Losing Interest In Ones Faith

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Hi, when I first came to the faith I really loved it and would often pray every day and go to Mass every day. But now, when I go to Mass I don’t really feel any presence of the Lord as I used to or the enjoyment of it. When I go to Mass or pray I force myself to do it and find it sometimes to be a real …chore. Whats wrong with me? Have I got psychological problems, possessed suffering from demonic oppression?

God bless you for your response.

Knight
 
Welcome to the forum!! How long have you been a convert John ? Could you have have some unconfessed mortal sin at all which is causing these feelings ? You don’t have to answer this but is there something else going on in Yr life which is troubling you ?
 
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I’m more of a person who has come back to the faith 11 years ago now. But in the last two or three years I feel a lot of emptiness in me for the faith. I force myself to go to confession. I force myself to go to adoration and I force myself to go to Mass. I no longer go daily just weekly. I’m very lazy, no job and very little education didn’t even grad high school.

I had a lot of interest in the beginning but its just faded away. I turn all religious people away from me and tend to avoid all religious friendships. I also avoid becoming involved in the parish activities because they’re very liberal in my part of the world and so to avoid the feeling of irritation I get from them I tend to avoid them all.

I’ve literally confessed everything I know of and received full absolution. It’s difficult for to me p(name removed by moderator)oint it. I’m reluctant to say it’s a blessing of dryness from God as I’m nowhere saintly at all. I’m wondering is it personal sin? I don’t know.
 
I would suggest perhaps visiting your GP to speak to them first. If you are feeling demotivated, irritable, and are also not working you might benefit from being referred to someone who can help with mental health . When we are not working it can be easy to lose structure and not being around others leads to not wanting to be around others. And then it’s a spiral. The fact you are going to mass and adoration means the Holy Spirit is working in your life whether you are experiencing joy at the moment or not so that’s really fantastic. And you can reach out to us here which are good ways to start forming religious friendships. There are many very traditional Catholics here who have experienced similarly things to you
 
Are you a new convert? Many converts face this feeling, when the emotional high fades, things feel dull. (Edit to add: I see you hit this at the “7 year itch” mark. Same in marriage, 7 year mark can be difficult).

My dad used to give this analogy.

A farmer and his wife had an old time pickup truck with a bench seat.

The two of them were on their weekend trip to town. As always, he was at the wheel.

The wife looks at him and says “honey, years ago we would drive to town in this truck, you would have your arm around me and I rested my head on your shoulder. We snuggled all the way to town and back. Now I am sitting over here alone looking out the window.”

The farmer points to the steering wheel and says “well, darling, I have not moved.”.

God is the same way, He has not moved.

Even when the emotions fade, we still draw near to him, keep praying in a well rounded prayer life not simply petitions, stay close to the Sacraments.

I can tell, when I feel distant, it seems I can tie it to letting my prayer life slip. I pick back up my Christian Prayer and get back to praying Night Prayers. When I get back in the good habit, even when it seems boring, it changes me. It scoots me back across the truck seat.
 
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You’re not alone, friend. Feelings, while quite important, often betray us - in fact, they’re a useful tool of the evil one if we let him. They’re also a useful tool of God, too, and that’s what makes them unreliable as the primary guide posts.

We all may experience times of dryness. Some of the greatest saints in history certainly did and wrote about it. Sometimes the best thing we can do is drag ourselves along and force ourselves to pray, go to Mass, go to confession… and like a summer storm that pops up from nowhere, we’ll find the flood gates of faith seem to reopen (even though they never really closed).

On the other hand, one way to rekindle joy in our faith is to try to reach out to others and share it with them. I’m glad you’re here; you’ll be in my prayers.
 
It may just be spiritual aridity/dryness which is part of the spiritual life. You won’t always feel consolations and God’s presence and that is normal. There are different reasons why you may be experiencing this. It could have physical or psychological roots, it could be from God and mean you are progressing in the spiritual life and God wants to withdraw consolations so that you learn to love Him versus his consolations, or be your own fault such as if you have been being lazy with prayer or giving into habitual sins.

There are lots of books which touch upon this issue
 
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Maybe it’s more a dryness in your life in general, once something else picks up, a new hobby or volunteering if you’re unable to work, your spiritual life will pick up too. It is worth watching some Youtube videos, or reading some books, perhaps doing a study, just something that is different to what you do on a day to day wee to week basis.
 
JohnKnight said:
Have I got psychological problems, possessed suffering from demonic oppression?
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Nah, you sound pretty normal.
It’s hard for us to maintain a Fever pitch of any emotion, and as you know from your other relationships, the “fun” tends to ebb and flow.

Sometimes I wake up and I don’t feel like praying, don’t feel like reading my Bible, and I just tell God that: “I don’t feel like praying today. But I’m going to do it anyway.”

God already knows I’m goofy like that.
 
JohnKnight said:
Hi, when I first came to the faith I really loved it and would often pray every day and go to Mass every day.
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God gives these consolations to those new in the spiritual life, to strengthen them, keep them close, help them to unite their wills with His.
JohnKnight said:
But now, when I go to Mass I don’t really feel any presence of the Lord as I used to or the enjoyment of it.
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So perhaps God has now let go of you hand to allow you to walk by yourself with Him. He is allowing you to grow in your spiritual life with Him, to stretch you, and maybe also to give you an opportunity to prove your faithfulness to Him .

We should not be looking for what we can get out of the Mass or to feel validated by our feelings/experience of the Mass, or to go because we enjoy the Mass.

Someone else above mentioned how Mother Teresa also didn’t feel God close to her during her life - feelings do not indicate how close we are to God or how close He is to us.
JohnKnight said:
When I go to Mass or pray I force myself to do it and find it sometimes to be a real …chore.
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You could also be going through a period of dryness - where everything spiritual seems to be hard, a chore, even a strong dislike. This is the time to strengthen your resolve, commit yourself to your prayer life and not abandon it, continue to avail yourself of the sacraments - confession and go to Mass daily + receive Holy Communion if you’re in the state of grace daily too as these will strengthen you.

CCC PART FOUR CHRISTIAN PRAYER, SECTION ONE PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, CHAPTER THREE THE LIFE OF PRAYER, ARTICLE 2 THE BATTLE OF PRAYER

What to do when prayer is dry and without consolation

4 Cures for dryness in prayer from St. Francis de Sales

Dryness in Prayer Series
 
Might I suggest you experience the Traditional Latin Mass? Nothing will enkindle the fire of love for the Catholic Faith like the traditional liturgy! I’d suggest looking to see if there is a TLM in your city somewhere!
 
Same JohnKnight, though I am a " Cradle Catholic " it took me a while to realize that for me personally, it is a lot of factors as to why I have been crippled in the faith and have no want or desire to attend Mass any more it isn’t just one thing . Can the things you personally mentioned be a factor for you personally, yes. But I doubt anyone here can really help you pin point down what the exact problem is. It becomes something one has to discern on their own in the end of things.

Going to mass for me is more of a routine like putting on clothes than it is something to take joy in any more. I have my reasons for sticking with the Church, but the one thing that did not crack my faith is the sex abuse scandals, it was bothersome , but wasn’t breaking point. I take more issues with archaic cannon laws , hypocrisy , edicts which are as strict if not stricter than sharia law and islamic laws, and not being able to take two steps out the front door with out being in some state of sin that has been deemed a sin by the Church.

For me, if there was a pass to leave the church, like there is with marriages and annulments , I would. But it is a sin to leave the church, and that is a nifty lil clause the church created but never really mentions to those entering the church or explaining to children who really are not mature enough to make such decisions that are being brought into the church.

Or maybe some resentment also, at how a loving parent can financially give to the church endlessly in tithing, yet when needing assistance from the Church in return, the answer is sorry, go to catholic charities, and then catholic charities says sorry you dont qualify because you are not poor enough or are not a minority or we just dont help with your particular situation…

An then not to mention the lack of any decency here, 90% of the people here chalk such things up to, the devil has tricked you, or you just don’t understand.

This forum is not the place for one questioning ones faith in the Church to find any real reassurance, you are better off finding a priest you can trust, or religious. an that is very hard to do. you have to build a relationship with one and that is even harder.

All this forum is good for is venting and creating dumpster fire debates.
 
It’s normal. Anything you love, whether it’s the Church or a spouse or an activity, you’re going to have a honeymoon period where everything is wonderful and you just can’t get enough, and then you’re going to have a time when stuff becomes boring, annoying, or just ordinary and you don’t get all the “feels” from it but you need to hang in there because that’s what commitment is all about.

I have many days when praying and going to church are not the most interesting or exciting things in the world and feel like a chore. But every day I try to do at least a little bit anyway, even if I’m not feelin’ it. If you were an athlete or a dancer, you would need to keep up your training schedule even when you were not doing so hot and not feeling good about it because if you stopped you would quickly lose all your conditioning and fall way behind. Practicing a religion is similar.

You can maybe try changing up your routine a little bit if you feel you’ve fallen into a rut. But the simple fact is there’s probably going to be less exciting times, and times of spiritual dryness, no matter what you do. Saints and visionaries often go through long periods of spiritual dryness. It’s a test from God to prepare them for greater things ahead or to see if they persevere. So, persevere!
 
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In times like this, I pray: “Blessed Mother, please pray for me because I don’t know how to pray right now.” Then, I reflect on the Wedding at Cana. The Blessed Mother said to the waiters, “Do whatever he tells you to do.” Our Lady always points us to her Son. She is our Mother and the Mother of the Church.

Try meditating on this passage.

John 2:1-11 New American Bible (Revised Edition)​

The Wedding at Cana. 1 [a]On the third day there was a wedding[b] in Cana[c] in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 [d][And] Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 [e]Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”[f] So they took it.

9 And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs[g] in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
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