Physical Sensation while praying?

[angelkatherine]

Hello,
I am new here. I have come a long way-from ‘born Catholic but had no idea what I was doing’, to exploring another religion, to the past one year going to the church every Sunday and have never felt happier and more content with my life. There are old practices that I am still trying to get rid of, and I must admit my understanding of the Bible is very preliminary, but I am definitely trying.
So today I felt the urge to go to the church, already missed the mass, but I went anyways. There’s an area before the altar that people could light a candle and pray- with prayer passages available there. I decided to go ahead and light a candle- but when I used the longer candle to light my own candle, my thumb suddenly felt like it’s burning. It’s really weird because the longer candle which I used to light mine was actually very long so it made no sense that my finger, and only my finger, would feel burnt. I was confused but lighted my candle up anyways, when another candle near me suddenly went out.
I was surprised but I continued with my prayer. I usually close my eyes when I pray, and I think at some time later I was distracted by some noise, I looked up I l saw the priest coming to the altar. I was surprised to see the priest during non-mass hours but it’s not something out of the ordinary, so I greeted him, finished my prayer anyways and went home.
I understand we shouldn’t distract ourselves the physical side of things from the sincerity of prayers at heart. I am not freaked out anything like that- more like wondering the meaning behind things. Have you felt any physical sensation that you can’t explain while praying to God?

PS: please ignore my crazy username. Apparently my account was made a very long time ago I basically forgot about it but I can’t change it!

 

[Bluebright]

Hello, welcome home. It’s great you are back to going to mass. Also great that you follow the urge to go to church at any time to pray that’s the Holy’s Spirit’s promptings. I don’t think it’s really possible for us to answer you about your experience as God speaks to us in His own way and it’s best to ask Him about it in prayer or wait for Him to reveal it to you and trust in Him to do so in His own time. I was away from the church for a time and came back to it and the first time I realised God was listening to my prayers and had just answered me directly and physically, I got such a fright, it was both awesome and terrifying. It’s not the kind of thing I can explain as it was so silly and personal. In answer to your question, yes God can definitely give you physical sensations when praying, but be careful of wanting them or relying on them. Speak to Him about them and let them draw you to Him, so always thank Him. I am always overwhelmed that someone so Mighty would consider me a tiny little thing. I am poor at typing so I’ll take a photo and hope it comes out well. St John of the Cross has this to say on the senses a guide to how to know if they are good or bad… it’s simple, so that even if it proceeds from natural causes it may give glory to God. You can also mention this to your priest during confession, not cos it’s a sin, but for advice at the end, he is there for that too. (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[angelkatherine]

That’s such a beautiful passage that you quoted and heartfelt message that you shared! Thank you so much for sharing your experience and I must say I relate so much on how God had answered so directly and physically that was equally exciting and terrifying. At one point I was so overwhelmed that I just ended up crying at the church!
It’s a good idea talking to the priest during confession, I will do that next time x

Thanks again and God bless!