusting you to Our Lord and Our Lady that they may grace you with an awareness of their presence in your life …

Jesus, King of Mercy. We trust in You!

We take refuge under thy protection, holy Mother of God; do not despise our prayers for JTodisco in time of his necessity, but always free him from all dangers, o blessed and glorious Virgin. Amen.
 
Thank you all again for your prayers. They have helped me immensely. I got a BIG dose of hope and trust in Christ just when I needed it. God’s great like that, isn’t He? 🙂

Again, thank you all so much.
 
jtodisco said:
Please pray for me, I am at a loss and feel that I am on the edge of despair.

I do not doubt God’s ability or desire to forgive me of my sins. But I am beginning to doubt whether or not I can truly change and lead a devout life. I try very hard to do so.

Not to sound like a modern day Pharisee, but I go to daily Mass when possible, I love spending time with our Lord in adoration of the Holy Eucharist, I pray the rosary and divine office daily, I love reading Sacred Scripture and the writings of the saints, I make regular use of confession, and yet I cannot seem to overcome the same pathetic sins I’ve struggled with since I came back to the Church ~4 years ago.

I find myself constantly thinking of Saint Paul when he said, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” I know the answer to this cry is of course: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

I just don’t know. I want so badly to follow Christ and yet I so easily am led astray. I know we all stumble and that it takes time to make progress in the spiritual life, but it seems like I should have made at least a little more progress by now than I have. I apologize if this comes off as self-piteous.

Getting to the point, I ask you please to pray that Christ may liberate me from my attachment to the sins which I am particularly vulnerable to and help me to serve Him and my fellow man better. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Dear friend: It is a struggle to live a good and holy life. The Bible tells us we are meant to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. But the scripture also tells us that we can do all things in Christ who gives us strength. You CAN do this. It may take time. Years even. Do not lose hope and do not despair. Recognize that God’s love is far greater than any of your failings and throw yourself at the mercy of a Savior who gave his life for you. You are in my prayers.
 
father,
pray for your children this day and help this child who finds his way to you confused with sin and keep your poor servant form being led astray any further.
may your child find the way to you . aid your child in finding the peace in yoru love he so desires and grant him the knowledge to become one with you in your love and fellowship,
in christ name i pray
amen
 
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