praying for others while in mortal sin?

[JohnPaulToo1]

I have been told that you can pray for yourself while in mortal sin,
but that you cannot pray effectually for others while in mortal sin.
But somebody I consider quite theologically knowledgable,
told me that
if you pray for others while in mortal sin,
that your prayer for those people “kicks in”
or becomes effectual, as soon as your mortal sin
has been absolved in Confession.

Is that accurate?

 

[fred_conty]

From what the church teaches, when in serious sin, we have lost all rights to merit.
And we have also lost all of the merits and rewards gained thus far in our life.

Once out of serious sin, we regain those lost merits and rewards in our past life.

The reason we do not gain any merit when in serious sin is that we have lost Christ living within us, his sanctifying grace, his divine life. The cause of our merits is that we are other sons of the Father reflecting the life of his only begotten son. If we do not reflect or have that life of his only begotten Son, our efforts no longer have the power to merit.

If we pray for others in the state of serious sin, then God probably will take pity on us, and use those prayers, whatever they may be, to draw us back into the beauty of his son which we lost. But as far as doing others any good, anything is possible because God is merciful. But we cannot merit for others if we ourselves have lost the power to merit.

But even tho a person is in serious sin, they should continue to do good. For God is all just and will reward us in a natural way although not in a supernatural way. I believe we can see this time and again by people who are not holy but do good for others. They seem sometimes to thrive, and christians complain that God seems to love those who ignore him more than they do who love him. But it must be remembered, they are getting their reward now and not latter in his kingdom.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.

 

[tektonik]

Whether or not we’re in a state of sin, I think when we beg Jesus for help, he always listens… and if it’s in accord with His will, he will grant us mercy.

 

[JohnPaulToo1]

thank you fred, thank you tektonik

 

[ccmcmg]

After confession this autumn, I asked the priest if the Lord heard my prayers even if I had committed a serious/mortal sin and not yet confessed it to a priest. He told me that God still heard my prayers.

I have since seen and felt the Lord hearing my prayers, and on occasion, answering them, while I had unconfessed mortal sins (such as missing mass, etc.). I had, however, asked prayerfully for forgiveness, and told God how sorry I was to have sinned.

 

[samson1]

When I’m in a state of mortal sin, I sometimes feel like my prayers won’t be heard or God will not intercede as a sign of my punishment, but God is awesome and does indeed hear our prayers.