Pray for help yet opposites are given

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pray4unme

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I must admit, I pray often, for thanks and for help. I do get the blessings ( 20% ) I ask for but not often usually I get the opposite. Why is that.

I know if it is his will, in gods time. He knows best.

It just pains me to get the opposite, example: ask for a bit more income, I get more expenses/bills/payments that must be paid ASAP. I am thankful to the Lord for all he has given me, but in desperation we pray with all our might and he well becomes deaf. Sorry thats how i feel.
I am lost in finding answers. Lost in life, lost in prayers, lost just lost.
 
When I started a new chapter in my life and I was faced with similar trials, a lady said, “What an opportunity to thank Jesus for the opportunity to trust in Him.” Adjusting my perspective helped, although it took a while.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the opportunity to trust you even more today. Amen.
 
I must admit, I pray often, for thanks and for help. I do get the blessings ( 20% ) I ask for but not often usually I get the opposite. Why is that.

I know if it is his will, in gods time. He knows best.

It just pains me to get the opposite, example: ask for a bit more income, I get more expenses/bills/payments that must be paid ASAP. I am thankful to the Lord for all he has given me, but in desperation we pray with all our might and he well becomes deaf. Sorry thats how i feel.
I am lost in finding answers. Lost in life, lost in prayers, lost just lost.
Praying for your intentions. Remember, you are not alone; God is always with you. He never gives you any cross that, that He & you can’t handle together.
 
I understand. I wish I could help. If I ask God for anything, it’s a sure bet I won’t get it. So I don’t ask any more. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that God wants us to be holy, but He doesn’t care at all if we’re happy. Right now, both holiness and happiness elude me. I’m sure it’s a character fault on my part.

I hope things work out okay for you.
 
Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do you, O’ Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God thrust into Hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen.

†

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

†

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

†
 
Perhaps you should try praying in thanksgiving for what you DO have. It can be helpful to recognize that however things may be, we have certainly received many blessings.

Pray a more open-ended prayer. In other words, don’t limit God! He may have a better idea than to just drop money on you. Perhaps you will find a better job, a second job, a better way of budgeting, …Who knows the great things God is capable of? Pray that God in his infinite wisdom bless you and help you in your current struggle. Let Him take care of you in accordance with His plan for you.

Is this a recurring issue? If so, maybe God has a lesson in mind for you that is intended to help you in a more long-term way rather than something that may help for a few weeks, but will leave you in the same predicament afterwards.

May the God who cares for even the smallest sparrow care for you now.
 
I am praying for you and yours. Your struggles remind me of Job; you might like to read his story in the Bible sometime. You also remind me of Jesus. He didn’t want to go through the crucifixion and pain. He asked the Father to “take this cup from me.”. It is not wrong to ask to not suffer, but as we know the Father didn’t answer Jesus’ prayer and see what great good seems to have come of it for all mankind, even though it hurt Jesus at the time.
 
I understand. I wish I could help. If I ask God for anything, it’s a sure bet I won’t get it. So I don’t ask any more. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that God wants us to be holy, but He doesn’t care at all if we’re happy. Right now, both holiness and happiness elude me. I’m sure it’s a character fault on my part.

I hope things work out okay for you.
I agree with you, the more you ask the less you get.
 
Perhaps you should try praying in thanksgiving for what you DO have. It can be helpful to recognize that however things may be, we have certainly received many blessings.

Pray a more open-ended prayer. In other words, don’t limit God! He may have a better idea than to just drop money on you. Perhaps you will find a better job, a second job, a better way of budgeting, …Who knows the great things God is capable of? Pray that God in his infinite wisdom bless you and help you in your current struggle. Let Him take care of you in accordance with His plan for you.

Is this a recurring issue? If so, maybe God has a lesson in mind for you that is intended to help you in a more long-term way rather than something that may help for a few weeks, but will leave you in the same predicament afterwards.

May the God who cares for even the smallest sparrow care for you now.
Is this a recurring issue? If so, maybe God has a lesson in mind for you that is intended to help you in a more long-term way rather than something that may help for a few weeks, but will leave you in the same predicament afterwards.

yes it is blessings comes then it is spent on must pay expenses not on usless stuff ( shopping, parting etcc… )

It seems like my life is one big lesson, perhaps I didn’t learn yet and it keeps repeating, perhaps we should all be given a choice before birth, live or not! I was techinally dead for 7 minuts @ 2 months old, doctor brought me back, I like to know for what? Suffer, be angry at myself daily, withdrawn, quiet, sad, mostly i feell rage!

To top it off my wife is 2 weeks late! too freaked out to get the “TEST”
 
I understand. I wish I could help. If I ask God for anything, it’s a sure bet I won’t get it. So I don’t ask any more. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that God wants us to be holy, but He doesn’t care at all if we’re happy. Right now, both holiness and happiness elude me. I’m sure it’s a character fault on my part.

I hope things work out okay for you.
God DOES care about our happiness! He cares in the manner of a Good Father. If a child runs into the street, his father grabs him and chastises him. The child becomes unhappy. He did not get what he wanted and he was punished. But, his father understood that this was NECESSARY. He is far more concerned with his long-term happiness than fulfilling his short-term desires. Would anyone do otherwise?

Pope Francis said yesterday, it is “truly blasphemous” to believe that a physical limitation or disability is a punishment from God. Extending this to those suffering from other problems I will say (I am not speaking for the Pope)…GOD DOES NOT WORK IN THIS WAY! Bad happens, evil happens. But that is very different from God using evil!

Think of this contradiction: if problems are intended as punishment, then why do evil people often APPEAR to be blessed? Even Hitler had “successes” in his political and military campaigns. Does this mean God was blessing him? NOT A CHANCE!

Good and bad happen to both good people and bad. The bad that happens is the result of the evils of the misuse of free will. Hitler used his free will to perpetrate horror. He chose this! His evil was not caused by God. It was caused by Hitler’s sinfulness.The Jews he executed were not being punished by God. They were murdered by an evil man making hellish choices.

Finally, God does NOT refuse to grant our request BECAUSE WE PRAY FOR IT! What an awful statement!

Luke 18:1-8
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

18 Then Jesus[a] told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3 In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4 For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’”** 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8 I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them…"​

So why does our prayer sometimes seem to be unanswered?
  1. We ask for something that would be bad for us. (or)
    2 Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
  2. We did not insist enough- lack of desire- God gives in the measure we ask.
    “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Ps. 81, 10)
  3. We do not have enough faith in God’s goodness.
    “If you can believe,” Jesus said, “everything is possible for anyone who has faith” (Mt. 13,58)
Ask God “who gives to all freely and ungrudgingly; it will be given him. But he must ask with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubts is like the waves thrown up in the sea when the wind drives. That sort of person, in two minds, wavering between going different ways, must not expect that the Lord will give him anything” (James 1, 6-8)
  1. We do not ask with humility.
    “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let:, be as you, not as I would have it.” (Mt. 26,39)
  2. We expect God to bail us out of a situation of our own making.
    “If one places himself knowingly and without necessity in a difficult situation, he has no right to expect a miracle from God to get him out. It would be presumption also to neglect the means God has placed at our disposal and wants us to use to provide for our needs, and have recourse instead to prayer.” -FR. LEONARD M. PUECH, O.F.M.
  3. We are impatient. God answers our prayer in His time.
    “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.” - Lamentations 3:25
  4. We do not ask in His name. The name of Jesus.
    “Whatever you ask in my name I will do … . . If you ask for anything in my name I will do it” (Jo. 14,13-14)

PRAY UNTIL:
The answer comes, or
The circumstances change, or
God changes the burden on your heart.

(Luke 12:29-31)
“And as for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink;
And do not exalt yourselves
(for after all these things the nations of the world seek);
But your Father knows that you need these things.
But seek the kingdom of God,
and all these things shall be given you besides.”

Prayer for Strength and Faith

In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Dear Lord, see me through these hard times. In these troubling times, I am filled with unspeakable fears. I reach out my hand to you now, And ask you to walk besides me. I cannot carry all my burdens, But I know you can, and will. Please walk beside me. Please guide me. Please help me hold on strong, Through the trials and storms. Help me hold on to my faith, In even the darkest hour. Stay with me Lord, And show me Your way. In your love and Holy Spirit I abide. Amen.

Read more at beliefnet.com/Prayers/Christian/Finance/Prayer-for-Strength-and-Faith.aspx#USF5E52RS7ptrOzA.99**
 
Is this a recurring issue? If so, maybe God has a lesson in mind for you that is intended to help you in a more long-term way rather than something that may help for a few weeks, but will leave you in the same predicament afterwards.

yes it is blessings comes then it is spent on must pay expenses not on usless stuff ( shopping, parting etcc… )

It seems like my life is one big lesson, perhaps I didn’t learn yet and it keeps repeating, perhaps we should all be given a choice before birth, live or not! I was techinally dead for 7 minuts @ 2 months old, doctor brought me back, I like to know for what? Suffer, be angry at myself daily, withdrawn, quiet, sad, mostly i feell rage!

To top it off my wife is 2 weeks late! too freaked out to get the “TEST”
Please speak with your priest. He may be able to put you in touch with various social services that can help you.He will certainly be able to pray for you and counsel you.
 
I have stopped asking for help but instead giving thanks, for what i have today, health, family, food, laughter, sadness.
I figure if you dont ask you wont get the opposite.
This opposite happens on a daily basis, i wake you, say a quick prayer, ask for a busy and profitable day, i got not busy and no profit, no work day. See opposite! That was 3days in a row!

So in reallity, i ask for life i am given death ?
Perhaps that would,should be my approach?

Lord forgive me. Give me strength!
 
The Jews waited about 2000 YEARS from Abraham until the final arrival of the Messiah! Three days is just a moment in comparison!

You seem to be testing God and withholding faith until God proves Himself to you.​

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act. 49 Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” 50 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.51 (CCC)​

I want to be really clear. We must TRUST GOD. We must have faith first! You do not SEE the answers you would like (within your time frame) so you will not BELIEVE. The problem is that we are asked to BELIEVE and then we will SEE! It may take three minutes, three hours or three centuries! We must persevere. We must not stop believing.

God may in fact already have answered your prayers. He may have said,“No!” Perhaps He is more concerned by your lack of faith than your lack of funds. He will not prove Himself to you to get that faith. He already sent the Patriarchs, the Prophets, His Son, and the Saints!

I suggest you change your prayer.

The Act of Faith
O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that your Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths the Holy Catholic Church teaches because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

Prayer for Faith in Time of Doubt
I don’t even know what to say, Blessed Lord,
I am so confused.
I am caught in the midst of a violent crisis of faith,
so uncertain and doubtful.
I am going through a difficult time
in what touches the depth of my belief.
I am almost tempted to give in
to impatience and despair.
Something within me cries out for you,
yet you seem not to be there.
I have broken away from many childhood beliefs.
I decided to let me faith pass through the filter
of my personal experience.
Suddenly, I found myself too far from you,
from security and certainty.
If I still turn to you, Blessed Lord,
it is because I have not yet lost
the hope of finding
an exit door
for my spiritual anguish
I begin to realize
that by myself I will not be able to overcome
life’s ambiguities and contradictions.
I know the mystery of you continues,
and that my faith-existence is a challenge
to be embraced.
The light of your occasional shadowy presence
makes me see that my crisis comes
from the depth of my maturity,
from the depth of my faith.
The irony, Lord;
there is a crisis of doubt
only because there is faith.
Perhaps I have become too demanding
and too positive.
Open my heart, Lord,
to the right attitude
when confronted with questions
of my faith.

Patience
Heavenly Father, give me the patience to wait in humility and love for Your blessings to come into my life. Let me know that every prayer we pray to You is always answered. Let me not lose patience and go my own way for I know my way is not always Your way and my time is not Your time. For you, dear Lord, are always right on time when we need You. And the blessings You bestow far exceed what we ask for. Thank You for my life, my chance to be worthy of Your great love and Your great reward which You have promised to all who believe in You. Amen!
 
I don’t think my actions are testing god, my faith is always with him, perhaps i have lost it a bit, i am just saddened that with the current troubles, nothing is going my way, sure i am complaining… But…i will always pray, and do my best at being sincere, i think i am, i say, our father, hail mary, glory be, then try to talk to him, i usually do it in the morning when just wake up, evening before sleep,
Has he forsaken me? I don’t know.
The Jews waited about 2000 YEARS from Abraham until the final arrival of the Messiah! Three days is just a moment in comparison!

You seem to be testing God and withholding faith until God proves Himself to you.​

2119 Tempting God consists in putting his goodness and almighty power to the test by word or deed. Thus Satan tried to induce Jesus to throw himself down from the Temple and, by this gesture, force God to act. 49 Jesus opposed Satan with the word of God: “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test.” 50 The challenge contained in such tempting of God wounds the respect and trust we owe our Creator and Lord. It always harbors doubt about his love, his providence, and his power.51 (CCC)​

I want to be really clear. We must TRUST GOD. We must have faith first! You do not SEE the answers you would like (within your time frame) so you will not BELIEVE. The problem is that we are asked to BELIEVE and then we will SEE! It may take three minutes, three hours or three centuries! We must persevere. We must not stop believing.

God may in fact already have answered your prayers. He may have said,“No!” Perhaps He is more concerned by your lack of faith than your lack of funds. He will not prove Himself to you to get that faith. He already sent the Patriarchs, the Prophets, His Son, and the Saints!

I suggest you change your prayer.

The Act of Faith
O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three Divine Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that your Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths the Holy Catholic Church teaches because You have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.

Prayer for Faith in Time of Doubt
I don’t even know what to say, Blessed Lord,
I am so confused.
I am caught in the midst of a violent crisis of faith,
so uncertain and doubtful.
I am going through a difficult time
in what touches the depth of my belief.
I am almost tempted to give in
to impatience and despair.
Something within me cries out for you,
yet you seem not to be there.
I have broken away from many childhood beliefs.
I decided to let me faith pass through the filter
of my personal experience.
Suddenly, I found myself too far from you,
from security and certainty.
If I still turn to you, Blessed Lord,
it is because I have not yet lost
the hope of finding
an exit door
for my spiritual anguish
I begin to realize
that by myself I will not be able to overcome
life’s ambiguities and contradictions.
I know the mystery of you continues,
and that my faith-existence is a challenge
to be embraced.
The light of your occasional shadowy presence
makes me see that my crisis comes
from the depth of my maturity,
from the depth of my faith.
The irony, Lord;
there is a crisis of doubt
only because there is faith.
Perhaps I have become too demanding
and too positive.
Open my heart, Lord,
to the right attitude
when confronted with questions
of my faith.

Patience
Heavenly Father, give me the patience to wait in humility and love for Your blessings to come into my life. Let me know that every prayer we pray to You is always answered. Let me not lose patience and go my own way for I know my way is not always Your way and my time is not Your time. For you, dear Lord, are always right on time when we need You. And the blessings You bestow far exceed what we ask for. Thank You for my life, my chance to be worthy of Your great love and Your great reward which You have promised to all who believe in You. Amen!
 
I don’t think my actions are testing god, my faith is always with him, perhaps i have lost it a bit, i am just saddened that with the current troubles, nothing is going my way, sure i am complaining… But…i will always pray, and do my best at being sincere, i think i am, i say, our father, hail mary, glory be, then try to talk to him, i usually do it in the morning when just wake up, evening before sleep,
Has he forsaken me? I don’t know.
But don’t you see? Since things are not going your way you ask if God has forsaken you! Faith means continuing to believe that He is still there loving you, guiding you and providing for you.

“It’s true, I suffer a great deal–but do I suffer well? That is the question.”
― Thérèse de Lisieux, St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations

“when something painful or disagreeable happens to me, instead of a melancholy look, I answer by a smile. At first I did not always succeed, but now it has become a habit which I am glad to have acquired.”
― Thérèse de Lisieux, Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux

To lose heart is to lose faith. When we become discouraged and imagine that God has abandoned us it shows that our faith is dependent on God acting the way we want Him to act! Yes, you have faith, I do not doubt that. But like mine, it needs to be perfected.

It is EASY to have faith when God appears to be granting our prayers. It is easy to have faith when life is going well. It is easy to have faith when we are not suffering. IT IS HOW WE REACT WHEN WE SUFFER THAT CAN REVEAL HOW STRONG OUR FAITH TRULY IS!

We must pray and BELIEVE every day. We must believe if God appears to be ignoring our prayers. We must believe when God appears to be sending us “opposites”. We must pray for 3 days, 33 days, 33,333 days…whatever it takes! And we must NOT BE DISCOURAGED!

The fact that we are discouraged because we have not received the answers we wish proves that our prayers were a test! We are not asking for a gift, WE ARE DEMANDING THAT GOD DO WHAT WE WANT…OR ELSE!

“Wait for the Lord, take courage; be stouthearted, wait for the Lord.”
-Psam 27:14

“I command you: be firm and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9
 
Hi, just an up date, still saying my prayers and hoping for the best, water pipe broke going to the bathroom, its under ground or behind tiles, needless to say, no money to fix, now no water going to the bathroom, we take bath with a garden hose, my 12yo stepson is in trouble with the police, looks like he needs a lawyer, serious enough, to cause additional stress.
Whatelse can go wrong does go wrong. Wife birthday is in a few days, pawn my possessions today so we can try to enjoy dinner. Still hanging on, how much longer god only knows, but in a rage last night while arguing i told my wife i will be surprise if i last till my next bday, in sept.
Lord please hear my prayers for help in all areas of my life. Amen.
 
I am sorry that things are going so poorly for you. I recognize how difficult life is for you right now.

Perhaps the point is to not blame God for those things. Pipes break. Not because of God, but because of age, installation, manufacture, whatever. If God wished to punish us I truly doubt He would go about breaking water pipes. That is just life!

You seem to be very focused on the bad things that have happened. Try to very consciously focus on the good. It will be hard at the beginning. (Especially while being depressed), but it can be done. It can be just the little things we tend to overlook.
…a beautiful sunset
…the warm sun on your face after a long, cold winter
…the love of your wife
…the spring blooms
Thank God for each and every one of these things!

This may seem artificial, but it works! I have suffered from lifelong depression. I did this beginning about three years ago. I struggled some days, but I truly began to see my life differently. I started counting my blessings instead of my sufferings and before long I could see how I had been blessed in so very many ways. Bad days were still bad days, but I had come to see that there would be good days ahead.

Now, this is no quick fix. It will take weeks of continual effort to begin to see results, but it is well worth trying. Changing your focus will change your outlook.
 
Hi chefmom,
I understand what you are saying, i am not blaming god for pipes breaking, but its like bad things always happen, i guess its just life, whats the saying, storm before light? not thinking straight, have horrible pain back of my head, neck area all day.i try my best to look on the bright side and give thanks, but i struggle daily with it, i try so hard to do good but its the kick in the b…lls that accompany the doing good, so why bother!
To be honest the only thing keeping me semi sane is my 7yo son, and the thought of how he will be without his dad! Keeps me going.
Thank you all for your kind words and advice.
Give thanks for a beautiful wife, son, give thanks for not being sick, give thanks for the wonderful people on this forum. God bless you all.
 
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