When prayers seem to go unanswered

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For example I drive Uber and I say a Hail Mary before every ride. I do this with the unconscious assumption that because I said it, things will go smoothly. But in the last two days two rides have gone very poorly.

Not just with Uber but in dealing with evil spirits I’ve often been left unaided even with rosaries said, St. Michael prayers, sacraments , holy water, etc.

I am a new Catholic so I’m leaning the basics.

What goes on in heaven when we pray and our prayers aren’t answered? I can believe that they are answered in ways we don’t expect.

Also, is our level of worthiness ties to prayers being answered.

I am a very wretched sinner and I sometimes believe that’s why things go poorly.
 
God hears our prayers. Yes, no, later. So sometimes when we think they haven’t been answered is because we don’t see any change, but they have been answered with either a No or a Later - everything happens in God’s Time, not ours. Think of Abraham who was past age and Sarah who was barren, yet they through Faith in God did eventually have a child after all those years trying.

It could be that God knows we can help ourselves, or He does send answers but we don’t recognize them (the story of the person atop a rooftop in the midst of floods and waiting to be rescued. Three times God sent assistance, but each time the person refused the help sent and said “God will save me”. Well, the person died and so asked God why didn’t He save him. It was then God pointed out that three times He had sent help and each time it had been refused.) It can also be a test of Faith in God, or to develop trust or to develop patience and wait for God to act. Trouble is us humans are an impatient lot!

When God lets us wait: The hidden grace of unanswered prayers

When Prayers Go Unanswered
dbranch said:
Also, is our level of worthiness ties to prayers being answered.
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None of us are worthy. But depending on the prayer asked, it could be because we really want what we want and not what God wants. Our prayers that we ask, should be with the understanding “if it be your Will, O Lord.”
 
Prayers are always answered. God either says yes or he has something even better in mind.

Suffering in this life has a long list of benefits for a soul if we allow it.

Peace.
 
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I will pray for you @dbranch that your guardian angel (s) watch over you and
protect you on your job.
 
We also pray because we are in relationship with a God we love and want to talk to and spend time with Him. Prayer changes us, so we can meet our challenges with grace.

But please understand, we won’t be spared every bad thing. Even Jesus wasn’t spared the Cross
 
I’m a bit concerned because you say you are a new Catholic but talk about “dealing with evil spirits” which suggests superstition that Catholics should generally avoid.
I would suggest talking to your priest about this.
 
I’m sorry, but if my prayers are not answered “my way” then as far as I am concerned they have not been answered.
 
God doesn’t “need” to do anything, nor does he need to “earn” your soul.

If you want to separate yourself from God, it’s on you, not him, and you’ll be the one who pays for your action, not him.

Have a nice day.
 
Lost_Sheep said:
Again, if He want’s my soul then He needs to earn it.
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He made it. He already has it in one sense. What you have to decide is what you want to happen to it after your body dies. The attitude expressed in these posts indicate that you do not want it in Heaven. Choose wisely.
 
You sound like you’re hurting.
Sometimes we get to the end of our rope. 😒
 
God grants us anything we seek if it is conducive to our salvation (in fact, if He ultimately denies what we seek it means not getting it is even better for our salvation). The Roman Catechism sums this up when discussing this principle of prayer:
For God will either grant what is asked, and thus they will obtain their wishes; or He will not grant it, and that will be a most certain proof that what is denied the good by Him is not conducive either to their interest or their salvation, since He is more desirous of their eternal welfare than they themselves.
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Sometimes this might even mean suffering and trials (see Our Lord’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, for example).
 
dbranch said:
What goes on in heaven when we pray and our prayers aren’t answered?
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Your prayers may very well be in the process of being answered. Suppose you asked God to make you more patient, more tolerant, more loving and compassionate. We mustn’t expect Him to snap his fingers and transform us with no effort on our part. The situations we face and must endure are all of benefit. By exposing us to the worst the world has He is guiding us to becoming the mature and wise souls that Jesus set as an example. Paul said to rejoice in our many tribulations. The fastest way to spiritual growth is through adversity. Accept this and pray, not for deliverance from trial, but for strength to endure and learn.
 
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Think of a child that demands something that is not good for them. Their parents will rightfully withhold it. Often we want things that we should not have. Often we see ourselves as being thwarted. God knows better.
 
FWIW, a spiritual practice I found really helpful was to find things to thank Jesus for. Even if life is going crappy and there’s more than I can handle on my plate, I try to find something, even if it’s just the pretty sunset, or the fact there’s chocolate chip cookies in the house.
Turning my mental attention to the good doesn’t “fix” my problems, but it makes me more calm and less reactive and better able to cope.
 
dbranch said:
Also, is our level of worthiness ties to prayers being answered.

I am a very wretched sinner and I sometimes believe that’s why things go poorly.
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God hears every prayer. The answer to the prayer might be “no” or “not now”.

Prayer is not a sort of “if I am good, God will grant my wishes”. I know that is the vibe we get from the “prosperity gospel” non-Catholics, and it is sad.

I’d suggest a great book by Fr Dubay, “The Prayer Primer”.
 
Thank you for your concern. I’m not going to go into anything here, but rest assured my priest is guiding me.
 
CCC #2734 onwards
III. FILIAL TRUST

2734 Filial trust is tested - it proves itself - in tribulation.22 The principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition , for oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop praying because they think their petition is not heard. Here two questions should be asked: Why do we think our petition has not been heard? How is our prayer heard, how is it “efficacious”?

Why do we complain of not being heard?

2735 In the first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the image of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? or the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

2736 Are we convinced that “we do not know how to pray as we ought”?23 Are we asking God for “what is good for us”? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him,24 but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants.25

2737 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."26 If we ask with a divided heart, we are “adulterers”;27 God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. "Or do you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?’"28 That our God is “jealous” for us is the sign of how true his love is. If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.

Do not be troubled if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask him; for he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.29

God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.30
 
Because of the way the OP is posting about them. Also because he is a new Catholic.
If he were someone who had been for some time fending off evil spirits at a higher stage of spiritual development (like St. Padre Pio, St. Martin de Porres, St. Teresa of Avila, the diocesan exorcist, etc), it would be less likely to be superstition, and also, no one at a higher stage of spiritual development would say that they prayed but God left them unaided against the evil spirit.
 
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MasterHaster said:
If “evil spirits” exist, why do you refer to the concern as superstition?
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I tend to agree with @MasterHaster because you simply cannot overdo spiritual warfare, or be misguided in using holy water etc. because according to the Bible devils seek to devour us 24/7 from all directions, so even if someone seems delusional or superstitious in fighting off demons, nothing they’re doing is a waste.
 
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