Spiritual help needed

[Trevelyan]

What do you do when you hit a brick wall in your spiritual life?

I’ve been coming closer to God over the past few years but this lent, in particular, it seems like I’ve hit a brick wall.

That is to say, every day seems the same - no progress spiritually. Same sins, same failings, every day. In examination of conscience at night, every night: havn’t prayed much troughout the day, haven’t kept lenten observances - just about every day of lent!

I’m even wasting time now when i should be studying. I think of St Paul saying ‘my body does what I do NOT want it to do, and it does not do what I DO want it to do.’

What should I do? It seems like it would be so easy just to DO the things that I know I want to do! Why don’t I just do them?

(For example- this morning: Supposed to start study at about 9am. Start reading (religious) book at 8:45. At 9:05 - ‘well I’ll just go on till 9:30’ . At 9:30 - ‘well, I may as well finish this chapter’ then ‘well, seeing as I’m late, I’ll just check CAForum’ and now it’s 11am!)

Why can’t I ‘JUST DO IT’ Just… stop reading… study… pray…?

Having written that all out, I see that maybe it’s one particular ‘root’ problem?

But how do I make myself do what I should do? Shouldn’t that be easy? I (at least think I) will to do it, so why not do it?

Help?

 

[Nana_Rose]

I have no answer to why is happens, perhaps someone with more knowledge than I can answer that. If St. Paul had trouble should we be any different? I’m glad he said that, because I too have hit the desert in my faith journey. Maybe it’s kind of a cool thing that you’ve hit your’s during Lent, ever looked at it that way? I mean, Christ went to the desert before starting his ministry,why not you.
I’ve had this happen so many times, I think our faith journey is like traveling the mountains. There are highs and lows. The green valleys of fresh new feelings, ah-ha moments, and the high peaks of feelings we get at retreats and such. Then there is the desert. Nothing, absolutely nothing. Sometimes I would just cry out to God and wonder where he was. But it always passes and it gets better too. We grow our faith through these times. Keep on going, it will pass for you too.
Hey, let’s face it, it is easy to be faithful when everything is going our way. Harder when we are in the desert being tempted.

 

[JMJ_Theresa]

Ah! the problem of mortification. Doing your duties when you are called to do them is a mortification.

I am terrible at this myself.

I wonder if it would help if you had someone to be accountable to?

Also, I think for an undisciplined person such as myself, it helps to make a small resolution, stick to it and then after you have faithfully accomplished it over time, add another.

I don’t believe it is easy at all. I think it is incredibly difficult to mortify oneself. However, the harder it is, the more pleasing it is to God when you do it.

I say, pick one resolution for tomorrow. Just one.

 

[Trevelyan]

Thank you so much for the advice.

Thanks Nana Rose, your advice got me to look at this desert from a whole new angle. It changes everything, thank you! & thanks JMJ T, I will make a resolution.

 

[francisca]

Trevelyan:

(For example- this morning: Supposed to start study at about 9am. Start reading (religious) book at 8:45. At 9:05 - ‘well I’ll just go on till 9:30’ . At 9:30 - ‘well, I may as well finish this chapter’ then ‘well, seeing as I’m late, I’ll just check CAForum’ and now it’s 11am!)

Why can’t I ‘JUST DO IT’ Just… stop reading… study… pray…?

Having written that all out, I see that maybe it’s one particular ‘root’ problem?

But how do I make myself do what I should do? Shouldn’t that be easy? I (at least think I) will to do it, so why not do it?

Help?

Why not try to adjust your schedule along the way, I mean while you are trying to follow your failing schedule, you also modify it to “insert/ add more time for the things you like” in your “new schedule”. Hopefully this time your new schedule will work better (because it will be more realistic). If you need more time to read one chapter, then give yourself more time for one chapter. Give yourself a realistic schedule. It is better to include those things than to feel failure over and over again to ignore those : if you like to read books more than the scheduled time, then change the schedule to follow you.

It is good trying to build a good habit, but try to make it suit your needs and your preferences. To keep denying yourself in those little things are not the teaching of Jesus. Jesus ask us to deny ourselves in a much bigger way. To follow God, one must-- first of all-- know himself : where the strengths and weaknesses are, and based on that follow Him.

Thus to make a schedule, you try to make it suit you. In this you will not ignore those desires those comes from God (forexample if you find yourself reading religious books all the time, know that this desire comes from God, thus it deserves to take some of your time. If you try to “squeeze” your schedule based on “rational reasons” only, you might end up repressing yourself from God’s gifts for you. God’s gifts for you are also in the feelings you have about many things. So do not think that those feelings are only battling you (your rational reasons). They are there to tell you about you.

In the end, believe that God wants you to be happy. You are still young, you have a lot of choices : choose the ones you are good at and the ones you prefer. The time will come when you need to be in the real battle : you & your choices will be tested. Just make sure that you choose the ones that will be able to endure those difficult time.

Explore yourself couragiously.

How’s that?

 

[Crumpy]

Trevelyan:

What do you do when you hit a brick wall in your spiritual life?(

I’m not an adviser, but I’d suggest just keep in there and don’t give up.

I found a book about the spiritual interpretation of scripture to be most helpful. In itself, I could only read a couple pages a day, because the author’s style slowed me down. But, I found refreshing insight in every session of reading

Fr. Jean Corbon, “The Path to Freedom” Less than $10US.

 

[puzzleannie]

Trevelyan:

What do you do when you hit a brick wall in your spiritual life?

I’ve been coming closer to God over the past few years but this lent, in particular, it seems like I’ve hit a brick wall.

. . .But how do I make myself do what I should do? Shouldn’t that be easy? I (at least think I) will to do it, so why not do it?

Help?

you are not the best judge of progress in your spiritual life, what seems at the time to be a brick wall may in fact turn out to be a temptation, a return to earlier sinful habits, or a period of great internal growth and spiritual maturity. that is why we have spiritual directors to help us discern what is going on.

for the last question, you do not and cannot Make yourself do what yous should do and what you will to do. Only until you acknowledge this can you cooperate fully with Holy Spirit, whose gifts enable you to accept the grace and merits of Jesus Christ, whose strength and power alone enable you to do the good and avoid the evil. As long as you persist in thinking it is merely a matter of will power and your own strength you will keep failing.

 

[JMJ_Theresa]

puzzleannie:

you are not the best judge of progress in your spiritual life, what seems at the time to be a brick wall may in fact turn out to be a temptation, a return to earlier sinful habits, or a period of great internal growth and spiritual maturity. that is why we have spiritual directors to help us discern what is going on.

.

I heard a Legionary priest say this very thing at a point when I had almost given up on spiritual progress. I had to hide my tears of relief. He said that we shouldn’t even worry about it. It was not necessary to see it. I think it is only in hindsight that spiritual progress can be seen.

We just have to persevere.

Well said, Puzzleannie!