Getting on track

[dizzy_dave]

Once I get on track spiritually how do I stay there? How do I stay inspired? Once I get going I can’t seem to go too long before I get back to my old ways of sinning?

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

Well, what you are dealing with at those times are dry spells and sometimes God sends them purposely to see if you will “stay awake” with him for the hour.

Let’s put it this way. Sometimes God gives us “training wheels”. These are times when God sends us such grace that things we normally wouldn’t do come easy. For example, I’m not normally patient, then I have a spiritual moment and I’m patient without trying. Then, it becomes a chore overnight again. God had put on a set of training wheels and said, “Do it like this”, then he removed them to see if I would continue. This is often difficult so we must perservere.

I just learned a good lesson myself from a priest I was discussing this very issue. I explained how I loved to engage in mental prayer, but just didn’t seem to be able to bring myself to pray other prayers like the Rosary or other prayers of written words. What he suggested is that the latter type of prayer requires a special discipline. Set 30 minutes aside or 15 minutes or whatever, for a particular type of prayer and do it. Do it daily, at the same time. This structure enables the prayer to continue during those times when we are not inspired.

The whole point is that prayer is not for our pleasure - it is for God. We often mistakenly believe that the sweetness we feel, either in word-prayers or in mental prayer are things we can turn on and off. Not so. God has the switch and it is good to savor the sweetness, we must learn to expect the dryness and persevere.

Read a little St. Teresa of Avila and what she says about dryness. Do a search on the word if you don’t want to read the whole doc.

saints.grettir.org/avila.htm

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

I should add that times when you feel like this, head on over to confession and have a chat with the priest, or make an appointment.

When you feel that you have no incentive whatsoever to pray and fall into sin easily - that’s when it is time to pray. Simple concept. Now if I could do it laughs.

 

[Toni]

Many times in my spiritual battle I would fall back into the same pitholes.

The biggest thing I learned is that I had to move slowly and not try to be a perfect person in one step. I learned to crawl and then to walk but I am still a sinner and can’t quite run.

Sometimes it is humbling to realize that we are sinners and we try to remove all sin at once and fall back into it to quickly.
I did a program of life and realized my biggest faults and what I needed to work on the most to stay out of the pit.

Also it is helpful to have a little phrase (biblical or something Christ taught) to help us when we are falling.

For months I walked around telling myself to Be calm as Christ told the sea on that night in the boat. It works for patience but I have a great tendency to be impatient.

Find a phrase that suits your biggest failing and work from there.

 

[compactdiss]

Same thing happens to me.
This time around I am trying to do things differently. I am praying ever day to increase my faith. I ususally do good for a while and then try to do my will not God’s. This is why I also pray everyday to do his will. I also do the Rosary once a day no matter what.
This all takes a lot fo hard work and discipline but look at the gifts God gives us. I had an absolutely rotten day but I got through it. After I type this I will say my prayers and hope for a better day tomorrow. I have to Trust in God that things will get better for me. If I stop trusting and just go back to doing my own thing then I will be the one who is losing. It’s all about trusting in him.

Good Luck-
God Bless!

Joe

 

[ThornGenX]

Since I have been very discouraged the last few weeks, I am keeping an eye on this thread myself. The rosary has helped improve things a little, but I still feel very depressed overall. It’s definitely time for confession for me. My parish offers confession on Saturday afternoon before the “vigil mass”. Just letting you know you are not the only one who struggles to stay on the spritual path.

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

ThornGenX:

Since I have been very discouraged the last few weeks, I am keeping an eye on this thread myself. The rosary has helped improve things a little, but I still feel very depressed overall. It’s definitely time for confession for me. My parish offers confession on Saturday afternoon before the “vigil mass”. Just letting you know you are not the only one who struggles to stay on the spritual path.

This kind of “dry” period is definitely a good reason to head to confession or to simply make an appointment with confession roled in so you can take your time.

Everyone struggles with this and so have I except I have made the mistake many times of falling away from prayer. I shared this with my spiritual director and he told me of the need to gain a sense of discipline regardless of how the prayer makes US feel. It’s not about us. Sure, it helps, but when you stick with your routine in the absence of pleasure from prayer, you can bet your boots God is right there smiling down on you. He pulls off those training wheels just to see if you are willing to stand by him in prayer.

For myself, I’m following Father’s recommendation and getting a schedule - one that I can stick to. Different days will have different routines, but learning the discipline to stick with them is a very important concept to Catholic prayer, especially when it goes to a contemplative level.

 

[ThornGenX]

Lux_et_veritas:

This kind of “dry” period is definitely a good reason to head to confession or to simply make an appointment with confession roled in so you can take your time.

Everyone struggles with this and so have I except I have made the mistake many times of falling away from prayer. I shared this with my spiritual director and he told me of the need to gain a sense of discipline regardless of how the prayer makes US feel. It’s not about us. Sure, it helps, but when you stick with your routine in the absence of pleasure from prayer, you can bet your boots God is right there smiling down on you. He pulls off those training wheels just to see if you are willing to stand by him in prayer.

For myself, I’m following Father’s recommendation and getting a schedule - one that I can stick to. Different days will have different routines, but learning the discipline to stick with them is a very important concept to Catholic prayer, especially when it goes to a contemplative level.

Thank you for the good advice. I definitely want to avoid making the mistake I did a few years ago by allowing my faith to die away :nope:

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

ThornGenX:

Thank you for the good advice. I definitely want to avoid making the mistake I did a few years ago by allowing my faith to die away :nope:

Lemme tell ya, if I have experience in one department it is the “indiscipline” department and it contributed to a 15 year bout of Spiritual Sloth.

Set a reasonable time up - something that isn’t too much at once, be it just 15 minutes per day. After you’ve stuck with that for a while, add 15 minutes at night. Thirty minutes of prayer each day is what most secular orders engage in at the minimum (aside from Divine Office, and Mass on most days).

I’m looking at joining T.O. Carmelites and have been doing the grind daily for a few weeks now and getting use to it. I need to hammer down more tho and figure out my schedule. I’m finding things that don’t work.

When you sit in front of a priest like I did that rises at 3:00am to pray a Rosary, followed by an hour of adoration, excercise, and breakfast all before 7:00am lauds and 7:30 mass, it’s a little hard to say you can’t find 15 minutes for prayer at the same time each day.