Swearing in prayer?

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TemplarKnight1

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I often use the F word, the S word when I pray… whenI talk to God casually, or when I need to express some frustration to him (not toward him).

To better express myself, I sometimes swear in prayer…
With regards to a current assignment I was doing, I asked for the help of a certain saint and said “Hey Saint… xx, can you help me write this sh*t”?"

I also believe that I can best express myself through prayer. There is no better way to express frustration than through swearing…

Anything wrong with this?
 
Oh please don’t curse when you pray.

God and the Saints are not cursing at us, so why should we curse when speaking to Him and the Saints? I’d really stop doing this if I were you.

Would you say to your wife “Help me with this st"? No, I’d doubt it. Would you say to your son "F* why won’t you behave?” No.

Why would you use vulgar language when speaking to God, and even though you’re not cursing AT him, you’re still cursing when talking to Him. It’s disrespectful, and whether it’s a sin or not I don’t know, but I don’t think you should pray that way.

(my opinion)
 
think about it this way, if Jesus were standing right in front of you, then would you curse?
 
When I made my 1st confession a couple of months ago I was given an Examination of Conscience pamphlet. One of the questions asked if I had cursed or used vile language. If it was listed for general conversation I would think it would apply even more to prayer.
 
God can handle everything you say. As long as you don’t curse the holy spirit which is a major sin and could send you to hell, swearing if it will help you to express your frustrations to God is ok. I suggest over time that you try to clean up your mouth. God loves us and although it’s great to be upfront with him, sometimes limiting the profanity is also nice. Imagine how you would feel if someone was using all kinds of profanity as they tried to speak with you? Or if after so many words in this response, a profane word was used. Most wouldn’t appreciate it and would find it annoying at best.
 
What would you think if you turned to the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper and read ‘take and eat, this s%&t is My body …’?

Or to accounts of the Agony in the Garden and heard ‘Father, if it be Your will let this f$%^ing cup pass from Me’?

Would you believe a person who uses such language to be the Son of God? A true noble leader whose example is worth following? Or even someone better worth listening to than all the other dime-a-dozen potty-mouths out on the street? No you wouldn’t.

But you are a child of God, you are meant to be a noble leader, you are supposed to be more worth listening to than the average dude on the street. So act like it!

No. No. Heck no. Jesus did not use vulgar language, nor did Our Lady, nor should we. Your choice of language comes from your heart and says a lot about your personality. You talk vulgarly, unintelligently, like someone who hasn’t figured out a better and more constructive way to express anger or frustation than bad language. You can and should change all of those things.

Please stop.
 
St. John Bosco had a zero tolerance policy on swearing. I’ll pray he washes your mouth out with soap! 😛 But seriously, foul language is a bad habit, and it’s never OK to use this language with God, Our Lady, or the saints. I wouldn’t talk to my mother like that, so I wouldn’t talk to the Most High God like that. Think about it.
 
Once I learned that there is much swearing and blasphemy in Hell (the Saints themselves will tell you this), I realized I needed to stop. After going to Confession for the first time in 7 or 8 years, I came out of the confessional a changed person. I stopped swearing almost instantaneously. I attribute it to God’s Grace. See, this is the danger of the society that we live in…we hear swearing around us like it’s nothing…we hear young people saying, “Oh they’re just words…just a way of expressing myself…no biggie.” Think about it. The “f” word is taking something beautiful that God gave to married couples–lovemaking–and making it nasty and vulgar. How do you suppose God feels about that? The “d” word really means to send somebody or something to a place where you wouldn’t want ANYONE to EVER go…HELL!!! Read the description of Hell by Teresa of Avila and see if you ever want to use the “d” word again. And the “s” word, while not technically a swear word, certainly isn’t pleasant when you really stop to think about it. When you say, "Saint xxx, help me with this “s”, you are actually calling something that God has WILLED “s”!! Yes, that’s right–if it’s happening to us, it’s either because God ordained it or because He allowed it for our greater good or the good of others. No, I think you should apologize to God for using such language. I would also take it to the Confessional so that you might receive the Grace to stop swearing completely.
 
If someone who “swears like a sailor” utters these words (scatological, etc.) during prayer without really thinking about it, that might not be terribly serious. Of course it should be stopped, but what I mean is that the person is showing that his heart is slowly moving in the right direction by beginning to pray.

It’s also worth mentioning that to use God’s name in vain is probably worse that the vulgar words mentioned by the OP. For many of us, our ears react to the F and S words, but barely flinch at the way Our Lord’s name is used every day in “polite” conversation.
God’s name is who He is. The other terms are made up by humans.
 
surritter said:
If someone who “swears like a sailor” utters these words (scatological, etc.) during prayer without really thinking about it, that might not be terribly serious. Of course it should be stopped, but what I mean is that the person is showing that his heart is slowly moving in the right direction by beginning to pray.

It’s also worth mentioning that to use God’s name in vain is probably worse that the vulgar words mentioned by the OP. For many of us, our ears react to the F and S words, but barely flinch at the way Our Lord’s name is used every day in “polite” conversation.
God’s name is who He is. The other terms are made up by humans.
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They are terms for real things - real bodily functions, real parts of the anatomy and so on - which were also given to us by God. We should treat them with respect and not use them as terms of abuse.
 
LilyM said:
They are terms for real things - real bodily functions, real parts of the anatomy and so on - which were also given to us by God. We should treat them with respect and not use them as terms of abuse.
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Yes, I said that we shouldn’t use those words. But notice that I was merely putting those words in perspective of God Himself.

You probably cringe when you hear someone say, “That scared the sh-- out of me.” (And we should cringe.)

Yet I’ll bet most of us don’t instinctively cringe as much when someone says, “J----s, did you see how fast that car was going?”

They’re both words, but the second sentence is waaaaay more disrespectful to God, because it doesn’t just cheapen His creation, it cheapens Him.
I didn’t mean to create an unnecessary dichotomy; but it was a good chance to put things in perspective.
 
surritter said:
Yes, I said that we shouldn’t use those words. But notice that I was merely putting those words in perspective of God Himself.

You probably cringe when you hear someone say, “That scared the sh-- out of me.” (And we should cringe.)

Yet I’ll bet most of us don’t instinctively cringe as much when someone says, “J----s, did you see how fast that car was going?”

They’re both words, but the second sentence is waaaaay more disrespectful to God, because it doesn’t just cheapen His creation, it cheapens Him.
I didn’t mean to create an unnecessary dichotomy; but it was a good chance to put things in perspective.
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I don’t know where you’re getting this from - my experience is exactly the opposite, that people WILL cringe more at a misuse of the divine name than a reference to a bodily part/function.

In fact I’ve heard people try to justify their use of the latter type of words with ‘but the commandment only talks about the Lord’s name!’
 
Well, I’m glad – although that’s certainly not my experience. If the TV censors let the F word slip by, the station would get tons of calls complaining. But they routinely let profanations of the name of God flow out into the air, and I’ll bet they get very few calls.
That’s what I meant – but I guess I’d like to live in your city where the tendency to complain may go the other way!
We agree that both forms of swearing are unacceptable to Christians, so complacency of any kind shouldn’t be our stance. Sorry I brought it up 🙂
 
SecretGarden said:
God can handle everything you say. As long as you don’t curse the holy spirit which is a major sin and could send you to hell, swearing if it will help you to express your frustrations to God is ok.
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Our God is a Holy God.

If we really meditate on what that means, we’ll know how to approach him appropriately.
 
What kind of evil being would express themselves that way???

👍

Don’t worry, in church I once told my priest to uh, go do something. If I’m not screwed for that one, you’ll be fine. You probably just need to figure out where that inner toughness/aggression is coming from and why it’s there.
 
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