i need your advice/opinion/help i guess

[zooropamanda]

I am catholic.
i dont really agree with much of the catholic church.
i always believed in God and still do but since a death in my family, i haven't really liked him as much.
My problems with my faith I guess.
Anyway my question is, if I dont really like him much at the moment, does that mean my praying for the health of a friend is kinda redundant?
Is me praying for her recovery pointless if I in fact am not feeling sure about my feelings for the big guy?

im sure this makes no sense.
i mean i prayed last time and it didnt work.
maybe my praying is a bad thing.
maybe i should shut up.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

manda, I know exactly how you feel because I have felt that way a lot over the last year. I am a Christian, but I currently am going through a whole set of questioning/searching/exploring in regards to faith, and God and I haven't been on very good speaking terms for a while. Which has made it hard when I felt the urge to pray about situations or close friends. But you know, I have a feeling that if God is as big and powerful and loving as he is supposed to be...then he understands and doesn't hold my frustration with him at the moment against my prayer.

Put it this way, if someone you absolutely ADORED and loved with all of your heart and wanted to make happy...if they were upset at you and you were waiting for them to come around and you were delighted in them and in any contact from them...if they called you up to ask for a bit of help, would you slam the phone down on them? I don't think so.

And God is the greatest lover we will ever know...someone who loves us more than we can fathom. Even though many times it sure doesn't feel like it. So, no I don't think it's redundant for you to have anger and doubt with God and still find yourself praying. Prayers are conversations with God, not magic incantations that will force him to do what we want. I don't think that you can ever blame yourself if something you pray for doesn't come about the way you wanted. It doesn't mean your prayers don't work. It means that he knew something we didn't know. I'm sorry if that sounds really pithy and cliche. I don't mean it to.

Cheers mate, and keep walking on.

-sula

 

[Crzy4Bono]

manda...

I'm sorry 'bout this for you - I will tell you I do not know a Christian who doesn't go through these feelings from time to time, but I would say go ahead and keep on praying. Think of it like this - I'm a parent and sometimes I don't like my kids too much even though I love them to pieces all the time! Does that make sense? Same with parents and all other people you love... it is in human nature to be mad at someone when you feel you've been let down.

So maybe when you pray you just start out by saying that - you know I love you and all God but I'm kind of mad right now - who knows, maybe He'll give you some peace.

Praying always works - it's just that sometimes the answer isn't what you were hoping to hear, and that may make you miss the answer you received altogether.

Peace

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She's gonna dream up a world she wants to live in / She's gonna dream out loud.
Visit my web page at www.u2page.com

 

[Gina Marie]

Originally posted by sulawesigirl4:
But you know, I have a feeling that if God is as big and powerful and loving as he is supposed to be...then he understands and doesn't hold my frustration with him at the moment against my prayer.

And God is the greatest lover we will ever know...someone who loves us more than we can fathom. Prayers are conversations with God, not magic incantations that will force him to do what we want. I'm sorry if that sounds really pithy and cliche.

Well, that whole post was just so beautiful Sula-and not 'pithy or cliche'-it made me cry. It's all so true. I can't really think of anything else to say after reading that.


God Bless Manda-and don't give up on prayer. We all have doubts and fears-and sometimes the comfort of prayer can give you strength you never knew possible.

 

[martha]

Manda, God doesn't care if we like Him or not; he loves us anyway. Pray for your friend. It will help both of you. When it seems as if He doesn't answer our prayers, maybe what we were praying for wasn't what He had planned for us. When I pray, I pray for the strength to follow His plan, the will to do what He wants me to do, and that whatever lessons He has for me will be learned.

As usual, sula said it very well.

 

[SummerRain]

I became angry at God for the first time in my life just a couple of days ago. I prayed
for something I really wanted more than anything in the world... my prayers came true the next day and I was on top of the world. The day after that what I had prayed for was taken away again. I got so angry at God. So completely angry that I felt ashamed, and it made me break down in tears. The only thing I felt I could do was to ask God for his forgiveness, as He had never turned his back on me before and I felt that He must have some greater plan for me, that's why what I had prayed for was taken away.
I can't say if it's wrong to be angry at God. All I can say is that I know how it feels

However, I still walk forward and put my life in His hands because I know that no matter what He always has my best interest at heart.

 

[zoomerang II]

Amanda,

As a lapsed catholic Australian having had the privilege of meeting you, I would suggest that you pray if it feels right for you.

There is nothing wrong at all in praying, it doesn't have to fit any stereotype, It's as much a way of comforting yourself as it is of instilling hope into those you care about - and its a very personal way of caring about those you love. I think these people, in some weird way, know about it as well, they somehow know that you are praying for them, although I don?t know how or why.

Just do what feels right. The fact that you care deeply enough for your friends health enough to consider praying is what is really important. And if you are consciously or unconsciously appealing to God for guidance, then that is fine, because we all need guidance in life - there is so much in this world that we can never understand.

 

[Lilly]

Originally posted by zooropamanda:
i mean i prayed last time and it didnt work.
maybe my praying is a bad thing.
maybe i should shut up.

Hmmm...I find your wording here quite interesting. Praying "didn't work" for you? I never took praying as a favor from God. I thought it was more a "Hey God, this is what I'm thinking and it would be nice if ______, so I hope you can help me with it, or at least give me the strength to understand it" (I always say the last part). Just because it didn't work doesn't mean it wasn't heard. What you asked for may not have been in the plan. So, that's why it didn't work for you. But in the end it DID work for you (twisted ain't it?). Just my thoughts there.

-Lil

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It's the puppets that pull the strings.

*You're very kind. Most people laugh when they see my googly eye.*

+fabulous+

 

[martha]

Originally posted by zoomerang II:
I think these people, in some weird way, know about it as well, they somehow know that you are praying for them, although I don?t know how or why.

When my husband and I had a lot of grief to deal with, we could feel the prayers of our loved ones for us. It's true; you CAN feel it.

 

[zooropamanda]

Well, sorry to get so personal Lilly, but I prayed and my dad died anyway, so I'm not all that concerned with semantics.

Thanks guys, you've been helpful, especially you zoomer.

 

[foray]

Yep, I too think that God cares for you regardless. Even the most religious man on earth has a reason for God to be angry/annoyed with him. We've all disappointed Him in some way, but He loves us anyway. Like what sula said. About why God doesn't answer prayers...

How about all the Indonesian Christians who were killed by their fellowmen? I'm sure they were praying their hardest to God before all that but they died anyway. It's so difficult for us to understand, including me. When a prayer doesn't seem to get through, it doesn't mean that God is arbitrary. Our concept of God and fairness is quite different from His, I believe. People question the Lord commanding battles in the Old Testament and punishing people. We then label Him an unjust God. It's us imposing our ethics/morals (what is the difference, btw?) onto God.

Hope you are coping thru this tough period with your friend. I hope that you do get a chance to visit her.

foray

 

[sulawesigirl4]

This is a repeat of what I posted in another thread, but actually I was ruminating on THIS thread when I thought of it.

...

I was thinking about this very thing last night...the idea that if we pray to God for something and then he doesn't answer in the way we are expecting that somehow he has failed us or our prayers are ineffective. And the one thing that suddenly struck me as I lay in my bed in the dark was this: Jesus himself prayed before his arrest and execution for another way, one other than the cross. Granted, he wasn't demanding but he was asking God...if there is any other way, "let this cup pass from me." He prayed...and God did not answer his prayer in the affirmative. I had never really thought about this before. Now if God Incarnate in the form of Jesus had a prayer answered NO, does that mean that God was angry with him? That Jesus was not an effective pray-er? I don't think we can say that.

manda, I dunno if it would be interesting to you, but a book that you might find interesting is "Disappointment with God" by Phillip Yancey (hey, Bono even likes this author

) He's a very "real" kind of writer and tackles these kinds of issues and questions head on and without pat answers. If you get the chance, it might be a good resource for you.

I hope that you are able to spend time with your friend and to celebrate her life. And if you ever need to just vent or talk with someone you know where to find me, k?

-sula