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I haven’t been able to pray sincerely for a couple years now. I can get started and get thru a prayer but it feels like I am not communicating with anybody and quite often indolent finish. Is my faith crisis affecting my prayers or is my lack of sincere prayer affecting my faith. Makes me think I don’t really want help. I wish I could stop regressing and at least stay in place of not at least start to move forward. I have had a similar experiences with prayer. I can still say the words when asked to give a prayer at church but, it isn’t the same as was before my FC. Maybe it is the loss of innocence & maybe it will come back over time.
In the mean time, I have discovered personal parables. By this I mean, short lessons from life that I can apply. For example,
they can come from conversations I had with a friend, a scripture I just read, a story from General Conference or a Sacrament talk.
The rule is: the parable reinforces basic principles of the gospel. It could be faith, repentance, family history, baptism or a lesson
from my personal life. This is not new revelation. It must reinforce basic principles that I’m familiar with & accept.
For example: I was washing my car. I started by washing the exterior, applying a coat of wax & buffing it to bright shine. It took
most of the day. When I was done, I thought about the interior. It was late so I didn’t do it. I was tired & frankly didn’t want to
do anymore. Then the thought came to me, “you are more concerned about how things look from the outside than you are about
the interior. Does apply to your personal life too?”
I know what you’re thinking, this guy has too much time on his hands. That could be part of it.
The conclusion that I came up with is: God could be trying to communicate with us on a very basic level sometimes.
We maybe too busy to receive & accept it.
My prayers have definitely changed post faith crisis. I have felt the way you have, that things are just bouncing off the ceiling or not coming through my steel roof from the other direction. Quote:Is my faith crisis affecting my prayers or is my lack of sincere prayer affecting my faith.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Faith crisis definitely affected my prayers because the crisis was partly based on prayer issues. Who decides if your prayers are sincere, though? The fact that you’re praying makes it at least somewhat sincere. Sometimes we who are in faith crisis tend to beat ourselves up with the idea that if something isn’t working the way we thought it was supposed to (for example, prayer) than something must be wrong with us or we’re not doing it right or we’re not worthy or [fill in the blank]. But it’s very possible none of that is the case and things aren’t working the way we thought they were supposed to work because that’s not really how they work. Don’t believe everything you hear in F&TM (or any other meeting). Reminds me of the adage “Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.”
And maybe we put too much stock in prayer. From the Bible Dictionary:
Quote:Prayer is nowhere specifically commanded as a duty in the law, and prayers were not prescribed at the sacrifices except on two occasions: a confession of sin on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:21) and a thanksgiving when offering the firstfruits and tithes (Deut. 26:3, 13). It is, however, certain from the nature of things, and from the custom in later times, that prayer accompanied sacrifice.
It should also be noted it’s not a temple recommend question and is not directly spoken of in the Articles of Faith.
So…I do pray, but not daily and sometimes weeks go by without any prayer on my part (my wife does offer meal prayers). I tend to offer general gratitude such as thanking God for my health and well being and that of my loved ones. If there has been what I perceive as a tender mercy, I acknowledge it. I never ask for anything. I try hard to avoid public prayer but if I get snagged I tend to be very generic and brief.
All that said, I do get what you’re saying. I miss some things from the old pre-crisis/transition days. But once I knew Santa isn’t real, no matter how hard I try he can’t be real.
If formal prayer doesn’t work, try just “casting your heart upward or outward”. Try just cataloging blessings and asking for help recognizing more of them – and just being able to be a better person.
Try something like simply dedicating yourself to doing good things for self and others.
In other words, if formality isn’t working, decide what you want and tackle it informally – with an unstated, implicit “prayer” sent silently outward.
I recently heard an Atheist say: Quote:There is an element of arrogance of praying to a God (who wouldn’t stop the holocaust) while I pray
for Him to help me find my keys
.
After going through a FC there seems to be an element of truth to it. As I look back, my prayers were very innocent or even ignorant. (I don’t
like that word in this context.) I can’t think of a better one. Curt gave a good suggestion “casting your heart upward or outward”.
I like that idea.
Does anyone else have any suggestions how you got through your FC & restored your belief & power in prayer?
Prayer together can be a mechanism for expressing love, concern, appreciation, and best wishes for each other. Prayer alone can be a mechanism for meditation, cataloging the good that occurs, and nurturing a life based on gratitude.
I still pray. Just not the way I did. I walk and talk to Him/Them all the time. It’s now a running dialogue. In it I share gratitude, wishes, stories, hurts – all the things I would share with a friend, co-worker, or trusted human.
I can say prayers in church because I remember that it makes comfort for others. It’s like an introduction at a meeting or seminar. Mine are much less wordy. I don’t have to impress the divine anymore.
I love prayer, if that’s what you want to call it.
Thank you for bringing this subject up for discussion. I grew up in a lds household, but my mom was very mentally ill after WWII in Germany. My dad would have us gather for family prayer with each family member (including my mom) taking turns. We all dreaded it when mom said the prayer because she was so crazy and took way too long. When my dad was not home, my mom would force my sister and I to say these crazy prayers or threaten to not give us school lunch money. We hated saying these prayers but she would hound us all day til we rattled them off the way she wanted. Fortunately, I had a wonderful normal dad who taught us rational prayers but still it affected me in life. I often wished God would just speak to me the way my dad did. I have always wanted God to be my loving heavenly father that I could feel was real like my earthly dad. It took me along time to have a correct understanding of who God is and how he works. It was only after my faith crisis that I learned about how God answers prayers and works from an Christian preacher named Joyce Meyers. I listened to her 4 CD’s called “How to hear from God” Now, I just try to talk to God like I would to my dad and that helps. [attachment=0]51BKq0t4l9L._SX342_.jpg[/attachment] Thank you for posting on this topic. I am new on the forums. I was disfellowshipped in 2017 and have been struggling to find my place at church (member 50+ yrs). I am also struggling to pray, but yet I have many blessings and am thankful. Your posts have been very thoughtful and helpful. Thank you!
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