Faith

  • Thread starter Thread starter sorely_tempted
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

sorely_tempted

Guest
Part 2 of a late night search session… :o

At its most fundamental, I just don’t think I have the faith that many of my friends have. I see tons of friends, few/none Catholic, who seem truly blessed and strong in their faith. Me: I simply passively accept what the church says is true. I go to church every week, and confession less than I should, and there is no more commitment. I feel like I’m getting nothing out of my faith, though I know I am highly blessed, simply because I seem to be not having the one thing I want. I’ve prayed for it for the past several years every night, and have had almost nothing in return. Is this a submitting to God’s will thing? I’m very stubborn, it could easily be that, yet I have absolutely no understanding of Gods will. Only once have I felt like things were going right, and then I either, by my sin, or just poor circumstance destroyed that feeling.

Praying does little; I’ve had more luck in the past. Maybe its because I’m in a state of sin (I’m sure my soul’s quite blackened by now), but my entire religious center is just numbed.

Do I even have this faith concept right? Looking above, it kinda looks like I want faith to be blessed… a kind of I scratch your back, you scratch mine thing.

Oh, and sorry if I’m rambling a bit. Its late… 😊
 
Me: I simply passively accept what the church says is true. I go to church every week, and confession less than I should, and there is no more commitment. I feel like I’m getting nothing out of my faith
Click to expand...
Perhaps you would get more out of your faith if you put more into your faith. It is good that you are asking these questions; perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling you to a deeper level of commitment.
I seem to be not having the one thing I want. I’ve prayed for it for the past several years every night, and have had almost nothing in return. Is this a submitting to God’s will thing?
Click to expand...
Perhaps the “one thing” you want is not what God wants for you. Or perhaps He does not want it for you at this time. There are typically three possible answers when we ask God for something: Yes, No, or Wait. If the answer is No, it is because it is not what is best for you. If the answer is Wait, perhaps He is trying to draw you into a more loving, trusting relationship with Himself.
Only once have I felt like things were going right, and then I either, by my sin, or just poor circumstance destroyed that feeling.
Click to expand...
Faith is not about feeling. We have to remain faithful to God even if we feel nothing.
Praying does little; I’ve had more luck in the past. Maybe its because I’m in a state of sin (I’m sure my soul’s quite blackened by now), but my entire religious center is just numbed.
Click to expand...
I just read this today:
“A person’s prayer often keeps step with his moral life. The closer our behavior corresponds to the Divine Will, the easier it is to pray; the more our conduct is out of joint with Divinity, the harder it is to pray.” — Fulton J. Sheen
Click to expand...
If you are in a state of serious sin, how can you expect to have a good prayer life? There can be other reasons for difficulty in prayer, but unconfessed sin is the first place to look. Repent of your sins, and go to confession regularly. Your prayer life should improve. That’s not to say that you will get everything you ask for, but your relationship with God should deepen, and that’s what prayer is all about.
Do I even have this faith concept right? Looking above, it kinda looks like I want faith to be blessed… a kind of I scratch your back, you scratch mine thing.
Click to expand...
Faith (and prayer) is not like a vending machine, where you drop in the coins and get what you want. It is a loving relationship with a loving God. When Jesus prayed to the Father, He said, “Thy will be done.” He did not say, “My will be done.” The aim of prayer should be to conform our will to God’s will, not to try to conform God’s will to ours.
 
Thanks for the help both of you.

I think I may have found part of the problem; its similar to what you described with the “instep with your moral standing”. I had a particularly rough night, where my faith started to fail completely, and I started to reject God. Time for confession again… 😊😦

I decided to open the Bible again, and found Romans 1:18- where it described people who had poor ideas of faith and prayer, and eventually became plagued by infidelity and other problems. As a result of their problems, which stemmed from the sin itself, instead of seeking God, they rejected him and sunk further into sin and rejection. I think thats what happened to me, on a somewhat smaller scale.

My prayer feels like crud; I have no sense of being heard at all, even after confessions. Certainly being “dirty”, for a lack of a better term, doesn’t help. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting back on the right track?
 
sorely_tempted said:
My prayer feels like crud; I have no sense of being heard at all, even after confessions. Certainly being “dirty”, for a lack of a better term, doesn’t help. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting back on the right track?
Click to expand...
  • Frequent confession (at least once a month, more often if you are still falling into serious sin).
  • Frequent Mass and Communion (daily if you are able; Sundays and holy days at the bare minimum).
  • Morning offering on your knees every day as soon as the alarm clock rings (no snooze button)
  • A specific resolution every day (geared toward overcoming a predominant fault, becoming more charitable, whatever your prayer leads you to understand that God wants you to “fix”)
  • Fifteen minutes of mental prayer at a fixed time every day (not memorized prayers, this is your heart-to-heart time with God). Praying with Scripture (lectio divina) is a great way to do this; read about it here forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=283559 to get you started.
  • Daily Rosary, meditating on the mysteries and using the Hail Marys as “background music.” If a whole Rosary is too much, start with a decade and build up gradually.
  • Frequent aspirations — these are very short prayers, “darts of love” that you send to God throughout the day, recalling His presence (for example, “Jesus, I love you” or “Come, Holy Spirit” or “Father, I adore You” or “I love You, Lord, my strenght!”, etc.)
  • An examination of conscience and Act of Contrition every night before you go to sleep
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top