Difficulty in Prayer...HELP

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I so love the Rosary. Lately however, it’s been so hard to pray it. Vocal prayer in general is so difficult now. It’s been this way for a long time. Perhaps six months or more. Now when I go to mass I just want to sit in silence with the Lord. I lift up my heart and it seems so much deeper but i’m afraid of letting my devotions go. I feel like i’m in uncharted territory. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.
 
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safety14:
I so love the Rosary. Lately however, it’s been so hard to pray it. Vocal prayer in general is so difficult now. It’s been this way for a long time. Perhaps six months or more. Now when I go to mass I just want to sit in silence with the Lord. I lift up my heart and it seems so much deeper but i’m afraid of letting my devotions go. I feel like i’m in uncharted territory. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.
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Dear friend

There is nothing wrong in sharing silence with Our Lord, it is as much prayer as anything else. Prayer is not meant to be a constant stream of words from yourself, it is also listening and you cannot listen unless you spend time in silence with the Lord. Few people find they can do this without their mind wandering or losing focus, so you are deeply blessed by God that you are able to rest in His peace and spend time listening in silence to the love He gives your heart and His wisdom.

The Lord has led you on this path and you should therefore embrace it regardless of any negative comments you may receive or ridicule you may come up against. Embrace it with your whole heart and be open to the work of the Holy Spirit within your heart. Let God do His work within your soul in these silent times you share with Him. Prayer is many things , it is a continual conversation with God that takes many forms and silence is one of them, where you listen or you share a comfortable silence with God.

Relying on our feelings when praying is NOT good. Regardless of how we feel, we should persevere in prayer. Therefore if it feels you are just unable to say the Rosary, pray for fortitude and , then, pick up your Rosary and pray it, do it, just pick it up and pray it, because in this is great sufferance and this is a strengthening of faith, this is an obedience to God, regardless of HOW YOU FEEL. It is possible in Christ Jesus to pray ourselves through these dry times in prayer just by perseverance and God’s grace. Ask for fortitude and perseverance.

Discipline yourself and ask the Lord to help you to have discipline.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
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safety14:
I so love the Rosary. Lately however, it’s been so hard to pray it. Vocal prayer in general is so difficult now. It’s been this way for a long time. Perhaps six months or more. Now when I go to mass I just want to sit in silence with the Lord. I lift up my heart and it seems so much deeper but i’m afraid of letting my devotions go. I feel like i’m in uncharted territory. I would appreciate anyones thoughts on this.
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Hi,
If you have trouble meditating on the mysteries of the rosary, you could try just thinking about what you are saying as you say the hail Mary’s. The soul that ceases to pray, dies. So persevere as best you can. And perhaps you could consider seeing someone for spiritual direction. If you get a good director they will be able to advise you on how to deal with , and cope with all the trials that come your way.

Yours in Jesus, Mary & Joseph,

John
Saints are just sinners who keep trying.http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
 
Dear safety,

All your responses were excellent. Sitting quietly and just loving the Lord IS prayer. But do not neglect your rosary. We have been told to grab a hold of our salvation with violence; with violence against our own egos. Doing the opposite to what we feel like is one of the things we have to practice on our way to union with God. When we follow our heart without discernment, we tend to fall into a pit. If I can be practical, I would suggest to keep doing what you are doing at mass, but make time in the early morning hours to say at least one decade of the rosary. One common mistake people make is doing too much too fast. They just end up not doing anything. But if you take baby steps, eventually you will be praying two decades and the whole rosary one day. No matter what type of prayer you are called to, the rosary should always be close to you, because with the rosary we can be sure at least part of our prayers are heard by God. Holy Mary always prays in line with God’s will but we cannot be certain if we do. Also nothing protects us quite like Mary’s mantle from evil influences. So I urge you not to neglect this beautiful devotion. Fools are those who believe in themselves that they can have a direct link to God at all times and they can rely on their own resources. God bless.
 
Dear safety, The Carmelites are a contemplative order that allows lay persons to join. You may be in the process of being called by God to a vocation as a Third Order Carmelite. You can contact them on line. Hope there is a group that meets near you. It may help you to check this Order out.

May God bless you, who have found him in the silence.
Deacon Tony
 
you may be led to another deeper level of prayer, well described by the experts in spiritual direction. It is time for spiritual direction, and the carmelites would be a great place to look for a director.
 
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safety14:
… Vocal prayer in general is so difficult now. It’s been this way for a long time. Perhaps six months or more. Now when I go to mass I just want to sit in silence with the Lord…
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We have two ears and one mouth. We should do twice as much listening as talking. God is calling you in that direction. Be quite because He is trying to tell your something. Sit still and let Him reveal Himself to you.
 
one of the many great things about being catholic is, you are definitely NOT in uncharted territory. you have a wealth of charts to use in navigating your course safely thru the waters of spiritual dryness… 🙂

i would try reading a book called ‘when the well runs dry’ by thomas greene, sj. he’s got another book called ‘drinking from a dry well’, also good. and then, of course, there are the writings of st john of the cross - ‘the dark night of the soul’. but that’s a bit deep. i’d recommend starting with greene’s books.
 
well if sometimes you feel difficulties in praying the rosary, it’s ok don’t panic even if it’s hard for you to pray, take the rosary and start praying it and beleiv eme once you say haily mary our lady will give you the strengh to finishe it and little by little your heart will be open to God and you will feel happy and secure at the end , each time we said haily mary our lady will answer the hello to us each time and offer our prayers to God so when you say it just smile because she is smiling to you…

rosary is so strong beleiv eme i’m saying this related to my experience , i’m like you sometimes am beeing lazy or tired so i skiped one day or more not praying the rosary but beleive me i feel bad i feel unhappy unsatisfy , and i run to my rosary and once i finished it i feel peace and secure and i can face all the problems of life with the rosary! it’s so powerfull !!!

so go ahead start it and little by little you will feel the difference and your soul will smile.

God bless everyone praying the rosary and our lady will give us the strenght and the support to be faithful to the rosary .
JG
 
Safety,

I would also suggest reading the Secret of the Rosary by Saint Louis DeMontfort. Excellent book and he deals with temptations and what to do when we have distractions, etc.

And Our Lord loves the prayer of silence, just sitting there desiring Him, which it sounds like you are doing, that is contemplative prayer, although we still have to have vocal prayer in our life like the rosary because heaven asks this of us and it is a meditation on the life of Christ which is an excellent way to meditate, I read before that God is even more pleased when we still pray when we have dryness or don’t necessarily feel like praying because He sees then that we are truly trying to please Him because we love Him and do not want to disobey Him. So, persevere my friend, and know that we All experience this.

Many Blessing to all of You,
Kaily
 
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