How perfect, for prayers to be heard?

[ktp]

I have heard God meets us where we are, and I have heard that our sins block our prayers from being heard by God. These seem a bit contradictory to me.

Any thoughts? Is all my reaching out useless until I achieve perfection, in which case, what more would I need to pray for!

 

[Kristen]

I have heard God meets us where we are, and I have heard that our sins block our prayers from being heard by God. These seem a bit contradictory to me. Any thoughts?

I think that He does “meet us where we are” because He loves us as we are, though He also loves us enough to make us more like Him, like He made us to be. (It is sometimes hard to believe this in our “gut.”) I* don’t* think that our sins keep God from hearing us (for the reasons above), though they can keep *us *from hearing Him! That’s why we need to avail ourselves of Confession so often, so we don’t go deaf!

When I “go on a bender,” as I call it when I don’t pray and fall into habitual sins (snapping at DH, being short with kids, complaining, using profanity – being an altogether unpleasant person whom some might compare to a female dog ), I find it really hard to get back into the swing of prayer and virtue because I cannot hear they way God always calls to me to pray and do better.

Is all my reaching out useless until I achieve perfection, in which case, what more would I need to pray for!

Exactly!

Sorry if I went off too far on a tangent…

Kristen

 

[ktp]

When I “go on a bender,” as I call it when I don’t pray and fall into habitual sins (snapping at DH, being short with kids, complaining, using profanity – being an altogether unpleasant person whom some might compare to a female dog ), I find it really hard to get back into the swing of prayer and virtue because I cannot hear they way God always calls to me to pray and do better.

Oh, the last couple of days have been bad, and I confess I’ve rivaled a whole pack of those female dogs, no matter how ‘justified’ I may think the anger was. Thank you for your answer. It is reassuring.

I am struggling to get to confession, as it has meant leaving the kids alone another hour. But dh has tomorrow off, and I will try again.

 

[chevalier]

I have heard God meets us where we are, and I have heard that our sins block our prayers from being heard by God. These seem a bit contradictory to me.

Any thoughts? Is all my reaching out useless until I achieve perfection, in which case, what more would I need to pray for!

God may meet you where you are without granting your prayers (hearing is ambiguous, it’s either registering or granting). There’s no contradiction. Prayers might be blocked by sins if they aren’t sincere, I guess.

God is perfect, we humans are not. Not even the saints.

 

[kitkatty]

Oh just keep praying! If we pray in sin God will always hear our sincere prayer,if we don`t pray to help overcome our sins how will we ever overcome them? God will always hear and answer a honest request for grace to overcome sin.

 

[water]

Your prayers dont’ get answered right away or never get answered; this doesn’t mean God didn’t listen to your prayer.

God always hear our prayer no matter how holy or sinful you are. How He answers to us is more important. The way He answers sometime is not what you are expecting.

 

[the_phoenix]

God answers you according to what you need and in a manner best for you as the infinitely unique and valuable person you are. As has been said eloquently by others here already, it can often be easier to hear Him the closer you are to Him spiritually … whether you tune Him in, or out.

Or whether you are calm and relaxed enough to listen with a clear mind, or whether your mind is distracted by clutter. Pope Benedict has made a statement to the effect that in our world there is so much noise competing for our attention that we have to carefully cultivate quiet to make room to hear Our Lord speaking to us.

Sometimes God will grant a clear YES, other times a clear signal for NO. And with the NO, sometimes it might even seem harsh, until time passes enough that you can look back and understand that in fact there was a very good reason why you did not receive your request.

Sometimes He will answer through circumstances. Other times He will answer through people you come in contact with who happen to say just the right thing at the right time that you need to hear or that gives you direction or insight. Other times He will seemingly give no clear answer … then He wants you to wait patiently, continuing to listen.

The closer you are to perfect, the better disposed you are to hear the Lord. But He always loves to hear the prayers of repentant sinners … read St. Faustina’s diary of Divine Mercy in My Soul to learn how He longs to hear from you.

~~ the phoenix

 

[Margaret33]

I have heard God meets us where we are, and I have heard that our sins block our prayers from being heard by God. These seem a bit contradictory to me.

Any thoughts? Is all my reaching out useless until I achieve perfection, in which case, what more would I need to pray for!

From the Catechism of The Catholic Church:

Why do we complain of not being heard?

2735 In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

2736 Are we convinced that “we do not know how to pray as we ought”?23 Are we asking God for “what is good for us”? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him,24 but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants.25

2737 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."26 If we ask with a divided heart, we are “adulterers”;27 God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?’"28 That our God is “jealous” for us is the sign of how true his love is. If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.

Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.29

God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.

This is but one small paragraph… There is so much in the Catechism about how to pray, how not to pray, what is required, what is not required, and the most effective forms of prayer… I highly recommend picking up a copy if you don’t have one! Also, it can be found online here:
vatican.va/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm

Hope this helps in some way

Margaret

 

[drafdog]

1. You cannot achieve perfection in this life.
2. We never merit God’s blessings.

Pray now. Don’t wait for something that will never happen.

Matthew