Is prayer rendered pointless by mortal sins?

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My understanding of mortal sin is that it injures the relationship between man and God so gravely that we need sacramental grace (i.e. Reconciliation) to repair it/be forgiven. Until said grace is received, though, does God still “hear” our prayers? Does he hear them but disregard them? This possibility occurred to me the other day, and it disturbs me, because although I pray several times a day, I spend around 99% of my life in the state of mortal sin.
 
If you are in a situation in which you feel you cannot go to reconciliation due to your choices that landed you in a state of mortal sin, you need to talk to your priest about remedying that situation. I’m assuming you are in an invalid marriage or some other such situation in order to be in a state of mortal sin “99%” of the time.

Having said that, God knows the intentions of our hearts. He listens to the contrite, even those who think there’s no way out of their problem(s). So again, I advise you to talk to your priest and get the ball rolling to regularize whatever it is that is keeping you from communion with the Church.
 
I think prayer can always be helpful. It is true that, baring a perfect act of contrition, that only the sacrement of reconciliation can repare the damage that mortal sin does to our relationship with God. That being said, I personally think that God is willing to use any means available to bring those in a state of mortal sin back to him. Therefore, through prayer you might accumulate the grace needed to make a confession and ultimately be truely reconciled with God such that you are not in a state of near perpetual mortal sin.

–
Bill
 
Della said:
If you are in a situation in which you feel you cannot go to reconciliation due to your choices that landed you in a state of mortal sin, you need to talk to your priest about remedying that situation. I’m assuming you are in an invalid marriage or some other such situation in order to be in a state of mortal sin “99%” of the time.

Having said that, God knows the intentions of our hearts. He listens to the contrite, even those who think there’s no way out of their problem(s). So again, I advise you to talk to your priest and get the ball rolling to regularize whatever it is that is keeping you from communion with the Church.
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I skip mass a lot. The “1%” of time I spend in a state of grace the time between my most recent Confession (I go every 6-8 weeks) and the next time I skip out on mass, which is 0-2 weeks at most.

Anyway, though I frequently ask for forgiveness in prayer, I have been told that while God can provide sacramental grace in extreme circumstances (e.g. somebody praying for forgiveness for mortal sin(s) while dying), this method of obtaining grace is not open to me because I’m not in any extreme circumstance. But what about my other prayers? If am am, in effect, estranged from God, do any of my other prayers of petition or gratitude make sense until I am forgiven?
 
Binary said:
I skip mass a lot. The “1%” of time I spend in a state of grace the time between my most recent Confession (I go every 6-8 weeks) and the next time I skip out on mass, which is 0-2 weeks at most.

Anyway, though I frequently ask for forgiveness in prayer, I have been told that while God can provide sacramental grace in extreme circumstances (e.g. somebody praying for forgiveness for mortal sin(s) while dying), this method of obtaining grace is not open to me because I’m not in any extreme circumstance. But what about my other prayers? If am am, in effect, estranged from God, do any of my other prayers of petition or gratitude make sense until I am forgiven?
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Well, as I wrote, God understands the intentions of your heart. So, you should ask yourself why you miss your Sunday obligation so often. If it’s because of a conflicting work schedule, or illness or caring for someone who needs your constant care, these are understandable.

If it’s just because you’d rather be doing something else on a Sunday morning or Saturday evening, then you have to ask yourself why you aren’t going when you know you should. If it’s because you don’t get anything out of Mass, you should take a primer on why we assemble to worship God on Sundays and why it’s a mortal sin to deliberately avoid going.

Knowing why we are asked to do the things the Church asks of us can help us participate in spirit as well as just being physically present, although even just being physically present is all right with God because it’s better to be in his presence among his people than to be lying at home in bed or hanging with friends, if you see what I mean. 🙂
 
No prayer is not made ineffective by mortal sin. One several saints urge people who are in mortal sin to go before the blessed sacrament in adoration. When we commit a mortal sin it destroys the grace of God in us. In the book of genesis we read that Adam and Eve hide from God when they sin. God comes looking for them but they hid. That is what every single sin does, it makes us turn away from God. Mortal sin is a complete turning away from God. God can still hear our prayers no matter what state our soul is in. Prayer is only ineffective in purgatory and hell.

The prayers of those in mortal sin are perhaps most important to God. The person that God is most anxious about and will go out and look for are the ones who are lost, read Like Ch 15 about the lost sheep and the lost son.

Today we have a fairly relaxed attitude to mortal sin, but we must try hard never to commit it.

Please seek help in how to overcome this. There were many years when I struggled with mortal sin, but I finally got rid of it from my life and I’ve never looked back.

There is something called presumption. God will forgive us of any sin, we must be sorry. I had a friend that hurt me very badly a few years ago, I wanted to forgive her. She simply wasn’t sorry for what she did and she kept on doing it and I’m afraid it destroyed our friendship, that can happen with God, if we commit a sin knowing that God will forgive us. If we do that are we sorry for our sins.

There are three conditions to receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. One of them is we must be sorry. If we know we are going to commit the sin again are we sorry? For example, If someone punches me in the face and they say I’m sorry will you forgive me, I will say yes. If they do it again and again, are they sorry?

The book Lord Have Mercy by Scott Hahn is so powerful and so simple to read, I’d really encourage anyone struggling with sin to read it.
 
Lukewarm is not an option

Padre Pio said: “It would be easier for the world to exist without the sun than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At times during the Mass I am consumed by the fire of Divine Love. My face seems to burn.” You really can’t be a Catholic and be flippant about Mass.

Jesus said, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

You need to take some time out & seriously consider where exactly you are heading. It may be just at the next intersection that eternity is waiting for you…then it’s a bit late to say, Lord, Lord.
 
Yes, I could die any day. I learned to live with that idea at a young age. Very profound of you to say so.

It is inaccurate to say that I am flippant about mass. I think I could present a pretty solid explanation of the meaning and importance of mass. The fact that I know (or at least have an idea of) how significant and amazing the Eucharist is, but rarely feel anything, spiritually or emotionally, when I receive it is very discouraging to me.

As I wait in the communion line, I tell myself that I am preparing for a profound spiritual experience. And then I feel nothing, and I wonder what’s wrong with me. Before you ask, I should say that I only receive the sacrament while in a state of grace.

Getting back to the topic of the thread, what does it mean to “turn completely away from God?” How can someone still pray to God if they have completely turned away from him?
 
Binary said:
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Getting back to the topic of the thread, what does it mean to “turn completely away from God?” How can someone still pray to God if they have completely turned away from him?
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By choosing to radically reject God’s grace, we commit mortal sin. However, that rejection is unilateral; God does not reject the sinner. He continues through actual grace to work your intellect and will toward reunion.

True, we lose sanctifying grace or habitual grace which is that grace that allows us when faced with moral choices to reflexively choose the good.

However, if you pray you do good; all goodness comes from God. It is His prompting which brings you to pray. You may think you have completely turned from God but He is relentless in His pursuit of your love. So if you pray, by definition, you have not completely turned from God but have turned toward His self-communication, His inivtation to you to talk to Him.

Peace,
O’Malley
 
Binary said:
I skip mass a lot. The “1%” of time I spend in a state of grace the time between my most recent Confession (I go every 6-8 weeks) and the next time I skip out on mass, which is 0-2 weeks at most.
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Binary:

I am frequently in the same position as you describe here, and I don’t know way. I love the Mass. I love being Catholic. I adore the Pope. But for some reason I have a terrible time getting out of the house to attend Mass. I go to confession and I intend to attend Mass every Sunday there after, but before too many weeks go by - there I am again missing Mass for no good reason. I just don’t know what to do about it. Sheer raw will power just isn’t doing the job.
 
o_mlly said:
By choosing to radically reject God’s grace, we commit mortal sin. However, that rejection is unilateral; God does not reject the sinner. He continues through actual grace to work your intellect and will toward reunion.

True, we lose sanctifying grace or habitual grace which is that grace that allows us when faced with moral choices to reflexively choose the good.

However, if you pray you do good; all goodness comes from God. It is His prompting which brings you to pray. You may think you have completely turned from God but He is relentless in His pursuit of your love. So if you pray, by definition, you have not completely turned from God but have turned toward His self-communication, His inivtation to you to talk to Him.

Peace,
O’Malley
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Thanks, O’Malley. I’ve now seen the word “habitual” used both in describing grace and sin. I think this is something I should learn more about. Would you care to point me in a particular direction before I start googling away?
 
Marsha_Adams said:
Binary:

I am frequently in the same position as you describe here, and I don’t know way. I love the Mass. I love being Catholic. I adore the Pope. But for some reason I have a terrible time getting out of the house to attend Mass. I go to confession and I intend to attend Mass every Sunday there after, but before too many weeks go by - there I am again missing Mass for no good reason. I just don’t know what to do about it. Sheer raw will power just isn’t doing the job.
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Ironically, I may have some advice for you. My mass attendance really took a nosedive when a close friend of mine stopped going with me. There were many Sundays where either she or I wouldn’t want to go, but the other one would always remind the slacker of their obligation, so we’d go together each week. Not only was it helpful to have that external source of accountability, it was just nice to pray and worship together. I’ve been going to a different parish for the last 3 years, and I have utterly failed to make a connection with the people there. I’m a 20 something guy, and the rest of the church is nothing but families with small kids (the church is part of a catholic school). I think that it’s important to feel like you’re part of a community at mass. I couldn’t even tell you the name of one other parishoner there. Fortunately, I’m moving again this week, and I may have more luck at my new church.
 
Binary said:
My mass attendance really took a nosedive when a close friend of mine stopped going with me.
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Actually, that is pretty much what happened to me too. My friend and I always went to Mass together and then she died.
 
Binary,

Consider this C.S. Lewis quote about prayer:

“I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God- it changes me.”
— C.S. Lewis

See about how looking at prayer in this way, that prayer is to change you, can apply to your current situation. Someone on CAF (I don’t remember who, wish I did) told me to pray to Christ to help me keep close to Him. This is how prayer changes us and God can answer our prayers.
 
“Let him never cease from prayer who has once begun it, be his life ever so wicked, for prayer is the way to amend it, and without prayer, amendment will be much more difficult.”-St. Teresa
 
What I’ve always heard is that the only prayer God listens to while in a state of mortal sin is the prayer for the grace to overcome the sin and go to confession.
 
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