Do we have to pray?
- Thread starter Nelka
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Ann_Stanton
Guest
Most people have this concern at some point in their spiritual life. Just keep on praying because you want to go to heaven in the end. Just as you talk to friends and family, you need to talk to Him about what is happening. There will come a time when life does get better. I will offer a Divine Mercy chaplet for you right now.
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Lou2U
Guest
Nelka, you really need to see a doctor and talk to him about how you feel. Please get someone to help you.
M
Mary888
Guest
Shouldn’t the OP talk with a priest instead if the problem is about praying?
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Lou2U
Guest
Of course. But going by some of his other threads and posts he’s made in the last few hours, he really needs to talk to a doctor and get some medical help for how he feels.
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Irishmom2
Guest
Agreed.
Nelka, it’s obvious that something is wrong. You need someone’s help to get your life on track. You cannot do this by yourself. But ultimately, you need to be willing to change, or give up things or whatever it takes.
Prayer is not a wish or a request and God waves his magic wand to grant our desire. Continue to pray, but perhaps pray in gratitude for any good on your life. Pray for acceptance and strength to deal with whatever troubles come your way. Pray that God will be merciful and lead you to his will for you.
And then, trust that he will answer. Be still, and patiently wait for his answer.
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midori
Guest
There are four kinds of prayer: Petition, Adoration, Thanksgiving, Contrition.
Prayer is communication with God.
Pick a kind of a prayer that hasn’t figured proportionally into your previous experiences. So if you haven’t been doing a lot of thanksgiving prayers, go out of your way to be appreciative to God, and say, “Thanks for ______.” If you haven’t been doing a lot of adoration prayers, go out of your way to admire God through God’s work visible around you— “You did such an amazing job doing ______. I love you.” If you haven’t been doing a lot of contrition prayers, you might go out of your way to find a problem area and focus on trying to fix that inside yourself with God’s help. If you haven’t been doing a lot of petition prayers, you might ask for the grace to do God’s will in x.
And then keep on living your life— but keep that antennae active to see God’s hand in the world around you, even though it’s not necessarily doing what we want it to do, or what we expect it to do, or working on the timeline we prefer. Because we serve God in the ordinary little things that fill our lives, moreso than the big, flashy, dramatic gestures that we like to think about when we think of serving God.
Prayer is communication with God.
Pick a kind of a prayer that hasn’t figured proportionally into your previous experiences. So if you haven’t been doing a lot of thanksgiving prayers, go out of your way to be appreciative to God, and say, “Thanks for ______.” If you haven’t been doing a lot of adoration prayers, go out of your way to admire God through God’s work visible around you— “You did such an amazing job doing ______. I love you.” If you haven’t been doing a lot of contrition prayers, you might go out of your way to find a problem area and focus on trying to fix that inside yourself with God’s help. If you haven’t been doing a lot of petition prayers, you might ask for the grace to do God’s will in x.
And then keep on living your life— but keep that antennae active to see God’s hand in the world around you, even though it’s not necessarily doing what we want it to do, or what we expect it to do, or working on the timeline we prefer. Because we serve God in the ordinary little things that fill our lives, moreso than the big, flashy, dramatic gestures that we like to think about when we think of serving God.
What are the second and fourth ones?
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Vico
Guest
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sudy
Guest
The second is worshipping the greatness of God with awe and wonder. The fourth is sorrow for our sins.
I recommend speaking with your priest, too. He’s there for all of your troubles.
My advice, which is something I did myself and which has had a significant effect on my life, is to completely surrender yourself to God. It is difficult initially as we don’t want to give up our control, but it’s really been a blessing in my life and I’m sure it would be in yours.
This isn’t the same as doing nothing or not functioning, just to clarify. It’s putting complete trust in God and letting things work out according to His will and not mine.
I hope things turn around in your life for the better soon. x
I recommend speaking with your priest, too. He’s there for all of your troubles.
My advice, which is something I did myself and which has had a significant effect on my life, is to completely surrender yourself to God. It is difficult initially as we don’t want to give up our control, but it’s really been a blessing in my life and I’m sure it would be in yours.
This isn’t the same as doing nothing or not functioning, just to clarify. It’s putting complete trust in God and letting things work out according to His will and not mine.
I hope things turn around in your life for the better soon. x
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mrsdizzyd
Guest
Prayers of adoration are prayers of praise to God.midori:
What are the second and fourth ones?
Prayers of contrition are prayers asking God for forgiveness.
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sevenswords
Guest
Hi maybe you should pray differently to what you have been doing?
I know many people who do not believe in God and their lives are a living prayer because they feed the poor take care of the sick and give of themselves to those in need, this is prayer in action.
Another easy form is to say over and over Jesus I love you or Jesus have mercy on us, these become ingrained in the mind and with this you are constantly praying.
BUT I feel you are talking about not getting material responses to your prayer this is common in the young and impatient, so the deal is this prayers like the rosary are said to intercede for others, and help our Catholic family along the way The divine mercy is the same, now if you want to work on your relationship with God, I highly suggest you go to Adoration a few times and just sit in front of God and reflect on your life and ask for mercy then reflect on everyone you know and ask for mercy and here is where the graces come from these graces build you up in faith.
Sometimes we have to earn our stripes they aren’t just thrown around.
I know many people who do not believe in God and their lives are a living prayer because they feed the poor take care of the sick and give of themselves to those in need, this is prayer in action.
Another easy form is to say over and over Jesus I love you or Jesus have mercy on us, these become ingrained in the mind and with this you are constantly praying.
BUT I feel you are talking about not getting material responses to your prayer this is common in the young and impatient, so the deal is this prayers like the rosary are said to intercede for others, and help our Catholic family along the way The divine mercy is the same, now if you want to work on your relationship with God, I highly suggest you go to Adoration a few times and just sit in front of God and reflect on your life and ask for mercy then reflect on everyone you know and ask for mercy and here is where the graces come from these graces build you up in faith.
Sometimes we have to earn our stripes they aren’t just thrown around.
M
midori
Guest
Remember that when we get judged at the end, we’re not going to be judged compared to how Fred or Tom or Harry are going to be judged. We’re all going to be judged compared to Christ— and we’re all going to fall very, very short of the mark. 
So if we know ahead of time that that’s what the standard is, it’s good to get into that mindset sooner than later.
So Adoration is praising God for his greatness, his love, his generosity. It’s recognizing his work in a beautiful sunset, or in the majesty of mountains, or in the teeniness of the wildflowers. It’s seeing how all of us are connected-- we all have our lives that come from God-- and how we all exist to know, love, and praise God. And how he’s created a magnificent place for us to know/love/serve him now, but it’s not a shadow of the place where we hope to know/love/serve him for eternity. But we do recognize him in the shadows and the reflections and the little indirect hints… and so we use the opportunity to say, “Wow. You’re amazing. And thank you for letting me be part of all this.” Which starts to drift into Thanksgiving.
Contrition is recognizing that God created the trees— and the trees do a good job of serving God in the way he created them to. And he created the cows in the field— and the cows in the field do a darn good job of being cows. And everything else. But me? No, I don’t do as good a job at being me. I let myself get in the way of being the “me” that God wants me to be. I’m supposed to do x, but instead, I insist that it has to be y. Maybe y isn’t right for me right now, or maybe y will never be right for me, or maybe y is damaging to me and/or the people around me, or maybe y separates me from God. But I don’t see any of that, because I don’t see the big picture. But eventually, my shortcomings catch up with me— and I realize that I would be a better me if I cooperated with God rather than fighting with him. And that God knows better than I do. And so I tap into my humility, and I apologize, and I try to set myself aside, and I try to turn my eyes to God and say, “I’m sorry that I haven’t served you, and the people around me, in the way that I know I ought. Please give me the graces to do your will and be pleasing to you.” And then instead of just leaving it as words— you apply your actions to change yourself. And you try and you fail a thousand times, but you always pick yourself up again, apologize for not having been the person that God wants you to be, and you try again. But even though your efforts may not be perfect— and may never be perfect— the fact that you’re humble enough to recognize your smallness, and your flaws and weaknesses, and that you’re helpless without God— those are the bits that are important.
So if we know ahead of time that that’s what the standard is, it’s good to get into that mindset sooner than later.
So Adoration is praising God for his greatness, his love, his generosity. It’s recognizing his work in a beautiful sunset, or in the majesty of mountains, or in the teeniness of the wildflowers. It’s seeing how all of us are connected-- we all have our lives that come from God-- and how we all exist to know, love, and praise God. And how he’s created a magnificent place for us to know/love/serve him now, but it’s not a shadow of the place where we hope to know/love/serve him for eternity. But we do recognize him in the shadows and the reflections and the little indirect hints… and so we use the opportunity to say, “Wow. You’re amazing. And thank you for letting me be part of all this.” Which starts to drift into Thanksgiving.
Contrition is recognizing that God created the trees— and the trees do a good job of serving God in the way he created them to. And he created the cows in the field— and the cows in the field do a darn good job of being cows. And everything else. But me? No, I don’t do as good a job at being me. I let myself get in the way of being the “me” that God wants me to be. I’m supposed to do x, but instead, I insist that it has to be y. Maybe y isn’t right for me right now, or maybe y will never be right for me, or maybe y is damaging to me and/or the people around me, or maybe y separates me from God. But I don’t see any of that, because I don’t see the big picture. But eventually, my shortcomings catch up with me— and I realize that I would be a better me if I cooperated with God rather than fighting with him. And that God knows better than I do. And so I tap into my humility, and I apologize, and I try to set myself aside, and I try to turn my eyes to God and say, “I’m sorry that I haven’t served you, and the people around me, in the way that I know I ought. Please give me the graces to do your will and be pleasing to you.” And then instead of just leaving it as words— you apply your actions to change yourself. And you try and you fail a thousand times, but you always pick yourself up again, apologize for not having been the person that God wants you to be, and you try again. But even though your efforts may not be perfect— and may never be perfect— the fact that you’re humble enough to recognize your smallness, and your flaws and weaknesses, and that you’re helpless without God— those are the bits that are important.
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