Struggling with doubt and spiritual dryness

  • Thread starter Thread starter safa92
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

safa92

Guest
About a month ago, I went on a come and see retreat with the Dominicans. It was quite an experience. I had a really difficult time because I was really admiring the sisters’ life and yet I was very emotional throughout the weekend. I left feeling sad and confused. Since then, I’ve had such doubt enter my head and heart. I’ve been struggling with prayer for a while and I’ve been working on that with my spiritual director. My recent doubts include most aspects of prayer (the rosary, divine mercy, indulgences, invoking different saints), the legitimacy of the mass (the consecration), and the point of the sacraments.

Six months ago, I had such a thirst and zeal for God and since the retreat, it’s almost all but evaporated. The crazy thing is I still believe in the church as an institution. History has proven this much. I also believe the bible to be true. And so you say, “Well if you believe scripture, then you have to know that the sacraments and apostolic succession are true.”. Sure, I acknowledge it. But, I don’t feel anything anymore. I don’t have a desire to go to mass, pray, or do anything with the faith.

I’m not expecting any answers to these objections considering how deep some if them are. I just need help on how to get the spark again.
 
You can make acts of the will without consoling feelings. That is how we grow in the spiritual life. Our Lord knows when to let up. He desires that your faith grow without feelings for now. It is part of the spiritual journey. Ignore the doubts and make acts of faith.

May Our Lord Jesus Christ bless you on your journey with Him!

Our Blessed Mother’s intercession helps a lot.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the spiritual life 🙂
Sometimes we have lots of strong emotions, other times “meh”, and both are perfectly okay.
Persist with Mass and the sacraments and don’t worry. You’re already on the right track that you have belief.
I’ll rmember you in my prayers 🙂❤️:pray:t2:
 
I just came out of a dry spell before Lent, they can really drag you down but God does it on purpose when you are becoming too attached to consolations. They key is to regiment for yourself, pray your way through it, and don’t lose hope. Set times during the day to pray and stick to it, even when you don’t feel like it.
 
Try Centering Prayer, it’s opens the door for contemplation, which is a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

It’s not welcomed in this form, but this forum probably isn’t the place to look for a deeper level of prayer.

God Bless
Jim
 
Dry spells in prayer are a very normal experience. Many saints are known to have gone through lengthy periods of not feeling God on an emotional level.

That’s the great thing about our faith - if it’s really true, the way you feel about it doesn’t change that. Not having an emotional desire to serve God allows us to serve Him in an even deeper way by practicing unconditional love and giving of ourselves even when it hurts.

St. Ignatius of Loyola had really great insight into how to handle these issues. I just posted a longer explanation in another thread, so I’ll just link to that:
40.png
Depression and prayer Spirituality
Are you familiar with St. Ignatius of Loyola’s rules for discernment of spirits? He talks a lot about spiritual consolation and desolation (feeling and not feeling God’s love and presence) and how to maintain strong faith through both. He isn’t talking about medical depression, and if that’s your situation you should definitely see a doctor as well, but non-spiritual causes can lead to spiritual desolation and his rules can help with elements related to the latter. You can find the rules in hi…
Click to expand...
I’d encourage you to keep talking with your spiritual director about these things. S/he probably knows you much better and can provide much better advice than a bunch of strangers on the internet. 🙂
 
safa92 said:
About a month ago, I went on a come and see retreat with the Dominicans. It was quite an experience. I had a really difficult time because I was really admiring the sisters’ life and yet I was very emotional throughout the weekend. I left feeling sad and confused. Since then, I’ve had such doubt enter my head and heart. I’ve been struggling with prayer for a while and I’ve been working on that with my spiritual director. My recent doubts include most aspects of prayer (the rosary, divine mercy, indulgences, invoking different saints), the legitimacy of the mass (the consecration), and the point of the sacraments.

Six months ago, I had such a thirst and zeal for God and since the retreat, it’s almost all but evaporated. The crazy thing is I still believe in the church as an institution. History has proven this much. I also believe the bible to be true. And so you say, “Well if you believe scripture, then you have to know that the sacraments and apostolic succession are true.”. Sure, I acknowledge it. But, I don’t feel anything anymore. I don’t have a desire to go to mass, pray, or do anything with the faith.

I’m not expecting any answers to these objections considering how deep some if them are. I just need help on how to get the spark again.
Click to expand...
Seems like the more you look for the experience of God, the more it eludes you.
As for forms of prayer mentioned, we don’t pray any form of prayer to have experiences, we pray because
  1. it is right and just
  2. and we should commit to it
  3. committing to prayer opens us up to loving God and others
In my life, the times when God is distant are an invitation to commit out of love, for the sake of love alone. Love is a choice. Wanting experiences/feelings can blind us and turn us inward.
Many times simply engaging in rote prayer like the rosary can lead out of that “desire to acquire” outlook into a more committed outlook.
Justmy2cents.
 
Last edited:
I feel like you do a lot of the time. Pray to Our Lady, she loves you and will give you lots of motherly love. Not praying is what will make you feel worse. Don’t be discouraged. I will keep you in my prayers.
 
‘Your progress in spiritual life does not consist in having the grace of consolation, but in enduring its withdrawal with humility, resignation, and patience, so that you neither become listless in prayer nor neglect your other duties in the least; but on the contrary do what you can do as well as you know how, and do not neglect yourself completely because of your dryness or anxiety of mind.’ - The Imitation of Christ
 
Misleading information based on the authors own bias and ignorance on contemplative prayer.

Turn to God and ask for His guidance. If He’s leading you to Centering Prayer, you’ll receive the transforming graces God will give.

Jim
 
Last edited:
It is my understanding that contemplative prayer is different than centering prayer.
 
They’re the same thing.

Contemplation is different than Contemplative Prayer.

Contemplation comes from God, where Contemplative Prayer, merely opens us up to Him.

When we prayer, we’re not trying to change God’s mind about us, but allowing God to change our mind. Prayer is opening ourselves to God’s transforming grace.

Religion which doesn’t help a person to move toward transformation, is useless religion.

People stuck in verbal prayer memorized by rote, but without an interior level of relationship with God, will not understand the contemplative life.

Jim
 
Thank you JimR-OCDS for taking the time to post your explanation, I agree it is God who first moves us to prayer and it is our co-operation with Gods’ grace is what enables us to change. I’m sure people desire to grow close to God.
 
Spiritual dryness is normal especially as you progress in the spiritual life. All saints have experienced it. It is possible it is caused by you if you are slacking in prayer or giving in to habitual sin or if you have become lukewarm, but I doubt that is the case with you. Doing spiritual reading can help if prayer becomes really difficult. Other than that nothing you can do but keep going and trying to be faithful. I’ve gone through times like that and sometimes it made me stop praying as consistently which made me fall away from God. So… I guess you have to trust God. You can talk to a priest or someone you trust about it too
 
Does your prayer life include discursive meditation upon Holy Scripture?
Have you heard God, in HIs Word - in Holy Scripture?
Have you encountered Jesus, in the Word?
If you have not, I would strongly encourage you to learn how to “pray Scripture” in the sense of Christian meditation - or “mental prayer”. I suggest this because it is important in the spiritual life to come to know God in Jesus Christ:
Rom 10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.

We cannot live in faith, without finding faith in hearing divine Truth - Jesus, and in Scripture we can hear Him.

How long should a soul listen to Scripture? Until you hear what only God can tell you. Then, having found and drunk of the Living Water, you know where the Fountain dwells: in Him.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top