How do we get God to motivate us

[BarbaraTherese]

Littleone:

The veil has fallen for now and the guilt has passed. Praise God and thank you all for your many prayers which have been heard.

Good news, Wayne…Deo Gratius!

Although I have had human things happen that i didn’t think would happen. I have lost hundreds of $$$ about $1400 in two separate situations both my car, and the money was for my wife and i to try and get a holiday in Australia with my grand children who have no parents (both dead) live. So to smile in the adversity and not to worry is the point I believe God is showing here.

I hope you will be able to travel to Australia at some point, Wayne, and will keep this intention in prayer.

So to smile in the adversity and not to worry is the point I believe God is showing here./

… …

 

[littleone]

Just think that I might be able to become motivated at times and sometimes on many occasions, but, when I need much motivation what can i do to have GOD motivate me. there must be something?

Godbless

 

[BarbaraTherese]

Just think that I might be able to become motivated at times and sometimes on many occasions, but, when I need much motivation what can i do to have GOD motivate me. there must be something?

Godbless

It is a help to me, Wayne, in difficult times to refer to the reason I am about what I am about (my personal motivation, which of course is inspired by Grace in The Holy Spirit)…for example if the road gets rough re prayer - I recall one of my primary motivations which is to pray for others - that my prayer times are not about myself, but about praying for others and specific others. That will get me to my prayer time if nothing else will…and certainly should I have any adverse feelings re prayer - repugnance etc. and these can crop up from time to time or times to times.
If I made my prayer times about myself and perhaps good feelings at prayer times…in the main, I’d probably never pray. But when I tell myself its all about praying for others, this gives me the motivation when nothing else will and perhaps precisely because it is about others or fraternal charity. I think probably every person needs to have their own motivations…and motivations for the times when nothing else works.
Another motivation if perhaps it is flagging, is to recall to mind that The Lord is not any the less present, any the less who He Is for what I may feel or what I may think. This is to draw on our Faith and lean on it. My feelings and thoughts cannot add to nor subtract from Faith and what it tells us.
While I refer above to praying for others, I dont mean the prayer of petition alone…but my whole prayer life, not only petitionary prayer.

 

[littleone]

Mmmmm,
I’m gonna read and contemplate that a lot Barb because there seem to be many points there. Just thinking about your reply made me think about the present in that there are sooooo many things happening. Some excellent like last weekend I was at the OCDS group in Auckland and it was very good. help my son in Santiago, Not so good, I have been able to see a cousin who is in hospital not good, i am ( first time) in charge at work, but my workmate has taken the phone, I need to get my chisels sharpened, along with the gardens and car cleaning.
However I have much peace in all this, BUT it is probably exaggerated by the fact that I don’t feel inclined to put in much time with prayer, although I spend time in in morning and night prayers, and contemplation as well as prayer during the day. I just don’t seem to put enough time into prayer, or, I have a need on my mind to pray more and spend time even during work in prayer or contemplation, but there seems to be something missing, and I don’t know what. Although I seem to have a beautiful peace which brings others to smile and me to crack jokes, laugh and be loving to others.

I’m not too sure.
But
Godbless Barb.

 

[BarbaraTherese]

I’m not the stuff of spiritual direction for sure, Wayne…and I know you have a Carmelite director. Put it all to him and be in Peace in it all as you seem to be. Carry on as you can and not as you cannot - pray as you can and not as you cannot.
Faith is my constant in all things…its not about what I am thinking or feeling, but about what my Faith tells me. And as I said, I think probably where motivation is concerned, each person needs to work out what will work for him/her when the going gets rough…and it will in every journey to some degree or other and its a matter of carrying on uninterrputed from the usual through it all. Although some adjustments may be needed. But as I said, put it to you director and then rest in Peace and in Joy. Peace is a great criteria of spirituality…and if one is in Peace, Joy will quickly come and stay.
If one has a good director, I think the worst thing that one can do is continue to ask advice after one’s director has given THE advice. I am not saying that you do this because I don’t think you would. Sometimes its a matter of reaching out until one sees one’s director next…of asking support until one can see one’s director. “Bear ye one another’s burdens” said The Lord.

God bless…Barb
Edit: Just read your Post again, Wayne. Our pp pp (part time parish priest) gave a great homily on last night’s vigil Mass about how we tend to prod and poke at ourselves rather mercilessly thinking that God wants more of us. When the reality is that God loves us just as we are - with all our problems and difficulties, our dashed hopes and aspirations. Just as we are. Just as I am and you are. Letting God love us just as we are rather than always striving to please some ‘imaginary god’ (and we all have an image in minds of God and that we may need to address) will produce more fruit and success…than the continual prodding and poking at ourselves to do better. Indeed in the prodding and poking at myself if I manage somehow to actually do a bit better…I find myself immediately in that most insidious place of spiritual pride. Ahhhh rather I would continually be the failure in all matters spiritual and retain a measure of some humility, which that great Founding Father of the Carmelites, St. Albert, wrote is the foundation of all virtue. Common sense is the guide and humility the foundation of all virtue according to St. Albert.

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

St. Louis Mary de Montfort writes a book on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin (that should be read jointly with the Secret of the Rosary, since the two subjects are so intertwined and the Secret of the Rosary really teaches you how to say the Rosary for maximum effect) that is like a medicine that one should take for multiple reasons. One must take this medicine perseveringly, for a year or two or even more, before it starts to show effect, but as he says it is a **sure way. ** One benefit of this medicine is perseverance.

Some people who formally took this medicine are St. Therese of Liseux (called the greatest saint of modern times, the one who Mother Theresa named herself after) and St. Maximilian Maria, who continued singing and praying and praising God even in the midst of the Auschwitz concentration camp, who lasted even through three weeks of starvation, who offered even in the concentration camp to give up his life for another, and who the Jewish Virtual Library honors as **Righteous Among Nations **

**8. It is a wonderful means of perseverance **
**173. ** Finally, what draws us in a sense more compellingly to take up this devotion to the most Blessed Virgin is the fact that it is a wonderful means of perseveringin the practice of virtue and remaining steadfast.

Why is it that most conversions of sinners are not lasting? Why do they relapse so easily into sin? Why is it that most of the faithful, instead of making progress in one virtue after another and so acquiring new graces, often lose the little grace and virtue they have? This misfortune arises, as I have shown, from the fact that man, so prone to evil, so weak and changeable, trusts himself too much, relies on his own strength, and **wrongly presumes he is able to safeguard his precious graces, virtues, and merits. **

By this devotion we entrust **all we possess to Mary, the faithful Virgin. **We choose her as the guardian of all our possessions int he natural and supernatural sphere. We trust her because she is faithful, we rely on her strength, we count on her mercy and charity to persevere and increase our virtues and merits in spite of the efforts of the devil, the world, and the flesh to rob us of them. We say to her as a good child would say to its mother or a faithful servant to the mistress of the house, ** "My dear Mother and Mistress, I realize that up to now I have received from God through your intercession more graces than I deserve. But bitter experience has taught me that I carry these riches in a very fragile vessel and that I am too weak and sinful to guard them by myself. Please accept in trust everything I posses, and in your faithfulness and power keep it for me. If you watch over me, I shall lose nothing. **If you support me, I shall not fall.If you protect me, I shall be safe from my enemies.

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

. 174 This is exactly what St. Bernard clearly pointed out to encourage us to take up this devotion, * “When Mary supports you, you will not fall. With her as your protector, you will have nothing to fear. With her as your guide you will not grow weary. When you win her favour, you will reach the port of heaven.” * St. Bonaventure seems to say the same thing in even more explicity terms, “The Blessed Virgin,” he says, *not only preserves the fullness enjoyed by the saints, but she maintians the saints in their fullness so that it does not diminish. She prevents their virtues from fading away, their merits from being wasted and their graces from being lost. ** She prevents the devils from doing them harm and she so influences them that her divine Son has no need to punish them when they sin." ***

**175. ** Mary is the Virgin most faithful who by her fidelity to God makes good the losses caused by Eve’s unfaithfulness. She obtains fidelity to God and final perseverance for those who commit themselves to her. For this reason, St. John Damascene compared her to a **firm anchor ** which holds them fast and saves them from shipwreck in the raging seas of the world where so many people perish through lack of such a firm anchor. “We fasten souls,” he said, “to Mary, our hope, as to a firm anchor.” It was to Mary that the saints who attained salvation most firmly anchored themselves **as did others who wanted to ensure their perseverance in their holiness. **

Blessed, indeed, are those Christians who bind themselves faithfully and completely to her as to a secure anchor! The violent storms of the world will not make them founder or carry away their heavenly riches. Blessed are those who enter into her as into another Noah’s ark! The flood waters of sin which engulf so many will not harm them because, as the Church makes Mary say in the words of divine Wisdom, *“Those who work for my help - for their salvation - shall not sin.” * Blessed are the unfaithul children of unhappy Eve who commit themselves to Mary, the ever-faithful Virgin and Mother who never wavers in her fidelity and never goes back on her trust. **She always loves those who love her, not only with deep affection, but with a love that is active and generous.**By an abundant outpouring of grace, she keeps them from relaxing their effort in the practice of virtue or falling by the wayside through loss of divine grace.

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

** 176. ** Moved by pure love, this good Mother always accepts whatever is given her in trust, and, once she accepts something, **she binds herself in justice by a contract of trusteeship to keep it safe. ** Is not someone to whom I entrust the sum of a thousand francs obliged to keep it safe for me so that if it were lost through his negligence he would be responsible for it in strict justice? But nothing we entrust to the faithful Virgin will ever be lost through her negligence. ** Heaven and earth would pass away sooner than Mary would neglect or betray those who trusted in her. **

**177. ** Poor children of Mary, you are extremely weak and changeable. Your human nature is deeply impared. It is sadly true that you have ben fashioned from the same corrupted nature as the other children of Adam and Eve. **But do not let that discourage you. Rejoice and be glad! Here is a secret which I am revealing to you, a secret unknown to most Christians, even the most devout. **

Do not leave your gold and silver in your own safes which have already been broken into and rifled many times by the evil one. They are too small, too flimsy and too old to contain such great and priceless possessions. Do not put pure and clear water from the spring into vessels fouled and infected by sin. Even if sin is no longer there, its odour persists and the water would be contaminated. You do not put choice wine into old casks that have contained sour wine. You would spoil the good wine and run the risk of losing it.

**178. ** Chosen souls, although you may already understand me, I shall express myself still more clearly. **Do not commit the gold of your charity, the silver of your purity to a threadbare sack or a battered old chest, or the waters of heavenly grace or the wines of your merits and virtues to a tainted and fetid cask, such as you are. ****Otherwise, you will be robbed by theiving devils who are on the look-out day and night waiting for a favourable opportunity to plunder. ** If you do so, all those pure gifts from God will be spoiled by the unwholesome presence of self-love, inordinate self-reliance, and self-will.

Pour into the bosom and heart of Mary all your precious possessions, all your grace and virtues. She is a spiritual vessel, a vessel of honor, a singular vessel of devotion. Ever since God personally hid himself with all his perfections in this vessel, it has become completely spiritual, and the spiritual abode of all spiritual souls. It has become honourable and has been the throne of honour for the greatest saints in heaven. It has become outstanding in devotion and the home of those renowned for gentleness, grace, and virtue. Moreover, it has become **as rich as a house of gold, as strong as a tower of David, and as pure as a tower of ivory. **

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[AveSantaMaria]

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

**179. ** Blessed is the man who has given everything to Mary, who at all times and in all things trusts in her, and loses himself in her. He belongs to Mary and Mary belongs to him. With David he can boldly say, “She was created for me,” or with the beloved disciple, “I have taken her for my own,” or with our Lord himself, “All that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine.”

**180. **If any critic reading this should imagine that I am exaggerating or speaking from an excess of devotion, he has not, alas, understood what I have said. Either he is a carnal man who has no taste for the spiritual, or he is a worldly man who has cut himself off from the Holy Spirit; or he is a proud and critical man who ridicules and condemsn anything he does not understand. But those who are born not of blood, nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God and of Mary, undertand and appreciate what I have to say. It is for them that I am writing.

**181. ** **Nevertheless after this digression, I say to both the critics and the devout that the Blessed Virgin, the most reliable and generous of all God’s creatures, never lets herself be surpassed by anyone in love and generosity. For the little that is given to her, she gives generously of what she has received from God. ****Consequently, if a person gives himself to her without reserve, she gives herself also without reserve to that person provided his confidence in her is not presumptuous and he does his best to practice virtue and curb his passions. **

**. 182. ** So the faithful servants of the Blessed Virgin may confidently say with St. John Damascene, *, “If I confide in you, Mother of God, I shall be saved. Under your protection I shall fear nothing. With your help I shall rout all my enemies. **For devotion to you is a weapon of salvation which God gives to those he wishes to save.” ***(Joan. Damas. ser. de Annuntiat).

Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse. Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse.

*Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. *

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

God is,
If my motivator in life is sport, music, persons, work relationships and they don’t give me the joy of spirit, or the love of spirit, what do i do?
How could I change?

Godbless

Put God first - look to Him in all things, & forget about the joy. If it be His Will for you, you will be given it ​

If we set anything above God, we won’t be able to receive God, or His gifts. We can learn this by obeying Him in accord with the graces He has already given us - the condition of receiving light, is to be faithful to the light we have already been given.

 

[littleone]

Put God first - look to Him in all things, & forget about the joy. If it be His Will for you, you will be given it ​

If we set anything above God, we won’t be able to receive God, or His gifts. We can learn this by obeying Him in accord with the graces He has already given us - the condition of receiving light, is to be faithful to the light we have already been given.

What if I don’t know who my god is? how could i put him first could be a problem?