I feel distant from God recently and I am not sure why. I also think I am very bad at prayer so perhaps my faith has come to a point where I need to get better.
What am i listening for? How do I know when I hear it? What should I do during prayer? What is the point? I just really need help with the whole prayer thing in general.
I’m not a Catholic, but I hope some of my thoughts on prayer might offer some insight.
For me, silence is a blessed space. It is not something that has to be filled. (For those who are lonely, such alone-ness can be frightening or sad.)
There are days where my husband and I can sit quietly for hours in the same room, yet say nothing to one another. Occasionally our eyes might meet, and we’ll smile warmly at each other, happy just to be in the same place. This is like prayer when you don’t necessarily have anything specific to say. You just “be” – opening your heart to exist as one with God.
There are other days when my husband or I have a lot to say, whether we are complaining about something and need to vent, or we are happy/excited about something, or maybe we just want to share special memories with one another (like on our wedding anniversary). That’s like prayer, too, when you want to express gratitude, or pour out your worry or needs or sadness, to ask for help or support, or to feel the warmth of God’s love.
Sometimes, prayer can come upon you suddenly, and loudly - with enthusiasm and in celebration - like when I hear a deeply meaningful song on the radio while I am driving, and it transports me to a different time and place in my life, and I turn-up the volume, singing (loudly, albeit poorly
LOL) at the top of my lungs. To me, that is reaching out and surprising God with a HUG! GOSH, what a grand feeling that is!!
Also, in the Catholic faith there are formal prayers, prayers for specific reasons, prayers with specific rituals attached (the Rosary, for example), prayers expressing devotion, etc. They are not “spontaneous” but they have their time and place, certainly. They have the beauty of poetry, and the wisdom of the ages, behind them.
So… I don’t think there is any single “kind” of prayer, and thus, there isn’t any one thing you are “listening for” - but no matter what “kind” - breathe deeply, open up your very being from the depths of your soul, and invite the love of God to be with you.
