My vocation?

[Ace86]

I don’t normally ask for prayers, but here it goes.

Please pray for me concerning my vocation. I really don’t know what God is calling me to do. In my heart, sometimes I feel as though I should be a priest, but my mind says no. And I really need guidance and discernment. Is it okay to ask God for a sign? Just something to let me know what I should do with my life? Thanks in advance for your help and for your prayers.

 

[NoPlaceLikeRome]

I read somewhere that it is OK to look for “ordinary signs,” i.e., that you meet the requirements of an order or seminary (non-married, proper age, good health) & have an interest in service but “extraordinary signs” like coincidences and things you don’t have a right to expect.

However… a very encouraging thought came to me one day on this subject: God wants you to know His will for you, since in order to do it, you have to know it. He doesn’t want to hide it.

So keep praying. And if you have any single friends of appropriate age–perhaps bring up the topic of religious life lightly in conversation, on the off-chance that they have considered it–it’s really encouraging to talk to others who have spent some time considering it as well.

(And I will pray for you!)

 

[threej_lc]

As a seminarian who has gone through that whole process, I know what you’re going through.

First, to answer your question. You COULD ask for a sign. But its like the storyin the bible, when the rich man asks Abraham if he can go and warn his brothers to be better men so they could enter heaven. Abraham answers that since they have already ignored the signs given to them, nothing he could do in fact would change their minds.

This is more true than most people realize! You could ask for a sign, and then God would give one to you. And you’re totally stoked for about 2 weeks. Then you start thinking, was that really a sign? I don’t feel as confident about my decision any more. Can I have another one? And a month later you’ll have completely forgotten that it was even there.

Pretty soon it gets to the point nothing short of an apparition will make you sure.

Here’s the low down. If you’re not sure what you want to do, that’s a big sign in itself. It means you’re not supposed to do anything yet. I mean, if I was God and wanted you to sit tight until better timing, how else would I do it but make it unclear to you what you should be doing?

Your job isn’t to decide over night what God wants of you. Your job is to pray, and try to love God as best as you can. One day you will come to know which route holds the most joy and potential for you, at least at that point in time. And when you know, follow it, for as long as you are called to. But as for now, sit tight. Pray. Don’t worry. And love God.

Josh

 

[Ace86]

Thanks so much for the answers! I had forgotten about this thread hehe. This helped:

*God wants you to know His will for you, since in order to do it, you have to know it. *

And this helped:

Your job is to pray, and try to love God as best as you can. One day you will come to know which route holds the most joy and potential for you, at least at that point in time. And when you know, follow it, for as long as you are called to. But as for now, sit tight. Pray. Don’t worry. And love God.

I have been praying a lot. Well, way more than I used to. Recently I have been thinking that it would be so wonderful to start a family of my own, to have kids (gotta have a son!) and a wife. And I have been concentrating on God’s Will - so that His Will is my will. There’s a prayer by Blessed Rupert Mayer (I have a third-class relic of him) I try to pray this prayer everyday. It’s very humbling. There are a few other versions online as well.

Lord, let happen whatever you will;
and as you will, so will I walk;
help me only to know your will!
Lord, whenever you will, then is the time;
today and always

Lord, whatever you will, I wish to accept,
and whatever you will for me is gain;
enough that I belong to you.
Lord, because you will it, it is right;
and because you will it, I have courage.
My heart rests safely in your hands!
Amen.

 

[JKirkLVNV]

Go and spend time with the Blessed Sacrament. Make your prayer there, in His Divine Presence (of course, He’s with you always, but He is most specifically, an inadequate word, THERE). And ask for prayers from orthodox monasteries. You can email them. There are cloistered nuns esp. that will “storm Heaven” on your behalf.