Advice

[God_of_Mercy]

I realize any advice you give me may be limited because I am not catholic but I feel closest to the catholic faith so I come here.

Anyway, I am concerned about my spirtual life, or lack thereof. I have not prayed or gone to church in nearly two months. It seems that I have nearly lost my faith altogether. I just don't seem to care anymore. But deep down I do care, and I want to come back but I can't bring my self to. I have even planned to go to mass but later decided against it.

Any comments or prayers would be appreciated.

 

[karla]

Many prayers your way - everyone has highs in lows in their spiritual life, I know that I have. My suggestion would be to go to mass, if you can go to adoration and just sit with our Lord for an hour and ask Him to speak to your heart, you will feel better. Have you spoken with a priest about how you are feeling? I know that you are not Catholic, but I would encourgae you to make an appoitment with the priest in your local Catholic church.

 

[Romans 13:3]

I have had a similar struggle off and on through my life. I had a priest tell me once in college to think of faith like a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it will get. You don't go out and run a marathon if all you have done for a year is sit on the couch. Go to church and take in some time in reflection as suggested above. Maybe while you are there or even before you go, consider why you have drifted away from the Lord. You don't get a 1,000plus posts on a Christian site without a keen interest in the spiritual side of things, perhaps you are not as far away as you think.

You have my thoughts and prayers.

 

[isshinwhat]

Ditto to the above. Ask for grace, and be willing to heed its call, all the while remembering that as God calls you closer, the Devil wants you all the more. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, pray for us.

 

[Assisi]

I realize any advice you give me may be limited because I am not catholic but I feel closest to the catholic faith so I come here.

Welcome!

Anyway, I am concerned about my spirtual life, or lack thereof. I have not prayed or gone to church in nearly two months. It seems that I have nearly lost my faith altogether. I just don't seem to care anymore. But deep down I do care, and I want to come back but I can't bring my self to. I have even planned to go to mass but later decided against it.

Any comments or prayers would be appreciated.

for you!

My main advice would be to rely on God to bring you back to Him. By that I don't mean that you should just sit back and wait, but rather that you should ask Him for help. Eg. Commit to the Lord to pray for 15 mins a day, then ask the Lord to help you to keep your commitment and to teach you to pray. Set an alarm to remind yourself (do it at the same time every day) and go in with a plan every day.
Your plan may be to read some spiritual reading and then to pray about its application in your life. I recommend Thomas a Kempis 'In Imitation of Christ'.
Your plan may be to kneel in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
Your plan may be to pray the rosary.
But most importantly, if you are having trouble praying, knowing what to pray about, or focusing without getting distracted - the best thing you can do (in my experience) is the pray about that. Tell the Lord that it's difficult, and ask for His help. 'Ask and it shall be given to you'.

Finally, one thing which I find helpful when I'm having trouble in my prayerlife is to use good books, plays, music or movies to encourage me. I'm not talking about serious, study books, but things like CS Lewis 'Screwtape Letters', or the Narnia books, or a video like 'A Man for All Seasons' or a book by Elizabeth Gaskell. These help me because they are good things which I enjoy (it's important to enjoy them), but which also are full of Christian morals and messages. I find this edifying. Even a pleasant walk on a warm afternoon helps...

 

[Maggie893]

Hey God_of_Mercy,

That name in itself should encourage you.

Lot's of great advice here so I'll just add a few comments to it.

Know that your desire for God, as small as it may be, is a grace from God Himself. He loves you and is calling you deeper. Your choice but at least you know you're welcome.

Because meditation and even getting to Mass can be huge hurdles when you feel so far away (and trust me I've been there), I'd suggest that you start by praying simple vocal prayers.

I'll throw out this site: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayer_saint.htm

Right now you have to set your will to do something proactive toward God and I realize that some things may seem too hard. But on that site you'll find lots of prayers and devotions. Find a couple that you could pray each morning and perhaps even each evening. The Catholic church has a vast amount of written prayers for this very reason. They bring you into relationship with God. They ignite your heart and mind toward God. And you begin to reframe your perspective in light of the words that you are reciting each day. Eventually you'll start more spontaneous prayer which will bring you even closer to God but for now just start with the basics.

I also suggest that you find some phrase that you can repeat throughout the day. ( In the Church we call them ejaculatory prayers but that throws people off sometimes, it might be a good reminder though. ) Something like, "Jesus, I trust in you." or "I love you Lord" or "Thank you for being with me Lord" or "I believe, help my unbelief" or "Jesus is Lord" or "Help me Lord!" ( I use that last one a lot.)

I also like to have easy songs that worship God in my mind that I sing in my head during the day. Before you know it, you'll be singing them constantly and worshipping God simultaneously. When I first came to Christ it was actually an old hymn, How Great Thou Art that I would sing. I now have some more contemporary tunes in my head but that one still crops up sometimes.

Basically your faith will be weak as long as your will is weak. If you truly want a relationship with God, it's there for the taking. You simply need to convict yourself of it's value. I've actually experienced physical pain when I've psychologically seperated myself from God and only a return to prayer which led to a return to the sacraments could resolve that.

I'll be praying for you.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Yes, the highs and lows happen to everyone.

And if you can, go to Church alone and pray. Maybe seeing holiness surrounding you might help. It puts us in the mood to reflect on God and all He has done with and for the Saints.

Look to the altar and reflect on His Presense.

SOME of my most uplifting moments were when I was alone in Church. Some really powerful things have occurred there too.

 

[Kasia]

I realize any advice you give me may be limited because I am not catholic but I feel closest to the catholic faith so I come here.

Anyway, I am concerned about my spirtual life, or lack thereof. I have not prayed or gone to church in nearly two months. It seems that I have nearly lost my faith altogether. I just don't seem to care anymore. But deep down I do care, and I want to come back but I can't bring my self to. I have even planned to go to mass but later decided against it.

Any comments or prayers would be appreciated.

Oh man, that is exactly what I went through (down to the 2 months of feeling out-of-touch with my faith) until about a week ago. One thing that really helped me was to go to confession and start fresh with God...you're not Catholic though, so I don't know how much that would help you

But

 

[Amylisa]

Confession would help anyone! God's grace is there if your repentance is real.
God bless you, God of mercy! He loves you.

 

[stivvy]

Get involved and make friends in a church community. It will get you more interested.

Immersion in the faith is the best way.

Ever go into a swimming pool and think "Man, the water is cold. How am I going to do this?" So you start to wade in and gets to a point where you just stop and say "I can't do this". But if you just dive in and surround your body in the water then you come up and you are like "This is OK" and then you smile and start swimming around with the others and it becomes fun.

So, you are playing the "Wader" now. I say step up to the diving board and get the heck in with all your friends and let's have a blast in the pool of the baptized!

 

[God_of_Mercy]

I would just like to thank everyone for their imput and prayers. Your prayers are very powerful and have helped me come back to my faith. Thanks for all the links posted as well. I'm reading "The Imitation of Christ" right now and I think its great.