Is prayer a two-way thing?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eruvande
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Eruvande

Guest
I have reformed friends who are very keen to point out that biblical prayer is not a two way conversation, it is simply a human talking to God, not God talking to a human.

I’m really not sure about that as I have felt God speaking to me in impressions and various happenings/coincidences.

But I’m also aware that I’m not an impartial observer in this and have my own issues that I need to be careful of - ie mental illness, so I want to be wise in how I approach this. Any advice?
 
Anyone who says that God does not communicate back to creation does not read their Bible. There are countless examples. Burning bush, anyone?
 
Eruvande said:
I have reformed friends who are very keen to point out that biblical prayer is not a two way conversation, it is simply a human talking to God, not God talking to a human.

I’m really not sure about that as I have felt God speaking to me in impressions and various happenings/coincidences.

But I’m also aware that I’m not an impartial observer in this and have my own issues that I need to be careful of - ie mental illness, so I want to be wise in how I approach this. Any advice?
Click to expand...
Eruvande, I had a profound reconversion four years ago, and I feel what you descibe above almost daily.
I firmly believe that if one has an ongoing and personal relationship with our Lord, a very big part of that is listening for those “impressions, happenings, and coincidences”.
I love the way you put it in words like that. :yup:
 
It is interesting this this subject should come up now. Just a few days ago I had a crashing realization that if my wife had talked to me as much as I talk to God (quite a bit), but I had talked to her as much as God talks to me (not at all), she would have divorced me decades ago.

(For the record, we just celebrated our 44th.)
 
Yes, prayer is a two-way thing.

I find it odd that your friends specify that biblical prayer is not interactive. The Bible is full of examples of God clearly speaking to individuals: Adam & Eve, Noah, Joseph of the Old Testament, Moses, David, Samuel, Elijah and the other the prophets, Joseph of the New Testament, the Blessed Virgin and Paul are just the examples that immediately come to mind. God does not speak to us ordinarily as He did in these examples - they are the exception, not the rule.

The first thing to remember is that the very fact that we approach God in prayer is only the result of the prompting of the Holy Spirit. God initiates prayer, not us.

Secondly, while much of our prayer is made up of praise and thanksgiving, we also petition God for many things and He does answer those prayers. Maybe not answers that we want or in the time we want but he answers our petitions, as He promised.

Thirdly, God may indeed speak to us in prayer through impressions we may receive during prayer. He ordinarily uses our reason, thinking, common sense, seeking advice and our interaction with others to communicate with us. Supernatural means of communication, such as visions and locutions, are much more rare and are, as St. John of the Cross advises in the great majority of cases, not to be trusted as we cannot be sure of their authenticity.

To hear God in our prayer we all need to develop a habit of quiet anticipation. Elijah heard the voice of God not in the mighty wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in a still small voice. If we quiet ourselves we, too, can hear God’s voice. It takes practice and discernment, but He does speak to us. We just have to be in the position to listen for Him, in whatever way He wishes to communicate with us.
 
Eruvande said:
I have reformed friends who are very keen to point out that biblical prayer is not a two way conversation, it is simply a human talking to God, not God talking to a human.

I’m really not sure about that as I have felt God speaking to me in impressions and various happenings/coincidences.

But I’m also aware that I’m not an impartial observer in this and have my own issues that I need to be careful of - ie mental illness, so I want to be wise in how I approach this. Any advice?
Click to expand...
I didn’t know that this is the reformed perspective. Anyway, as far as I know Jesus came to re-establish a vital communion/relationship between man and God that was lost at the Fall. God can and does speak back.
 
Eruvande said:
I have reformed friends who are very keen to point out that biblical prayer is not a two way conversation, it is simply a human talking to God, not God talking to a human.

I’m really not sure about that as I have felt God speaking to me in impressions and various happenings/coincidences.

But I’m also aware that I’m not an impartial observer in this and have my own issues that I need to be careful of - ie mental illness, so I want to be wise in how I approach this. Any advice?
Click to expand...
My understanding is this is true. However one should
take conversations of concern to a confessor to be
in the safest place. Welcome.
 
“… the more docile [this sense means “teachable”] we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials, such as those we face in the pressures and constraints of the outer world. By the working of grace the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1742.
 
Thank you all. I don’t know if it’s ‘the reformed position’, there are a number of different reformed positions on a few things, but I know these particular reformed people believe that God speaks through the bible, and only the bible. So basically, you can pray and talk to God, but if you want to hear back, you have to study out your bible. Seemed so reasonable to me at one point until I needed to have guidance on very specific things.
 
Father God speaks to me sometimes. He says simple things, one word answers. like “yes” or “No” or “Good” or “i will be angered if you do this”
when he says that last one i feel overwhelmed with fear. and do my best to resist doing that thing regardless of what may happen.
I often pray and ask Father God Almighty if certain things are true, and He always responds with the correct answer, which I discover to be factual later on when its evidently revealed.
he talks to me only when i quiet my heart in every way from external influences. It seems if your soul is dissipated and focused on all sorts of external things, you cannot hear God, for He is a still,small voice that you need to quiet your soul and heart in order to hear and discern as Him.
Look up something called interior recollection, it has greatly helped me to calm my soul, to recollect it within myself and pull it back from external objects its drawn by, and be able to silence my inner thoughts and being and focus purely on the Presence of God.
He’s very reassuring.
 
If you have been validly baptized, you are a child of God and thus are in a Father-daughter relationship with Him, which means that you are involved in a two-way relationship of filial giving and receiving, one sharing with the other. God would not leave you all alone to yourself, unless you were to stop praying to Him and reject Him altogether. God is always helping us and communicating with us in one way or another … though sometimes He hides Himself as though behind a thick veil so we can greater know our weakness and can patiently and confidently trust in Him as we await His saving help. God bless you.
 
Thank you, ready, that is helpful. i am indeed validly baptized, so i know He is my Father. I need to have more confidence in that!
 
Eruvande said:
Thank you, ready, that is helpful. i am indeed validly baptized, so i know He is my Father. I need to have more confidence in that!
Click to expand...
Have recourse to Mary and have confidence in her (in her maternal mediation – she will help you to always know with conviction that God is your Father if you ask her to help you in this way); she is our refuge and our strength and our hope – she is our confidence! Pray the indulgenced prayer frequently of: My Mother, my confidence! … or My Mother, my hope! If people only knew how powerful and influential with her Son the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession and mediation is, they’d all be so confident in her! God bless you!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top