Do you ever feel like prayers are a waste of time? (cc)

[Mommy22alyns]

:grouphug: I can SO relate. I feel just like you. I really wish I could have that strong, faithful prayer life, but it just feels - yes - like a waste of time.

[justamouse]

I've felt that way.

Years ago I was reading "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" by Jim Cymbala and as I read these words, "God loves it when we come to him in weakness" (not exact but something like that). I bawled and bawled. I have been comforted by that thought ever since. when I am most weak is when He loves for me to seek Him out.

 

5 yrs ago my dh was very unfairly, illlegally forced to resign with NO warning (we went from a decent income to non in a matter of hours with no unemployment benefits -7 people at home). It was 2 years before we were stable again and really only since the fire that we've fully "recovered" (1/2 of our house is still unfinished). I remember waking up one morning during the worst of it all with the phrase, "Hold fast, help is on the way!" with the image of the old guy in Master in Commander (you know the guy with "hold fast" on his knuckles, getting brain surgery on deck?). This also gave me great comfort.

 

Jer 29:11 says God has good plans for you. But there is more. We have to seek him with all that we are.

His answers will dumbfound you. Looking back you will see how much he was training and guiding you and burning off the dross. You are precious to Him. He loves you.

I am praying for you today.

 

:grouphug:

 

We had the exact same thing happen. :grouphug::grouphug: We had just bought a house, baby on the way and he was locked out of his office and handed papers. We hadn't even paid our first mortgage payment. His boss, his best man at our wedding, planned it that way. And offered us a severance package we in no way could sign. We, like you, took years to recover. No income, our savings tied up in a house we couldn't sell (the last recession) and just praying every day to get through. But, the blessings-forcing us into that corner put us right where He wanted us to be. We started out own company and though it's been hard, it's been God's path for us.

 

And that rat went to federal prison for a few years, too, and I'm glad my Dh was out of that man's business and kept his reputation.

[sheryl]

Well, I don't think I've ever wanted to toss my faith out the window, HOWEVER, there was a time when I was angry with God!

 

Can you imagine? I had the nerve to be angry with God b/c He wasn't answering my prayers in the way and time that I wanted. Our prayers were answered a little differently than I thought, but His answer was better. He granted the desires of our heart.

 

Don't give up. That's EXACTLY what the enemy would want. Eventhough you see darknesss so too roots need the dark underground soil to grow. It is during the "winter" time that they are nourished ready to burst forth into LIFE in the spring.

 

:grouphug:

[Ginevra]

Well, uh, ahem, for a reply from a non-Christian that was a pretty Christian reply! ;)

 

Prayer has taken on a different place in my life lately, it seems like. I don't really see the point anymore of asking for things, trying to get God to do things the way I'd like. I got tired of that transactional nature of prayer. Now it's more just a letting go, similar to what you are describing -- "Your will be done," and "In your mercy," and "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner." Rather than trying to choreograph my life anymore, I just want to be one with Him, and my prayers reflect this, I think.

 

:grouphug: (((Kim))) :grouphug:

 

:iagree: I don't pray much anymore in the way it is traditionally thought of. I meditate. Sometimes I am repeating (orally or mentally) a mantra of something like "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me," or "May God's will be done through me." Other times, I'm just sitting with thoughts of people or situations that I wish to pray for. It's not really a "request" - I just have the people or situation resting in my mind and think of healing and love.

 

I came to this version of prayer because of the feelings the OP is talking about. The horrible things that happened in my life just left me unable to pray the "normal" way. It just left me heart-sick and angry at God.

[LittleIzumi]

{here come the tomatoes}

 

 

There are a lot of "I"s and "Me"s in this thread.

 

How about: "Thy will be done." ?

 

If it (problem, situation, etc.) is beyond human hands, it is certainly beyond "I" and "Me".

 

{more tomatoes}

 

 

One could reasonably assume that an 8 year old kid, being told he was the son of God and that he was going to die a gruesome death in +/- 30 years did a lot of praying for it not to happen. And that not one of those prayers were answered in his favor.

 

Think of the ever present bumper sticker: "WWJD". Well, he hung on a cross, praying to God not to die while the people around him mocked him, stripped him, stabbed him, watched him thirst, and left him to suffocate.

 

 

Not everything is personal: some things just are. They hurt, they are damaging, destructive - devastating. But as people who believe that this life is just a stop en route to an eternal life - "from dust I made you, and to dust you shall return" - there weren't any guarantees of happiness or petition answering in that part. The only guarantee was for what would come afterwards.

 

That is what faith is - making the decision to trust that the plan will work, but understanding that one must play one's own role.

 

 

 

(with apologies to my priest whose homily I just co-opted in a mangled manner)

 

a

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I love this scripture (from Doctrine & Covenants):

5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;

 

6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;

 

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 

8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

 

I also just watched a 20-min short film last night on this very topic. It's beautiful. http://thebutterflycircus.com/short-film/

 

And of course, :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:.

[laughing lioness]

{here come the tomatoes}

 

 

There are a lot of "I"s and "Me"s in this thread.

 

How about: "Thy will be done." ?

 

If it (problem, situation, etc.) is beyond human hands, it is certainly beyond "I" and "Me".

 

 

{more tomatoes}

 

 

One could reasonably assume that an 8 year old kid, being told he was the son of God and that he was going to die a gruesome death in +/- 30 years did a lot of praying for it not to happen. And that not one of those prayers were answered in his favor.

 

Think of the ever present bumper sticker: "WWJD". Well, he hung on a cross, praying to God not to die while the people around him mocked him, stripped him, stabbed him, watched him thirst, and left him to suffocate.

 

 

Not everything is personal: some things just are. They hurt, they are damaging, destructive - devastating. But as people who believe that this life is just a stop en route to an eternal life - "from dust I made you, and to dust you shall return" - there weren't any guarantees of happiness or petition answering in that part. The only guarantee was for what would come afterwards.

 

That is what faith is - making the decision to trust that the plan will work, but understanding that one must play one's own role.

 

 

 

(with apologies to my priest whose homily I just co-opted in a mangled manner)

 

a

 

Excellent points I agree.

And I would like to add that faith is personal. When life gets tought it's about applying your beliefs to YOUR life, YOUR situation, being honest and forthright. The world is full of hypocrites who look at belief and faith as "Just business"- you clock in, do the ritual, go home- or blow it off completely and belief that you are in control, you have the answers OR that there is no control and NO answers.

It's when you are forced to really, up close and personal, look at how our faith informs you, tests you, strengthens you, that you own it or not. And I hear the OP saying that she is desperatly trying to OWN her faith in circumstances that are cooking her grits.

All that being said, as we draw closer to Him we have the privilage of sharing more in His blessings and His burdens.

[unsinkable]

When my parents died when I was a teenager, I felt like my prayers were a waste of time. I just wanted the pain to stop and it didn't. I didn't understand the nature of grief and loss and how it was connected to love. It took me years to even begin to understand that. And in the meantime, I did many destructive things to myself to try to take the pain of grief away.

 

As an adult, I don't think I have felt that prayers are a waste of time. I feel that there is more to this life than I can ever understand and that I just can't know what might have happened if I hadn't prayed.

 

A priest I know told a group of us this story recently:

 

A man had come to him and begged the priest to pray for his wife, to put her on pray lists, add her to masses, ask everyone he knew to pray for his wife. The wife was very, very sick. So Father did. He said dozens upon dozens of people were praying for this woman.

 

The priest didn't her from the man for days. He tried to call him & couldn't reach him. He happened to run into the man unexpectedly and asked him how his wife was. The man waved his hand at Father and said, "Oh, she's fine. I guess we didn't need the prayers after all."

 

:001_huh: