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cmbertrand

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I desire to be with the Lord. I desire a closer unison with him. I am trying very hard to please Him and I am trying my hardest to do good for others. I just do not feel content. I feel strange, as if I am not succeeding in being what God wants me to be. I want to know His will for me and I am trying to pray. But I cannot seem to hear His voice. It is seldom that I ever hear His voice and I long to hear it. When I sit in quiet and listen, I hear nothing. People say that you don’t always hear God when you expect to, but I do not seem to hear Him at all and I have been told to listen and let Him speak to me. What should I do? Please help.
 
I desire to be with the Lord. I desire a closer unison with him. I am trying very hard to please Him and I am trying my hardest to do good for others. I just do not feel content. I feel strange, as if I am not succeeding in being what God wants me to be. I want to know His will for me and I am trying to pray. But I cannot seem to hear His voice. It is seldom that I ever hear His voice and I long to hear it. When I sit in quiet and listen, I hear nothing. People say that you don’t always hear God when you expect to, but I do not seem to hear Him at all and I have been told to listen and let Him speak to me. What should I do? Please help.
 
cmbertrand said:
I desire to be with the Lord. I desire a closer unison with him. I am trying very hard to please Him and I am trying my hardest to do good for others. I just do not feel content. I feel strange, as if I am not succeeding in being what God wants me to be. I want to know His will for me and I am trying to pray. But I cannot seem to hear His voice. It is seldom that I ever hear His voice and I long to hear it. When I sit in quiet and listen, I hear nothing. People say that you don’t always hear God when you expect to, but I do not seem to hear Him at all and I have been told to listen and let Him speak to me. What should I do? Please help.
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We are all called to different things. Remember, the church is a body and the different parts of the body function differently. At other times, our cross that we bear changes as well.

I’ve been where you are. In fact, where you are is the dominant state in my life. Sometimes it seems to me that God and I are more “allies” than friends… but the saving point is that when I’m out of strength I reach out and in those times God comforts me. I see it in connection with the way I view my role: as one who is a defender of the faith, a minor apologist. For such a role, I think that strength of will and independence are a crucial factor. As a military man, I know that often the best NCOs to have working for me are the ones who don’t need my constant approval and guidance to get things done, and I think apologetics works the same way. Only satan requires the utter dependence of his followers so that they can never stray far from him.

Perhaps your calling then is to be a warrior for God, to carry the burden of faith for others and champion Catholic ideals. This may be the first step towards that end: that God is pruning you to stand firm in your faith on your own two feet. Don’t worry though, as I said, whenever I have been truly in need and reached out to God He has been there to reach back.
 
promethius said:
We are all called to different things. Remember, the church is a body and the different parts of the body function differently. At other times, our cross that we bear changes as well.

I’ve been where you are. In fact, where you are is the dominant state in my life. Sometimes it seems to me that God and I are more “allies” than friends… but the saving point is that when I’m out of strength I reach out and in those times God comforts me. I see it in connection with the way I view my role: as one who is a defender of the faith, a minor apologist. For such a role, I think that strength of will and independence are a crucial factor. As a military man, I know that often the best NCOs to have working for me are the ones who don’t need my constant approval and guidance to get things done, and I think apologetics works the same way. Only satan requires the utter dependence of his followers so that they can never stray far from him.

Perhaps your calling then is to be a warrior for God, to carry the burden of faith for others and champion Catholic ideals. This may be the first step towards that end: that God is pruning you to stand firm in your faith on your own two feet. Don’t worry though, as I said, whenever I have been truly in need and reached out to God He has been there to reach back.
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In what ways can I reach out to God exactly? Do you simply mean by praying to Him?
 
I would advise you to spend some regular time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, whether exposed or residing in the Tabernacle.

About 7 years ago, the Lord took me from a ministry that I loved and I didn’t know what He wanted of me. My prayers were very dry. I could not hear Him, or even feel Him. There was nothing. The only way I could think of to remedy that was to try to get closer to Him by going to daily Mass and spending about an hour in prayer* afterwards. By this time I was certain that my former ministry was something I had wanted, not necessarily what God wanted of me. I was willing to wait until God pointed me to where He wanted me. It took more than a year for Him to answer and even then, I did not hear Him. He used others to lead me.

Be patient, maybe He just wants you to spend some time with Him, especially when everything is dry.

Prayer - I would meditate on that day’s readings and homily, if we had one. I brought a small prayer book too, cause I couldn’t pray myself, with my own words, so I used the prayers of the Saints to pray for the people in my life and for the unborn, the poor, the sick, the aged, unbelievers etc. I also brought some inspirational reading. I would read a little bit then meditate, or I would just open my daily missal and read what I found and meditate on it. Sometimes, I would pray a rosary or a Divine Mercy Chaplet. Sometimes, I would just talk to God about what I was feeling or not feeling, or about what was troubling me at that particular time in my life.
 
I don’t hear him myself, not everyone can.
Father Damian (Whose getting Canonized BTW) never saw a single miracle in his life.
Just do god’s will, if you feel like you should date someone than I would date them,
if not don’t date them. If you feel like being a priest study.
That’s my Advice, I suggest taking this to the actual question thread.
 
cmbertrand said:
I desire to be with the Lord. I desire a closer unison with him. I am trying very hard to please Him and I am trying my hardest to do good for others. I just do not feel content. I feel strange, as if I am not succeeding in being what God wants me to be. I want to know His will for me and I am trying to pray. But I cannot seem to hear His voice. It is seldom that I ever hear His voice and I long to hear it. When I sit in quiet and listen, I hear nothing. People say that you don’t always hear God when you expect to, but I do not seem to hear Him at all and I have been told to listen and let Him speak to me. What should I do? Please help.
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I know how you feel. The only advice is, don’t go looking for God’s voice. Let it come to you. It will, I promise.

-Jeanne
 
Just keep praying and don’t worry. Your desire for God is itself a gift from Him, and your response is very pleasing to Him. Most of us don’t hear God with our ears. We “hear” him with our hearts, and it seems to me that you are already doing that.

You want to “hear” God, and Saint Anselm wanted to “see” God. Obviously his longing was filled, as we know he is in heaven with God. Read his words here: catholicradiodramas.com/Saints_Works_A/Anselm_Desire_for_the_Vision_of_God.htm

And read this from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 29:11-14):
For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope. When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD, and I will change your lot; I will gather you together from all the nations and all the places to which I have banished you, says the LORD, and bring you back to the place from which I have exiled you.
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As long as we are here on earth, we are in “exile,” as heaven is our true home. Be patient and continue to pray.
 
“Hearing” or “Seeing” God…these are very “human” terms to describe interpretation through human senses. God, for the most part, does not communicate by how we understand communication. I like to think of it more as an overall sense of “knowing” - so deep into your bones. Especially if that “knowing” goes against your particular natural instincts.

In addition, I am a believer that God speaks to us in everyday occurences within the present moment. Spiritual direction would help in developing awareness to this.

God Bless!
stteresasgirl
 
Also, if you were to receive an extraordinary form of communication, the natural human tendency would be to get caught up and “wowwed” by its occurrence which could lead to spiritual pride, a decrease in humility, the desire to look to God in forms of human sensation. God is in the silence. St. Teresa of Avila taught to look past extraordinary occurences once they have occurred. They should push and direct you closer to God; focus on the giver and not the gift. This is a very hard thing to do for a human being. What if God never said anything else to you? How would you feel? Punished? Slighted? He may need to initially grab our attention with extraordinary means, however, he then teaches us to learn His “language”. The language of Faith, Hope, and Love. These graces are not of this world, but from His.

Peace,
stteresasgirl
 
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