Why is it that I do not sense the Holy Spirit's presence or voice when I pray to him?

[RileyG]

God is faithful and will hear your prayer.

Feelings come and go. They do not define our relationship with God.

Blessings

 

[com7fy8]

Trust God, and pray for others, and forgive.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

As I understand it, in the Catholic Church, "the state of grace" is the state of the soul in which the Holy Spirit dwells inside of the soul. On the contrary, the state of mortal sin, is when you have committed such a heinous sin, that the Holy Spirit departs from your soul.
Then why is it, that when I cry out to the Holy Spirit for him to guide me, help me, and heal me, he never seems to answer?
I have no conscious mortal sin on my soul.
Why is it that I cannot seem to get into contact with the Holy Spirit, when I need it the most? I need to ask him for things, yet my prayers are never heard. I would like to speak to God the way a human being speaks to another.
Why then is it that I cannot sense his presence (inside or outside of me), or that I cannot hear his voice?
My life is a mess. I don't even know how to untangle myself from my problems. I have tried to do that, for years and years, and things have only gotten worse. I literally need God's guidance and help in these very specific problems, but I cannot sense an answer. I have literally been asking him for years. Yet he never answers.
Does he hate me? Did I lose the Holy Spirit at some point? Did I really receive the Holy Spirit? These questions are in my mind constantly, and have been for a longer time. Coupled with the fear of Hell, this is enough to make anyone crazy.
I also doubt whether or not I am in the state of mortal sin or in the state of grace constantly, because I literally cannot feel any difference. Is this a bad sign? Perhaps my conscience has become seared? I do not understand myself, nor did I ever.
Sometimes I just think to myself "f-k it, what is the point of trying to be a good Christian, since I do not know if I am in the state of grace, I cannot be sure that I will go to Heaven, I will probably go to Hell" and so I presume on God's mercy.
I do not understand why God does not want to speak to me, even when I am sincere in my intentions and in my heart???

If you want to know what God is saying to you, read the Bible. If you want to hear God's voice, read your Bible out loud! Because you have the Holy Spirit within you (if you are genuinely converted to Christ), then the presence of God is within you whether you feel Him or not. Faith is not dependent on feelings or emotions. If you are depending on a feeling or an emotion, then you are not trusting in faith, and therefore, without faith, you are not pleasing God. Faith trusts that God's Word is true, and when it says that He sticks closer to you than a brother, then if you are exercising faith, you believe it whether you feel it or not.

 

[Gary K]

Alright. Fair enough, but how do I even begin to do that? I want nothing more than to deepen my relationship with God, yet I am absolutely not advancing the spiritual life. And it has been like this for several years. Nor am I advancing in prayer.

Talk in your prayers to God as your friend. He knows you inside and out so there is no way you'll shock Him with anything you tell Him. He wants to be our friend. He's by far the best friend I've ever had, even better than my wife, and we just had our 41st wedding anniversary and we're better friends now than we have ever been.

God is a miracle working God. All it takes on our part is to trust Him and He will change us.

 

[Riot42]

"The answer to the second question is: I do believe that God exists (by virtue of reason), but he does not seem real to me. I cannot feel his presence, not even when I receive the Eucharist"

This right here is your problem, you want proof that God exists and are trying to get him to reveal himself to prove he is real. The problem with that is if God fully reveals himself in the way you want you will no longer believe by faith alone, you will know. If you KNOW as a matter of fact that God exists, how can you be saved by faith alone? I believe that great works are required of those of us who KNOW, God is keeping the bar low for you.

John 20:28-29 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”