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praying
soo i'm kinda stuck. I'm not really sure how to explain this. I'm considered catholic. But at the same time, i'm not really sure if I believe in catholicism. My family and I celebrate catholic holidays like christmas and easter. Its a tradition blah blah blah but i'm not like super religious about it. I don't go to church. like ever. the last time i went to church was maybe 7 years ago for christmas. My friends talk about the bible, about mary and jesus and his disciples. But in all honesty... It makes no sense to me. I really have no idea how to explain this haha. I believe in it.. but not that much. Like I believe there is a god, and there was a jesus. But i'm not like super duper religious, like I don't read the bible. I don't think I have ever read anything from the bible haha.
anyways.. I'm at the point in my life where a lot of bad stuff is happening. A lot of drama and stress. One of my friends told me to pray and become more religious. She said that I should go to church more often and confide in a priest and confess my sins. She says this will make me a happier person. (I am almost at rock bottom in my life right now)
Part of me believes that I should pray and confess my sins etc. But part of me believes that this will make no effect at all. I've tried praying before.. I really have. many and multiple times. I tried praying so hard, outloud and in my head. But the thing is... nothing ever changes. I dont understand how some people can pray and then things magically change for them. But how come when I pray, nothing changes???
gah i'm just so confused! I'm catholic and believe in god and jesus. But not overly religious. Why does nothing change for me when I try to pray? I just need some religious advice please!
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Hello there mate,
we are all at different stages in our Faith. Okay, so perhaps you don't feel you are really religious (I hate that word - too many negative connotations about recluse, narrow-minded holier-than-thou weirdos); but Catholics believe in a personal God who loves you. Prayer is a real means of changing the world - but in the end it changes you! Through prayer you see yourself better, and see how God is part of this world too. You understand the world and you can handle it. God gives you strength to get through each day, not worrying about today for tomorrow has its own worries! Even in a non-relgious way, pray allows one to evaluate their life and make resolutions to change - how much moreso when the Holy Spirit is moving through you in prayer.
We are all called to become saints - answer that call dude!
Perhaps ask Mary, Jesus' mum to pray for you, or your guardian angel. Maybe try and go to a church during the week when it is quieter and see what happens - talk to a priest if you want. Your friends seem to be there to help you along too.
Don't be afraid to let God change you, so he can change the world through you.
God allows suffering, but does not cause it. BUT He allows good to flow from it - whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger, etc.. Put your trust in him, pray and listen to him. spend time reading the bible to hear what he says to you!!
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My answer's going to be a little odd because I'm an atheist.
It's my opinion that faith should be a personal thing. Faith has nothing to do with what church you go to. It's all about your personal relationship with your god. So if highly ritualized confession, bible study and prayer isn't your thing, try something new.
Faith is supposed to be a comfort, right? So find a way to pray that makes you feel better. I've always interpreted the Bible (yes, I've read it, multiple times, even though I'm an atheist... it's good reading!) as having one message once you get past all the gooey stuff that was put in there by people: love. Love yourself, love others and love your higher power because all of them love you. It means you're never alone as long as you have your faith.
So you can try to use prayer to ask for your life to be turned around. It probably won't happen, and it doesn't for most people. Good things come to those who fight for themselves. What you can do is look to your higher power for an emotional boost to help you through this time, and for a shoulder to cry on when things aren't working out the way you want to.
You can choose to view your god as an almighty, vengeful being who will cast into the fiery pits of hell anyone who doesn't do as one particular religion says. That doesn't seem all that comforting to me, though. So explore your personal relationship. That might come to you through bible study, or personal reflection. I've heard some say that their best way to understand their higher power is to get outside and enjoy nature. So enjoy your faith!
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Hi,
I'm a Christian, and this is the most incredible thing. I have been repeatedly running into a verse over the last few days, which I thought must be God reminding me, but I think it is God giving it to me to give to you!
Basically, it says that if you obey God your prayers will be answered.
So maybe you aren't obeying God.
Start to try to obey God, and he will see where your heart is. If you obey him because you love him, that is when things start to happen.
He gives us things to obey to protect us, and they really do help!
Also, if you pray wanting something, but it doesn't line up with God, then it probably won't happen. Like if you pray to win a million dollars, even if you are going to use it to build orphanages which you would think God would like, well if you are lazy and don't work hard, or if you have a hard heart and are stubborn and argumentative, then you aren't really lining up with God, so it probably won't happen.
And i know some crazy mean people seem to get good stuff like winning the lottery, but they live in a human world where human lotteries take place where anyone can win. Not necessarily a God thing.
I do agree with reading your bible. If you fill your head with the good things of God, then when some rubbish thought or idea comes into your head, it's easier to do the right thing and think the right thing and be more positive. I think the devil can and will get into your life to try and ruin you any way possible, and it sounds like you might be right in the middle of that now.
If you have a good knowledge of the bible and are reading if often, it is harder for Satan to do that to you cos you can slay him with the word of God.
For instance, if Satan tells you that you are rubbish and your life will suck for ever, you could say to yourself, 'That isn't true because like it says in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."
The more you do that, the more Satan hates it and will flee from your life, leaving you feeling happier and more at peace. Also God is in control. Don't give the devil a chance to trick you into believing otherwise. If you believe his lies they can become very real. So start reading your bible a lot and believe it!
Proverbs is great as it tells you sensible ways to live and things to follow. So are the new testament books.
I also do really believe that you need to confess your sins. But I don't think you need to go to a priest to do it. You can have a direct relationship with God and Jesus yourself, without a priest doing it for you.
Just praise God and honestly say the stuff you have done wrong, and ask him for his help in changing you and helping you to do the right stuff, and thank him that he forgives you, because he does forgive you everytime you say you are sorry!
A really important part of this is that you repent from your sins, which means if you know that you are doing something wrong, that you try your absolute hardest to stop it. Now everyone in the whole world sins everyday, so believe that you won't be able to be perfect, but also understand that it is the fact that you try to turn from your sins and do good that God likes. And the most important bit, it is not what you do that gets you into Heaven, it is your relationship with Jesus and the fact that God gave you Jesus to be nice to you cos he loves you.
I have this really great book that shows this really well. It shows how Heaven is absolutely perfect and how God is an absolutely perfect God. It then goes on to show how every single person in the world is a sinner, cos even stealing a pen, or telling a white lie, or being really annoyed at someone, or finding a person really hot and imagining something a bit dirty about them is a sin, and we have all done so many things wrong!
It then shows that in the olden days, God loved his people so much, that even though they sinned, he stil wanted them in Heaven, but because they have sins, they can't go to a perfect Heaven. So he created a way around this, by getting them to find a perfect male lamb, and take it to a place of sacrifice. They then had to put their hand on the lambs head, so the sins would come out of thenm and into the lamb. That made them clean, but made the lamb dirty with sin. So the lamb gets killed and all the sins, and then the person is clean and perfect and can go to Heaven.
Then God had another plan, and he sent Jesus, who was the only perfect person to walk this earth. He never did one thing wrong! This was because he was made from God. (so he was perfect like the lamb and male like the lamb)
God sent Jesus to die on the cross. Just before he died, it was like all the sin from everyone who believed in him in the world was put onto Jesus, the same way it had been put on the lamb. Then when Jesus died, all the sin died.
That only had to happen once. That one sacrifice lasts forever. If we believe in Jesus now, then he has our sin, and we can go to Heaven.
We do need to try and repent from our sins though. It would be really offensive to God if he had his son killed so we would be clean of our sins, and then for us to not at least try to be better/clean ourselves.
Also, sometimes God's answer may not be what you want, but it is still an answer, and it is for your good in the long run even though it doesnt look like it at the time. If you understand that God is your father it makes sense.
Like if one of my little kids asked me if they could eat 10 packets of chocolate biscuits in one hit. To them it would seem really awesome and like a great idea. I would seem mean and uncaring when I didn't let them, when I said no, or when i made them do something else instead. But I love my kids, and I know that eating that many biscuits wouldn't be the best thing for them. I may also know something in the future that they did't know like we were going out for dinner that night at a super restaurant. Or I may know something like the biscuits had a dodgy ingrediant in them linked to brain deformities, but didn't want to tell them as they wouldn't understand, so i just want to protect them and just have to seem mean. Thats okay by me though, because I love them and protecting them is a priority to me.
Does that make sense? Sometimes God's got a better plan, and he may not give you what you want, but his plan is better, and once it happens we can look back and see how...
Try to get your hands on an easy to understand bible. There are so many available and some are written in really hard to understand language and some are so modern and easy to read, they are actually fun! A study bible is so helpful as it has little notes at the bottom of the page to help you understand what the things you are reading mean.
My bible is a New Living Translation, and it is called Life Application Study Bible, and it is awesome!
I hope this all helps! I will pray for you as well.
I encourage you to keep praying. It matters what you believe in the long run. Heaven is a very real place, and so is hell, and you really want to make sure you go go heaven, cos hell would be horrible, even for 10 seconds, let alone for a time that just keeps going on and on and on and on and on.......
Your life is more than 80 years. It is eternity, and when your body dies, you don't die, your spirit will go to either heaven or hell, and it is critical that you get right with God and go to Heaven :-)
Also, life has ups and downs. A bit like a roller coaster. So when you are on an up, expect a bit of a down, and when you are down, cheer up, cos an up will be coming your way!
Once I became a Christian, i prayed that God would teach me, but in a gentle way, and it really happened! My life used to be full of dramas, but it really became much more gentle, and instead of a big rollercoaster i now get little slopes up and little slopes down, but nothing dramatic, and it is lovely and peaceful!
And it also says in the Bible that God never gives a person more than they can handle. So have confidence in yourself when you are dealing with the hard stuff in life, because God has confidence in you, and that is a pretty amazing thing!
Good night, and God bless you!
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Well 1st let me say this politely. Catholicism doesn't help anybody grow in Christ because they don't teach people how to have a personal relationship with God or how to pray. All they do is recital of prayer which in reality isn't prayer at all and is forbidden by the Bible. Confessing 2a priest won't help you either because 1)the priest is a human being and also sins.2) the Bible commands us to confess our sins ONLY to God not priest. I don't think their is any particular formular of praying but Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray, unfortunately catholicism won't teach you all this just useless recital of prayers. You don't need to become more religious or even religious at all. All you need is to accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour, accept your a sinner & confess your sins TO GOD then submitt your needs to Him and belive that He is well able. You have to have faith in God coz 'without faith it is impossible to please God' Becoming more religious, prayer recital, mary, priests, etc..etc won't help you with your problems or when your troubled only CHRIST. You say that you pray real hard but nothing happens you got to have FAITH, and get serious with God. The Bible says 'Draw near to God and He will draw near to you' You can email me if you want to know more or if you didn't understand something I wrote. Hope I helped.
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