Prayer vs Fooling Myself

[MainBrain]

At 53 I have to take a long hard look at reality and wonder if I have been fooling myself all these years. Has God really been leading me or answering my prayers? Or have I been fooling myself. It sure seems I am left on my own when it comes with direction in life. I have prayed for a job but after years and years of failure and unemployment I really have to wonder what is real and what is not. Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed as a dad. But the rest of my life is just void of anything fruitful. God has left me in the dark.

 

[4love2God]

Mainbrain said** : “At 53 I have to take a long hard look at reality, and wonder if I have been fooling myself all these years.
Has God really been leading me, or answering my prayers?
Or have I been fooling myself.
It sure seems I am left on my own when it comes with direction in life.
I have prayed for a job but after years and years of failure and unemployment, I really have to wonder what is real, and what is not.
Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed as a dad.
But the rest of my life is just void of anything fruitful.
God has left me in the dark.”**

Maybe God is just sitting there on His Throne, and has NEVER noticed me.
Has God done ANYTHING for me?
Yeah, that’s a Good Question.

"I have prayed for a job, but after years and years of failure and unemployment, I really have to wonder what is real, and what is not."

Well, certainly it is REAL that you had numerous Failures, and times of Unemployment.
There are MANY people out there, who have had the same “LUCK” as you have gotten … Lousy.
And, try as they do, God ain’t Talkin’ to 'em.

The Way I see Life is, "The First shall be Last … and the Last shall be First."
But, this is our After-Life.

I see Life as the time when I can face Adversity, so I will have the rest of Eternity to enjoy Jesus Christ.
I figure that if I suffer a lot here on Earth (and, I HAVE), then I will get “Credit” for SOME of the time I will spend in Purgatory, waiting to get my Pass into Heaven.

Some Martyrs were pretty Happy to face torture, because they saw a GREATER Peace in Contemplating God.
However, the rest of us are not Martyr-material.
This means that MORE of Life’s problems matter MORE to us, than our Relationship with God.

You are NOW entering into a Time of re-evaluation.
So, now is the Time for you to “Do the Calculations” of what your Life means.
I hope you will be Kind to yourself.

 

[grasscutter]

Maybe God is gently leading you to consider something other than what you think is your true desire. And, yes, you are indeed blessed! Congratulations on your beautiful son!

I assume of course that he doesn’t suffer from adverse conditions, such as Asperger’s like my son (who is an awesome blessing in my life! ). However, it does make things easier when our children happen to conform to societal expectations and one doesn’t need to expend the extra effort to advocate against ignorance. And, still, I trustingly accept God’s Providence for me.

So, maybe instead of asking God to grant what you want, try asking what God’s Will is for you.

Hopefully, you won’t misread my words - they are intended with love and respect.

 

[pollylodges]

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.

†

 

[tawny]

At 53 I have to take a long hard look at reality and wonder if I have been fooling myself all these years. Has God really been leading me or answering my prayers? Or have I been fooling myself. It sure seems I am left on my own when it comes with direction in life. I have prayed for a job but after years and years of failure and unemployment I really have to wonder what is real and what is not. Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed as a dad. But the rest of my life is just void of anything fruitful. God has left me in the dark.

Praying to the Holy Spirit to give you guidance & direction in your life.

 

[MainBrain]

Maybe God is gently leading you to consider something other than what you think is your true desire. And, yes, you are indeed blessed! Congratulations on your beautiful son!

I assume of course that he doesn’t suffer from adverse conditions, such as Asperger’s like my son (who is an awesome blessing in my life! ). However, it does make things easier when our children happen to conform to societal expectations and one doesn’t need to expend the extra effort to advocate against ignorance. And, still, I trustingly accept God’s Providence for me.

So, maybe instead of asking God to grant what you want, try asking what God’s Will is for you.

Hopefully, you won’t misread my words - they are intended with love and respect.

But what make you think I have not asked God for his will?
Thank you for your response.

 

[MainBrain]

Mainbrain said** : “At 53 I have to take a long hard look at reality, and wonder if I have been fooling myself all these years.
Has God really been leading me, or answering my prayers?
Or have I been fooling myself.
It sure seems I am left on my own when it comes with direction in life.
I have prayed for a job but after years and years of failure and unemployment, I really have to wonder what is real, and what is not.
Don’t get me wrong, I am blessed as a dad.
But the rest of my life is just void of anything fruitful.
God has left me in the dark.”**

Maybe God is just sitting there on His Throne, and has NEVER noticed me.
Has God done ANYTHING for me?
Yeah, that’s a Good Question.

"I have prayed for a job, but after years and years of failure and unemployment, I really have to wonder what is real, and what is not."

Well, certainly it is REAL that you had numerous Failures, and times of Unemployment.
There are MANY people out there, who have had the same “LUCK” as you have gotten … Lousy.
And, try as they do, God ain’t Talkin’ to 'em.

The Way I see Life is, "The First shall be Last … and the Last shall be First."
But, this is our After-Life.

I see Life as the time when I can face Adversity, so I will have the rest of Eternity to enjoy Jesus Christ.
I figure that if I suffer a lot here on Earth (and, I HAVE), then I will get “Credit” for SOME of the time I will spend in Purgatory, waiting to get my Pass into Heaven.

Some Martyrs were pretty Happy to face torture, because they saw a GREATER Peace in Contemplating God.
However, the rest of us are not Martyr-material.
This means that MORE of Life’s problems matter MORE to us, than our Relationship with God.

You are NOW entering into a Time of re-evaluation.
So, now is the Time for you to “Do the Calculations” of what your Life means.
I hope you will be Kind to yourself.

I have often wondered if I am paying off time in purgatory for my many sins of the flesh here on earth.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

Sometimes (OK, often) I think prayer is a waste of time. If every prayer must be caveated, either explicitly or implicitly, with “Thy will be done” it tells me that God is going to do what He darn well pleases.

 

[EIF5A]

Sometimes (OK, often) I think prayer is a waste of time. If every prayer must be caveated, either explicitly or implicitly, with “Thy will be done” it tells me that God is going to do what He darn well pleases.

I think we have to believe that whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) is for our own good and sanctification. Or, so that we do not harm ourselves by obtaining something that is actually bad for us.

On the other hand, I do think God can and does relent with many prayers and intercessions of saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We may not win the lottery after praying, but for prayers that seek to purge our sinful dispositions and to save souls, I think God hears with open ears and heart.

Our ultimate goal is heaven, so if our intents and prayers are towards that, perhaps God will even be pleased with such prayers.

 

[LPS]

I am 53 and several years ago I was at the same point where you are now - questioning prayer, what it is, what it isn’t, how useful it is, what its purpose is.

I certainly wouldn’t say that I have all the answers now, but I do believe that you are at one of those points where you will either give up on the question and settle back to the level you were spiritually, or you will persevere in prayer and in seeking the answer and will make a great leap to a new level of spiritual maturity.

Pray for God to protect you from being deceived, to help your unbelief, and work to surrender yourself to His holy will. For me during that time, I had to learn He wasn’t asking me to “do” anything but to wait and watch. I felt stuck for such a long time, but then was amazed at what He did … and honestly, the change was entirely within me, not in my circumstances.

16 Rejoice always.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5)

Good luck to you - I will pray for you this afternoon at Adoration!

 

[Lost_Sheep]

I think we have to believe that whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) is for our own good and sanctification. Or, so that we do not harm ourselves by obtaining something that is actually bad for us.

On the other hand, I do think God can and does relent with many prayers and intercessions of saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We may not win the lottery after praying, but for prayers that seek to purge our sinful dispositions and to save souls, I think God hears with open ears and heart.

Our ultimate goal is heaven, so if our intents and prayers are towards that, perhaps God will even be pleased with such prayers.

So we are to be so presumptuous as to think we can change His mind?

 

[EIF5A]

So we are to be so presumptuous as to think we can change His mind?

Moses prayed and interceded for the Israelites.

If prayer is for mercy, forgiveness, grace to desire sanctity, etc, then yes, I think we can be confident in His providence for such things.

Fast cars and things that are fleeting and of this world…perhaps not so much.

 

[Tigg]

Sometimes (OK, often) I think prayer is a waste of time. If every prayer must be caveated, either explicitly or implicitly, with “Thy will be done” it tells me that God is going to do what He darn well pleases.

The great complaint with most people about their prayer is that they never feel they’re getting anywhere. But of course it would be a very bad sign if they did. A lot of the trouble about prayer would disappear if we only realized – really realized, and not just supposed that it was so – that we go to pray not because we love prayer but because we love God.

God knows the limitations which He has imposed upon man and makes allowances. There is only one test of our prayer: are we wanting God? Do we want Him so much that we are prepared to go on looking for Him in our prayer in spite of apparently never getting any nearer to Him? Upon the answer to this inquiry depends the whole business of our success or failure in prayer. Success and failure to be judged in God’s terms, not ours.

Pick out a typical day in our prayer life and consider the kind of account which Satan might present at the judgment seat of God. This typical day shouldn’t be one when we are in particularly good form or bad, but simply one that runs true to normal, punctuated occasionally by the arrival of not very memorable diversions. ** “See this dilapidated prayer”, says the devil, ”and tell me Lord, whether You don’t think it has been a waste of time. **Those yawns, for instance, and those furtive glances at the watch-they must certainly score heavily in my favor. And what about that lengthy digression on the subject of his health, or what about those vacation plans in the back of his mind? Followed by at least ten minutes when nothing seems to have gone on at all. Surely, Lord, You got very little out of that prayer today – especially if You take into consideration those memories and imaginations which I suggested to his muddy mind.

So much for the devil’s report. It would be in keeping with the spirit of the Book of Job to consider the Lord pursuing Satan relentlessly. “It’s all very well for you to cite the distractions in My friend’s prayer” so we would have the Lord defending His own- “but, though he may not have made a very good thing of it, at least he has not gone back to bed or picked up a novel. He did, you notice, go on. Discouraged as he is about the result of his effort (unreasonably discouraged in point of fact) he will be at it again, you will find, tomorrow morning. His object all along has been-and still is-to please Me, and though he imagines he isn’t doing this, he has no intention of pleasing you. While certainly, he isn’t, poor man, pleasing himself.

(Excerpts from the Prayer of Futility by Hubert Von Zeller)

Shouldn’t the object of prayer (within our supplications) be a plea to God to draw us into His heart and cause our sightless eyes to see what is the very best for us? Of course this is predicated upon our knowledge of His love for us!!

 

[4love2God]

MainBrain responds to my Post** : “I have often wondered if I am paying off time in Purgatory for my many sins of the flesh here on earth.”**

The Answer to this Question is a resounding YES.
While we are here on Earth, we get some “Credit” on future Time in Purgatory.
It is settled that when a new Soul meets Jesus, a Set amount of Time in Purgatory is Announced.
Then, that Soul zooms off to Purgatory, to begin his Time there.

OK.
First, if that Soul has people praying for him, he will get some Time-credit on his Sentence.
And, all of the Merits that a person offers to a particular Soul, also gets Free Credit.
So, you’ve got that going for ya.

Second, the BEST Time to pick up Credits for Purgatory, is RIGHT NOW . . . and then Now…(and then…).
When you Pray, you receive Merit.
When you recite the Rosary … BANG, some more Merit.
When you attend a Mass Service, part of the Merit you receive is for the Sacrament of Communion.
When you Volunteer your time to help someone else, you get some time sliced off of your Time there.
If you can get Good at feeling warm LOVE in your Heart, this is the Greatest thing to do, and you will be burning up all (or almost all) of your Time in Purgatory … and be receiving Better Treatment during your Time there.

Third, there are 3 “Levels” of Purgatory.
Within each Level, there are different forms of “punishment” … and available punishments.
The Bottom Level is near where Hell is, and so there’s Fire there … therefore, the potential to spend most of your Time there in Major Discomfort.
Up to the Top of the Upper Level, which is mostly for easy-enough irritation, and is often the place a Soul stays in awhile from the Bottom Level (as a Rest Area), before proceeding to the (otherwise) Blinding LIGHT of Heaven.

Fourth, IF you Pray for a Soul in Purgatory, that Soul has the Power to also Pray for You, to give you Merit.
Unfortunately, that Soul cannot Pray for himself (to get Credit).
There are MANY people (including me) who Pray for Poor Souls (as they are called).
And, in return, these Lucky people receive the BIGGEST Blessing a Purgatory-bound person can get, TIME OFF for Good Behavior.

So, now you know a little more about Purgatory.
The Rougher your Life is, the easier your Next Life will be.
Pray for a Poor Soul, get some Merit.
It’s something like that.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

Moses prayed and interceded for the Israelites.

If prayer is for mercy, forgiveness, grace to desire sanctity, etc, then yes, I think we can be confident in His providence for such things.

Fast cars and things that are fleeting and of this world…perhaps not so much.

I don’t care about fast cars, fleeting things, nor do I pray to win the lottery.

I just want to come away with the belief that God actually cares.

 

[Tigg]

I don’t care about fast cars, fleeting things, nor do I pray to win the lottery.

I just want to come away with the belief that God actually cares.

I have this picture on my bedstand and it is the last thing I see before turning out my light. The thing most people focus on is the face of the lamb and how very contented he is. What I see is how Jesus has encircled him and how tightly He holds him. His face is in the lamb’s coat and he is as close to him as He can get. My friend, I pray the same for you.