Bored with prayer

[HoneyBea]

I’m not the only one bored, I feel like my prayers are boring God too. My prayers are very redundant and often I feel like I’m just going through the motions. When I’m praying, I am truly sincere, but I feel as if my words are too plain and my prayers are too empty. I feel like I should be presenting something much nicer and grandeur. I don’t know how to describe it really, it’s almost like I feel my prayers should read better, with great details and expressions. I feel like I’m praying the same thing over and over…I pray for Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict, Obama, world leaders, Middle East, Ukraine, the hungry, the poor, the sick, the non believers, souls in purgatory, my husband, my marriage, my baby, my family, my dogs, my blessings, spiritual growth, wisdom, to do Gods will, to be a vessel for God, etc. Always the same thing, and I understand that these are the things we should be praying for but why do they feel so empty? I understand that we shouldn’t rely on our “feelings” to define our faith, but I can’t help but feel like a phony when I lack deep emotions while praying. I sometimes end up feeling worse after prayer as if I’m just fulfilling my duty. I don’t always feel like this when praying, if something new happens in my life, for example, if there is a new blessing or even a new despair etc. then my prayers seem more reverent, because my feelings are more evoked. My prayers seem “refreshed” so to speak. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else struggles with feeling like a phony when praying. Thankfully my love for God and my reverence for him motivates me to keep praying. I continue to pray willingly and sincerely, but only because I love him so much and nothing of my own accord.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

We all get bored. It doesn’t mean anything. It certainly doesn’t mean that your prayers are phony.

 

[anonymous_in_fl]

Our prayer may become “dry” at times---- this is ok. We pray to connect with God, not necessarily to “feel good”.

Have you read any of the spiritual masters, such as St Teresa of Avila or St John of the Cross? They often talk about the “desert” of prayer. It may help you to read some of their writings (true classics of Catholic experience on prayer) and see if this helps you understand your prayer life.

 

[fide]

I’m not the only one bored, I feel like my prayers are boring God too. My prayers are very redundant and often I feel like I’m just going through the motions. When I’m praying, I am truly sincere, but I feel as if my words are too plain and my prayers are too empty. I feel like I should be presenting something much nicer and grandeur. I don’t know how to describe it really, it’s almost like I feel my prayers should read better, with great details and expressions. I feel like I’m praying the same thing over and over…I pray for Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict, Obama, world leaders, Middle East, Ukraine, the hungry, the poor, the sick, the non believers, souls in purgatory, my husband, my marriage, my baby, my family, my dogs, my blessings, spiritual growth, wisdom, to do Gods will, to be a vessel for God, etc. Always the same thing, and I understand that these are the things we should be praying for but why do they feel so empty? I understand that we shouldn’t rely on our “feelings” to define our faith, but I can’t help but feel like a phony when I lack deep emotions while praying. I sometimes end up feeling worse after prayer as if I’m just fulfilling my duty. I don’t always feel like this when praying, if something new happens in my life, for example, if there is a new blessing or even a new despair etc. then my prayers seem more reverent, because my feelings are more evoked. My prayers seem “refreshed” so to speak. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else struggles with feeling like a phony when praying. Thankfully my love for God and my reverence for him motivates me to keep praying. I continue to pray willingly and sincerely, but only because I love him so much and nothing of my own accord.

I’m assuming that your prayer life is, presently, vocal prayer: that is, prayer of words, and prayers of petition. The life of prayer is one of mind and heart in prayer, as one, mind and heart together. So - maybe your heart feels bored because your mind is not fully engaged in the conversation. And prayer is “conversation.” It is dialogue.

The “stage” of prayer following vocal prayer is meditation. The first helpful aid to meditation that I would suggest is the Catechism section on the Our Father, in which each part and each petition of the Our Father is discussed briefly, but very profoundly, very deeply. The discussions on each part and petition of the Our Father will - if you listen - challenge your praying of this most important formula prayer. This reading/study/practice, using the Catechism sections on the Our Father, will give you (I would think) a totally different foundation for praying this prayer. And because the Our Father is the foundation of all our prayers, it ought to be able to help you renew your entire life of prayer, so far.

With a slow and careful reading through the Catechism sections (I’d recommend paragraph numbers 2761 through 2865), pray the Our Father as you are making your way through the sections. Your mind will become increasingly aware, as you pray, of the great potency and power of this prayer. Such knowledge - such wisdom - can ignite the heart, and one’s whole life, with His truth.

After this exercise, which can take a long time - over a period of several weeks - next you might begin meditations using Scripture.

 

[tawny]

I’m not the only one bored, I feel like my prayers are boring God too. My prayers are very redundant and often I feel like I’m just going through the motions. When I’m praying, I am truly sincere, but I feel as if my words are too plain and my prayers are too empty. I feel like I should be presenting something much nicer and grandeur. I don’t know how to describe it really, it’s almost like I feel my prayers should read better, with great details and expressions. I feel like I’m praying the same thing over and over…I pray for Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict, Obama, world leaders, Middle East, Ukraine, the hungry, the poor, the sick, the non believers, souls in purgatory, my husband, my marriage, my baby, my family, my dogs, my blessings, spiritual growth, wisdom, to do Gods will, to be a vessel for God, etc. Always the same thing, and I understand that these are the things we should be praying for but why do they feel so empty? I understand that we shouldn’t rely on our “feelings” to define our faith, but I can’t help but feel like a phony when I lack deep emotions while praying. I sometimes end up feeling worse after prayer as if I’m just fulfilling my duty. I don’t always feel like this when praying, if something new happens in my life, for example, if there is a new blessing or even a new despair etc. then my prayers seem more reverent, because my feelings are more evoked. My prayers seem “refreshed” so to speak. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else struggles with feeling like a phony when praying. Thankfully my love for God and my reverence for him motivates me to keep praying. I continue to pray willingly and sincerely, but only because I love him so much and nothing of my own accord.

Praying for the Holy Spirit to give you strength & fortitude.

 

[HoneyBea]

I’m assuming that your prayer life is, presently, vocal prayer: that is, prayer of words, and prayers of petition. The life of prayer is one of mind and heart in prayer, as one, mind and heart together. So - maybe your heart feels bored because your mind is not fully engaged in the conversation. And prayer is “conversation.” It is dialogue.

The “stage” of prayer following vocal prayer is meditation. The first helpful aid to meditation that I would suggest is the Catechism section on the Our Father, in which each part and each petition of the Our Father is discussed briefly, but very profoundly, very deeply. The discussions on each part and petition of the Our Father will - if you listen - challenge your praying of this most important formula prayer. This reading/study/practice, using the Catechism sections on the Our Father, will give you (I would think) a totally different foundation for praying this prayer. And because the Our Father is the foundation of all our prayers, it ought to be able to help you renew your entire life of prayer, so far.

With a slow and careful reading through the Catechism sections (I’d recommend paragraph numbers 2761 through 2865), pray the Our Father as you are making your way through the sections. Your mind will become increasingly aware, as you pray, of the great potency and power of this prayer. Such knowledge - such wisdom - can ignite the heart, and one’s whole life, with His truth.

After this exercise, which can take a long time - over a period of several weeks - next you might begin meditations using Scripture.

Thank you so much. I will take on this suggestion. I am looking for ways to grow deeper in prayer. I probably need to start praying for that too lol

Most of my prayer is vocal but not entirely. I also try to make quiet time to listen to God but things will pop in my head and I’ll think to myself “Ok God is that you or me pretending it’s you because it’s my will not yours” anyways it ends up being exhausting and I give up because I don’t know if I can trust my thoughts.

I often find that I hear God talking to me while reading meditations or scripture etc. Or even something on the radio or something that happens in my daily activities. I hear God a lot, lately I’ve gotten really good at recognizing him on a daily basis. Sometimes I even wonder if it’s too good to be true because he answers me so clearly and obvious. Sometimes I wonder if I’m going crazy because I don’t remember ever hearing him so loudly before. Sometimes it even frightens me! For instance I listen to Catholic Answerrs radio a lot while cooking but I tune in and tune out as I start thinking on my own…and one night I started thinking about Satan and I began to pity him because he lacks Gods love and the thought came into my mind…“should I pray for Satan?” Anyways I immediately felt weirded out and really frightened at my own thoughts and even guilty so I pushed the thought out of my head because it was too scary to even think about. Well I went back to chopping my carrots and a caller calls in and it’s a little boy about 8 yrs old and he asks the exact same question I had just thought of and they went on to answer and explain. I felt immense joy in that moment…coincidence? Maybe? But how many incdeidents like that do you have to have before you accept the reality that God talks to us through the material world. I was really happy not only that God answered my questions but that he put my mind at ease and subsided my guilt for thinking such a thought. It was as if he was saying see this innocent child asked this question…you too are innocent in your thought…it’s ok to ask me anything.

Anyways, like I said this sort of stuff happens all the time to me. God talks to me a lot lately in very obvious ways…and I keep wondering if it’s just st a temporary thing like a spiritual gift to help me grow in my faith since I just came back to it and he may be thinking I need all the help I can get…I fear I may lose his voice again and not hear it anymore as I didn’t for the better part of my life. I really hope that’s not how God operates because I need him around in my life 24/7!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I’m not the only one bored, I feel like my prayers are boring God too. My prayers are very redundant and often I feel like I’m just going through the motions. When I’m praying, I am truly sincere, but I feel as if my words are too plain and my prayers are too empty. I feel like I should be presenting something much nicer and grandeur. I don’t know how to describe it really, it’s almost like I feel my prayers should read better, with great details and expressions. I feel like I’m praying the same thing over and over…I pray for Pope Francis, Pope Emeritus Benedict, Obama, world leaders, Middle East, Ukraine, the hungry, the poor, the sick, the non believers, souls in purgatory, my husband, my marriage, my baby, my family, my dogs, my blessings, spiritual growth, wisdom, to do Gods will, to be a vessel for God, etc. Always the same thing, and I understand that these are the things we should be praying for but why do they feel so empty? I understand that we shouldn’t rely on our “feelings” to define our faith, but I can’t help but feel like a phony when I lack deep emotions while praying. I sometimes end up feeling worse after prayer as if I’m just fulfilling my duty. I don’t always feel like this when praying, if something new happens in my life, for example, if there is a new blessing or even a new despair etc. then my prayers seem more reverent, because my feelings are more evoked. My prayers seem “refreshed” so to speak. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone else struggles with feeling like a phony when praying. Thankfully my love for God and my reverence for him motivates me to keep praying. I continue to pray willingly and sincerely, but only because I love him so much and nothing of my own accord.

Understand who it is you are praying to, and where He is when you’re praying.

God is present within, and when you pray, you are praying in His presence.

St Teresa of Avila called this “Mental Prayer.”

Perhaps it’s time for you to learn contemplative prayer. Pray about it and perhaps make this your Lenten observance.

Instead of praying prayers by rote, learn to go to the interior silence of your being, where God is and just be in His presence.

Think of it as being akin to two lovers sitting together in each others arms. No words are necessary to express their love for each other, just being together in each others embrace is enough.

So it is in contemplative prayer. Just being in God’s presence in a loving embrace is enough. No words are necessary, but the communication of love in silence is more powerful than verbal words.

Jim

 

[fide]

Thank you so much. I will take on this suggestion. I am looking for ways to grow deeper in prayer. I probably need to start praying for that too lol

Most of my prayer is vocal but not entirely. I also try to make quiet time to listen to God but things will pop in my head and I’ll think to myself “Ok God is that you or me pretending it’s you because it’s my will not yours” anyways it ends up being exhausting and I give up because I don’t know if I can trust my thoughts.

I often find that I hear God talking to me while reading meditations or scripture etc. Or even something on the radio or something that happens in my daily activities. I hear God a lot, lately I’ve gotten really good at recognizing him on a daily basis. Sometimes I even wonder if it’s too good to be true because he answers me so clearly and obvious. Sometimes I wonder if I’m going crazy because I don’t remember ever hearing him so loudly before. Sometimes it even frightens me! For instance I listen to Catholic Answerrs radio a lot while cooking but I tune in and tune out as I start thinking on my own…and one night I started thinking about Satan and I began to pity him because he lacks Gods love and the thought came into my mind…“should I pray for Satan?” Anyways I immediately felt weirded out and really frightened at my own thoughts and even guilty so I pushed the thought out of my head because it was too scary to even think about. Well I went back to chopping my carrots and a caller calls in and it’s a little boy about 8 yrs old and he asks the exact same question I had just thought of and they went on to answer and explain. I felt immense joy in that moment…coincidence? Maybe? But how many incdeidents like that do you have to have before you accept the reality that God talks to us through the material world. I was really happy not only that God answered my questions but that he put my mind at ease and subsided my guilt for thinking such a thought. It was as if he was saying see this innocent child asked this question…you too are innocent in your thought…it’s ok to ask me anything.

Anyways, like I said this sort of stuff happens all the time to me. God talks to me a lot lately in very obvious ways…and I keep wondering if it’s just st a temporary thing like a spiritual gift to help me grow in my faith since I just came back to it and he may be thinking I need all the help I can get…I fear I may lose his voice again and not hear it anymore as I didn’t for the better part of my life. I really hope that’s not how God operates because I need him around in my life 24/7!

Very good. I hope that the Catechism will help you. Please let me know how is it going, after you’ve had some time with it. The Catechism is “dense” in information - it cannot be skimmed over; it demands slow and thoughtful reading. It is similar in that way to Scripture. Both are “dense” with holy truth, even though Scripture is different - uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit.

 

[Bookcat]

frjacquesphilippe.com/

Get “Time for God”

 

[ynotzap]

I witnessed to this problem I had with spiritual aridity and how God answered it. It is Posted in the Evangelization forum.’ ‘How do Catholics witness to their faith’ This witnessing covers a lot of years of aridity in prayer. Read all four posts, this may help. I t helped me to make peace with those arid times. It also confirmed me in the reality that God hears all our prayers. I at this time will share with you some events that are very similar to yours. I drove about eleven miles to work every work day. I usually said my prayers. One day I was listening to the music on the radio, as I usually do also. I had been healed of a spiritual problem prior, one that caused my wife, and family all of the headache and heartache. I was very dominating and self-righteous. One can say he is sorry, but that doesn’t give much relief to the injured party I could not help what I was doing, I was spiritually blind. When Jesus heals, He really heals. While I was listening to the radio, I heard love songs, and I somehow was tuned to the vibes (the work of the Holy Spirit) God was communicating love through the music, it lasted off and on for at least a month and I sensed when the communication would stop. I didn’t want it to stop. I shared this experience with my wife. She said things were going well for me, but she still suffered the pain and anguish from the trouble I caused. I tried to make her understand that I was helpless, and that Jesus had to heal me. We were sitting in my car at the time. We both were silent. I decided to break the silence, so I turned on the radio. The disc jockey announce that the next song they were going to play was entitled “It Wasn’t So Bad After All” I turned to my wife and said “see what I mean, you heard it!!” God does communicate with His children, sometimes in that still small voice, or a lightening bolt. I have experienced both. Never quit praying, it’s true that the use of mental prayer can be very arid but trust God , He does lead you across a spiritual desert, but He redeems every crucifixtion we experience for love of Him. Saints have said when we feel and think that He is far, He is very close. God bless you