No answer to a Novena

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PhiloSophocles

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Hello,

I have had a burning question for a while and recently joined so I could seek some help. I recently completed a Novena to St. Jude for help in seeking guidance for my career path. More than anything, I was asking to understand God’s will and what he wants me to do in life.

I was frustrated after not receiving a response, though I am continuing to pray. In reading similar posts about not receiving an answer to a novena, people would sometimes mention that we don’t receive an answer because the answer is no. But in my situation, I don’t see how no could be an answer. I am not praying for a change of events or for some material posession, I am praying to understand God’s will. Even if his will is for me not to know my path in life right now, I would happy to just know that. I am frustrated because I don’t understand why God won’t share his will with me. If I am praying to follow and understand God’s will, wouldn’t he want me to follow it?

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
 
The only (name removed by moderator)ut I can think of to give you is that He wants you to keep praying and trusting Him, even though you do not have an answer on what His will is for your life just yet. May His peace be with you.
 
You say you would be happy to know that God’s will is for you to not know his will for you right now. I think it’s impossible for both of those things to happen at the same time.

Can we infer that God doesn’t want us to know his will about things we pray for when he doesn’t tell us? I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m hoping someone else here will.
 
Thanks Dorothy and Binary.

Binary, I see your point that if his will is for me not to know (his will), then he wouldn’t share it with me. I was hoping to at least get a sign of some sort if that were the case, but then I start to walk a fine line of “I want” versus “what God wants”. Of course, I don’t want to assume me not being made aware of his will is a sign that I am not suppose to know. Hard to say. I just wish that if I am not suppose to know, he would at least share that with me somehow.

I have also been praying that I am able to recognize his will when he shares it with me. I want to make sure than when he shows me his will that I am not completely oblivious to it.

Thank you both for taking the time to respond.
 
I can’t offer any sure-fire advice; in my experience these are the kinds of prayers that usually get answered. Maybe it’s just not the right time yet 🤷 But I can suggest a couple other things to try:
  1. I have heard a number of good stories about people getting job offers after doing a novena to Bl. John Henry Newman. So that could be a possibility (and he was only recently beatified, so this would be an ‘off the beaten path’ tactic–which is also what devotion to St. Jude was when it began!).
  2. Many people recommend spending time in prayer in front of the blessed sacrament when discerning a vocation. Whether or not your question has anything to do with a religious vocation, it seems to me that if God helps people discover what they should do with their lives before the sacrament, there’s no reason that that should be limited to religious vocations.
Just a couple ideas.
 
One’s career path usually has a lot to do with one’s aptitude, personality, and background training. You can base on these as the starting point and see how God leads you by opening doors. If you are looking for job, keep on looking per your background and qualifications. The economy as such, it takes longer time to locate a job if that is what you mean by God’s silence. God bless!
 
PhiloSophocles- St. Jude is one of my favorite Saints. You already have a list of good responses.

I know it can be difficult and frustrating at times that God doesn’t respond right away.

However, God will answer our prayers but you have to keep in mind and heart it is Him answering therefore, God may answer it differently from our own understandings.

"Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence’~Proverbs 3:5

May I suggest the following website;

Prayer to know God’s will

2heartsnetwork.org/willofGod.htm

Asking for the intercession of St. Joseph. Amen.

prayerbook.com/Devotions/Joseph/stjoseph.htm

Asking for the intercession of St. Cajetan. Amen.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=216650

Asking for the intercession of St. Josemarie Escriva. Amen.

josemariaescriva.info/opus_dei/NovenaforWork.pdf
 
Dorothy said:
The only (name removed by moderator)ut I can think of to give you is that He wants you to keep praying and trusting Him, even though you do not have an answer on what His will is for your life just yet. May His peace be with you.
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Amen.
👍
 
Sometimes God asks us to take one step at a time; He doesn’t reveal our final destination at the beginning of the journey.

I had a friend who wanted to be a sister. She entered two orders and was asked to leave and then was refused by a third one. She got a teaching degree and was fired before the end of her first year. She got a nursing degree and lost several jobs. She became suicidal and was in an institution for a short time.

She persevered. Finally she met a man at a Catholic conference. They have now been married for many years. In her life she has used her background in education and nursing. God brought good out of everything in the end; maybe it was His will that she go through all this and learn the things that would be needed later in her life even though at some points it seemed she was a failure.

My suggestion would be, if God doesn’t reveal to you your career path, you pray for guidance as to what step to take next.
 
TuAutem said:
  1. Many people recommend spending time in prayer in front of the blessed sacrament when discerning a vocation. Whether or not your question has anything to do with a religious vocation, it seems to me that if God helps people discover what they should do with their lives before the sacrament, there’s no reason that that should be limited to religious vocations.
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Very true indeed.
The important thing is to listen and be open to the answer …
it just might surprise you,
but trust God
and His Love for you.
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Sometimes God asks us to take one step at a time; He doesn’t reveal our final destination at the beginning of the journey.

I had a friend who wanted to be a sister. She entered two orders and was asked to leave and then was refused by a third one. She got a teaching degree and was fired before the end of her first year. She got a nursing degree and lost several jobs. She became suicidal and was in an institution for a short time.

She persevered. Finally she met a man at a Catholic conference. They have now been married for many years. In her life she has used her background in education and nursing. God brought good out of everything in the end; maybe it was His will that she go through all this and learn the things that would be needed later in her life even though at some points it seemed she was a failure.

My suggestion would be, if God doesn’t reveal to you your career path, you pray for guidance as to what step to take next.
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Wow! Claire from DE, this made me really sad yet joyful in the end.

God bless you for sharing such a personal story with us.
 
Thank you all for the responses. I have been a bit slow to respond as life and work have bene busy.

I think a few people were getting hung up on thinking my novena was solely to have my career path revealed, but that isn’t the case. My underlying prayer is to understand God’s will, and if he doesn’t want to share it with me, to at least let me know that. The question is, why wouldn’t God want to share his will for me, with me? It is a bit frustrating after praying the novenas to get no response, and I begin to wonder what the point is (besides the obvious answer of being closer to God).

For the argument that God is not responding because he doesn’t want me to know or because his answer is “no”, that is no different than saying God did not answer me because he doesn’t want me to follow his will. Both are poor arguments. So again, if I am praying a novena to know and follow God’s will, why wouldn’t he share that with me?
 
Perhaps you expected too much too soon. Asking for God to reveal His will to you after praying a novena and also asking for a sign, sounds a bit like you’re expecing an immediate result to an issue that can not be answered in the way you want God to respond. It also seems like such a broad question to expect such an immediate and definite answer to. You said you want to know what God’s will is for you in your career path, that sounds like a question that can be answered in so many ways in so many different scenerios that it would be hard for anyone to recognize what God’s will is for them. Maybe God has answered people’s prayers for His will to be revealed to them specifically and within a certain time frame, but in my experience, praying for God’s will to be revealed to ME takes several “conversations” with God and a good spiritual director. It takes sitting quietly in pray, adoration has particularly helped me, and it also means quieting my life to hear God’s answer. You almost sound like you are demanding that God reveal His answer NOW, on your time schedule. It doesn’t work that way, He very well could be revealing His will for you, but you’re too busy to hear Him OR you didn’t recogize His answer because you were too busy looking for the way you wanted Him to answer your prayers.

Novenas are not some magical formula that you pray and you get the answer at the end. Sometimes the answer to the novena does come at the very end, and sometimes it comes much later. You have to trust though that the saint you prayed to is intervening for you and that God will answer you one way or another, in His perfect timing, not yours.
 
I have been praying more than just one novena and have actually been praying about the topic for about 4 years. I am not expecting the novena to be magic nor am I looking for his answer to be what I want. I am completely open to the answer being something I don’t want. I also understand God isn’t going to answer me on command any time I want something. I know God doesn’t have to answer us at all if he doesn’t want to.

However, I would think someone has a good reason for why God wouldn’t share his will with me. Why wouldn’t God want us to know his will and to follow it? Especially if we are asking to know and understand. And yes, I am praying to be open so that I can recognize when he does share it with me.
 
How about praying in front of the Tabernacle and just laying all your plans out to God. Just tell Him what you want to do and why it is good for you. Tell Him your not sure what His plan is for you but that your trying your best to do His will. Ask him to bless your choice and carry on with trust. Of course He already knows all this, but this has helped me in the past.
 
PhiloSophocles said:
I have been praying more than just one novena and have actually been praying about the topic for about 4 years. I am not expecting the novena to be magic nor am I looking for his answer to be what I want. I am completely open to the answer being something I don’t want. I also understand God isn’t going to answer me on command any time I want something. I know God doesn’t have to answer us at all if he doesn’t want to.

However, I would think someone has a good reason for why God wouldn’t share his will with me. Why wouldn’t God want us to know his will and to follow it? Especially if we are asking to know and understand. And yes, I am praying to be open so that I can recognize when he does share it with me.
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Have you sought out a good spiritual director? I would think they could help you more than any of us can.
 
Thanks PrayRosary and PatriceA. I probably sound like a little kid whining in a candy store because their parent told them no. Sorry. I think I am just down and have been frustrated too long. It is hard not to give up hope when prayers go unanswered for so long, especially a prayer where you are asking God for help to do his will. I don’t feel like I am asking for a crazy miracle or anything. But at the same time, I feel like I am Job demanding some answer from God when I have no authority to do so.

PatriceA, thank you for the suggestion on a spiritual advisor. I used to have one when I was younger, but never found a new one after moving years ago. I should definitely make it a goal to find a new one.

PrayRosary, I will try to spend some time in front of the blessed sacrament in hopes of finding some peace.
 
PhiloSophocles said:
Thanks PrayRosary and PatriceA. I probably sound like a little kid whining in a candy store because their parent told them no. Sorry. I think I am just down and have been frustrated too long. It is hard not to give up hope when prayers go unanswered for so long, especially a prayer where you are asking God for help to do his will. I don’t feel like I am asking for a crazy miracle or anything. But at the same time, I feel like I am Job demanding some answer from God when I have no authority to do so.

PatriceA, thank you for the suggestion on a spiritual advisor. I used to have one when I was younger, but never found a new one after moving years ago. I should definitely make it a goal to find a new one.

PrayRosary, I will try to spend some time in front of the blessed sacrament in hopes of finding some peace.
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Well, I think any of one of us has been exactly where you are right now. Its completely frustrating to be in a “holding pattern”. There was a 4 year period myself I was in the same position you seem to find yourself in, praying every novena I could think of, wanting the prayer to be answered in some way, any way possible. I finally did get my answer, and it was what I wanted ultimately, but I realized afterwards, I wasn’t ready for the answer before. It took God doing a lot of “pruning” on my own faith life, before I was ready. I also met many fellow Catholics along the way that my life would be completely empty right now if I had never met them as I went through that period of waiting. I just couldn’t see it at the time, all that God was doing to prepare me for what I was asking for in all those novenas and time spent in adoration.
 
PhiloSophocles- My sincere apologize I was one of them who thought you were Praying a Novena for a job/career.

Anyways, don’t give up on Praying and Praying your Novenas.

Who knows maybe someone will see and witness how persistent you are in Praying all of these Novenas…Never giving up and waiting upon God to reveal His answer…To be honest with you I find it amazing and wonderful.

Keep on Praying to know God’s will

2heartsnetwork.org/willofGod.htm

PrayRosary & PatriceA-Wonderful and brilliant ideas.

God bless you on your journey,
goforgoal
 
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