No Joy in Prayer

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Domnall said:
Hi there everyone. I always know I can come to CAF for help, and I think the Spirituality subform is the place for this thread.

I feel as of late that I’m not getting anything out of my faith. I go to Mass every Sunday, pray every day, but I feel nothing. I know our faith shouldn’t be based on how we feel, but It seems to me that I have no relationship with God, or the saints.

There is no joy in prayer for me; I do it because I know its right and I should. I have a hard time experiencing Mass as Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

I just feel…lost and don’t know what to do. Could anyone offer any advice/prayers?
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I know how you feel. there is nothing wrong with the way you feel. I am in the desert and every prayer seems to go unnoticed. to be quite frank, I am getting very tired of it and I am about to throw in the towel. I talk to God like he is right near me. But I tell him the truth. I don’t lie to God. Just like when I was a kid I skipped school. I got home the right time and thought I got away with it, My Mother asked me how the day went and all that I said fine, She said what you do today? I said the usual, I was lying to her, she already knew the truth, as the school notified her that I didn’t come to school. She was upset I lied. I think with God the same thing. Sugar coating that bad lots in life are okay, when you feel that you can’t take another moment of it Tell God that you feel that your prayers are being ignored or you feel that you get no joy or whatever you feel. God wants your honesty and pure faith. I am tired of the desert and I want out before my next birthday. That is my total honesty to God. tell him how you really feel. He knows but he wants you to know. my opinion.
 
This is a good thing. Your prayer life is developing into something new and better. I will tell you a secret. Go to prayer thinking, “How can I make Jesus feel loved?” Go to prayer to bind up the wounds of Jesus by making reparation for your own sins and the sins of others. Praise Him, Thank Him, enter into His Heart and learn. When we go to prayer to “get” we may walk away empty. Sometimes our prayers can turn into a “Me, me, me, all about me” session. This can dry up the prayer super quick. If you go to prayer for Him, it won’t matter what “you” get out of it, provided Jesus is loved by someone, preferably you.
 
Don’t confuse boredom in prayer with the Dark Night of the Soul, the latter most of us never experience, for it comes for those who have been given the gift of divine union.

Often boredom comes because we forget who we are praying to, and the fact that we are in His presence as we pray.

Too often people, merely rattle off prayers mindlessly, which they’ve memorized by rote.

They don’t know how to pray in an deeper way and it’s what God is calling them to. If they don’t just abandon prayer altogether, they’ll be brought to a deeper level of prayer for God doesn’t ignore anyone seeking him.

God dwells within, and we need to go to Him who dwells within and pray to Him there, no matter what prayer you are saying. St Teresa of Avila calls it mental prayer.

Prayer is an act of love between God and us and there is joy in love.

We merely have to be open to God and allow Him to lead us in prayer.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Don’t confuse boredom in prayer with the Dark Night of the Soul, the latter most of us never experience, for it comes for those who have been given the gift of divine union.

Often boredom comes because we forget who we are praying to, and the fact that we are in His presence as we pray.

Too often people, merely rattle off prayers mindlessly, which they’ve memorized by rote.

They don’t know how to pray in an deeper way and it’s what God is calling them to. If they don’t just abandon prayer altogether, they’ll be brought to a deeper level of prayer for God doesn’t ignore anyone seeking him.

God dwells within, and we need to go to Him who dwells within and pray to Him there, no matter what prayer you are saying. St Teresa of Avila calls it mental prayer.

Prayer is an act of love between God and us and there is joy in love.

We merely have to be open to God and allow Him to lead us in prayer.

Jim
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:signofcross: Amen.
 
Lady_Love said:
This is a good thing. Your prayer life is developing into something new and better. I will tell you a secret. Go to prayer thinking, “How can I make Jesus feel loved?” Go to prayer to bind up the wounds of Jesus by making reparation for your own sins and the sins of others. Praise Him, Thank Him, enter into His Heart and learn. When we go to prayer to “get” we may walk away empty. Sometimes our prayers can turn into a “Me, me, me, all about me” session. This can dry up the prayer super quick. If you go to prayer for Him, it won’t matter what “you” get out of it, provided Jesus is loved by someone, preferably you.
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That is amazing and very inspiring to me. Thank you so much! I’m going to save this to my private files. God bless you!
 
I recall a conference at a silent retreat a few years ago, in which dryness in prayer was one of the topics. The speaker was discussing the “Dark Night” as described by St. John of the Cross and others.

In her words: “When someone comes to me and says ‘I am having a dark night of the soul Mother!’ I know immediately they are not in such a state.” When someone is truly experiencing this, she said, they will rarely be able to express it like that.

Her point was not that folks don’t have trouble with prayer at times. For goodness sake, there’s a section of the catechism called “The Battle of Prayer.” Her point was that most of us do not experience the very specific state described and we probably shouldn’t throw the words around so casually.
 
My Spiritual Director once told me that we become dry as we go along in the Faith. We need to keep asking Jesus what He wants of us. (Is what he says) Hopefully He will reveal His will through Divine Inspiration.
 
A contemporary Christian song puts it so well:

“More like falling in love, than something to believe in,
more like losing my heart, than pledging my allegiance…”

We believe with our head and our heart. But simple belief alone will always be dry, as dry as believing in white blood cells or condensation. I believe in internal combustion.

But I believe in a God who becomes flesh like me, and suffers, out of love for me… this changes my life.
 
Dodge_pursuit said:
I recall a conference at a silent retreat a few years ago, in which dryness in prayer was one of the topics. The speaker was discussing the “Dark Night” as described by St. John of the Cross and others.

In her words: “When someone comes to me and says ‘I am having a dark night of the soul Mother!’ I know immediately they are not in such a state.” When someone is truly experiencing this, she said, they will rarely be able to express it like that.

Her point was not that folks don’t have trouble with prayer at times. For goodness sake, there’s a section of the catechism called “The Battle of Prayer.” Her point was that most of us do not experience the very specific state described and we probably shouldn’t throw the words around so casually.
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Well most Catholics don’t know basic teachings as the sermons are not teaching on that. and topics like Dark Night of the Soul is something that most Catholics never even heard of. and when they hear of it and have a dry spell, they think that they had one. but some people have real long dry spells that feel like it. When you first have a conversion, God hold you in his arms and it is nice and things are wonderful then he wants you to grow up, and he sets you on your own and you grow into an adult in spirituality and things get tough. but it forms you into a mature Catholic and then the need for pure faith comes in like in Matthew 21:11 or Mk 11:24. That kind of faith the dry spells will be less and a true Dark Night can happen which is preparation for an attempt to see the beatific vision. they need to teach this or have classes on advanced Catholicism.
 
I have a prayer space (small oratory) where I pray Morning, Evening and Night Prayer,. Rosary, Lectio etc. I have been finding it very difficult to spend my 30 minutes private mental prayer in my prayer space - so today I went out under the pergola and walked around my garden for most of the 30 minutes spending this time prayerfully, beginning and ending in my prayer space.
Sometimes it might help to vary something about one’s prayer time and better this, I think, than to abandon prayer. One of our saints said that he or she found God “in the midst of her pots and pans” (might have been St Teresa of Avila I think) when working in the kitchen. God is with us at all times in all places and hence He can be found anywhere one happens to be. Certainly St Therese of Lisieux said that prayer is the simple raising of the mind and heart to God.
 
Domnall said:
Hi there everyone. I always know I can come to CAF for help, and I think the Spirituality subform is the place for this thread.

I feel as of late that I’m not getting anything out of my faith. I go to Mass every Sunday, pray every day, but I feel nothing. I know our faith shouldn’t be based on how we feel, but It seems to me that I have no relationship with God, or the saints.

There is no joy in prayer for me; I do it because I know its right and I should. I have a hard time experiencing Mass as Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

I just feel…lost and don’t know what to do. Could anyone offer any advice/prayers?
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Have faith Never stop praying. The joy will return. Often there is no joy in it for us when we perform acts of love to others in our lives but we do it because we love them. Persist in prayer. Tell God you love him despite the dryness and the dark nioght of the soul you’re experiencing. Redouble your expressions of love and gratitude.

Each day write down a list of 10 things (large or small) for which you are grateful. Pray for the grace to see God’s presence in each of them. Ask God to let you feel his presence and see his hand in the things that happen. Each day God extends many invitations for us to love him. Holding open a door, listening to someone who’s sad or lonely, bearing wrongs patiently, enjoying time with family and friends. Accept more of those invitations and your joy will increase. When we get out of ourselves to love and assist others, our sadness often vanishes and is replaced by a serene joy.

God bless you.
 
We should check our intention when we pray.

do we pray for feelings…do we pray for favors…or do we pray to be close with God…to remove any obstacle in the way of a closer union with God. Waiting for or expecting “feelings” may be a thing in the way of our closeness with God!!

The modern day mystic Gabrielle Bossis recorded this gem in her prayer journal…

"May 30 - Lyon. - “Is it love when my heart beats more quickly when I think of You?” “Yes, it is love. But it’s also love when you make an effort to be good for My sake without the slightest pleasurable feeling.”
 
Hi there everyone. Can I just say that this thread is exactly while I love CAF? Thank you all so much for the various suggestions you’ve given me and others to become closer to God in prayer. It means the world to me.

Though, let’s not end this, I have a feeling that I’m not the only one being helped.
“As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.” Proverbs 27:17
 
Persist in prayer. Discouragement is one of the enemy’s strongest weapon. Don’t let it overcome you.

Often during the day say something like “My God I love love you, help me feel your presence in my life and perceive some of the many gifts you give me each day. Help me love you.”

Here are some things St. Therese of Lisieux says about the subject:

“He does not want us to love Him for His gifts, but for Himself alone… He is so beautiful, so ravishing even when He remains silent, even when He hides Himself.”

“O my Jesus, You know well that it is not for the reward that I serve You, but solely because I love You and in order to save souls.”

“I do not desire sensible affection, a love that I feel, but only a love that is felt by Jesus. Oh! to love Him and cause Him to be loved!”

You are NEVER alone. God is always with you.
 
Boy_Wonder said:
Persist in prayer. Discouragement is one of the enemy’s strongest weapon. Don’t let it overcome you.

Often during the day say something like “My God I love love you, help me feel your presence in my life and perceive some of the many gifts you give me each day. Help me love you.”

Here are some things St. Therese of Lisieux says about the subject:

“He does not want us to love Him for His gifts, but for Himself alone… He is so beautiful, so ravishing even when He remains silent, even when He hides Himself.”

“O my Jesus, You know well that it is not for the reward that I serve You, but solely because I love You and in order to save souls.”

“I do not desire sensible affection, a love that I feel, but only a love that is felt by Jesus. Oh! to love Him and cause Him to be loved!”

You are NEVER alone. God is always with you.
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Nicely put.
 
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