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Boy, do I need help with prayer! I am a life-long Christian and pray each morning and night - and sometimes during the day - but I can't get near to God or Jesus. I have never felt close communion with Him, and despite fervent prayer for another person, I have never received an answer. I don't mean the answer I wanted - I mean any answer at all. It seems lilke I'm just sending thoughts into empty space, and I often wonder if I'm wasting my time. That's probably Satan getting into my head, but he leaves a powerful message.
Any suggestions would be welcome

Prov 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
KJV

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
KJV


Our feelings often  betray us. How wonderfull to have His Word.  HE never fails. HE does not lie.

Ps 37:5
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
KJV

Ps 18:2-3

2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
KJV

Ps 17:7-8

7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
KJV

Ps 34:17-18

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
KJV

My thanks to both of you who have tried to help me in prayer. I take on board all that you have written and will continue to reach a closer comapnionship with my God.
Thanks again, and may God go with you both.

It could be that God is testing your faith. But since you say you have never felt close communion, we would need to ascertain the cause. May I ask a few questions?

Do you have any unrepented sin?

That will distance us from the Almighty quicker than anything.


(similar to disobeying a traffic cop--hehe,  :-\).

A wonderful post full of encouragement, admonishment, and beauty.

Perhaps your discerment of communnion with the Lord is not true. You probably have much to give thanks for to the Lord. Try starting here and then perhaps you could help answer a less fortunate person's prayers by seeing to their needs and forgetting any you may have. We all have gifts that we can share with those that may not have.

Sometime prayers are answered for one another through the actions of others. Pray on this and see if your help is needed somewhere and give it in the Lord's name.

You are in my prayers.

This post will help. It was good for me and uplifting. So "Griff" should benefit, I pray.

Thanks to all once again. It's great to find so many people willing to help. And I've found some od the replies most helpful.
"Do I have any unrepented sin?" Well, I've repented in prayer of all the sins I know off - but they are just words. It's not now possible to repent and put things right. And I suppose there are other unrepented sins - don't we all have them - unless we're Saints?
Thanking the Lord for His gifts I have done many times. But right now his gifts seem more like penances! That's my life at this moment.

Oh, well that might be the key. The penance part. Grace is a free gift. We cannot be saved by works, and repentance only comes through faith.

Without knowing more about your background, that may be of some use.

And I suppose there are other unrepented sins - don't we all have them - unless we're Saints?


Um, unrepented sins, Griff?

Just sins, yes.  We all have sins.

But unrepented sins?

If you have those, then there's your problemo.   ;D


    ???

Sorry, I see this differently. Sometimes we commit sins and forget about them  Maybe they happened years ago - even before we began to study Christianity. Then we can't repent.

". And I suppose there are other unrepented sins - don't we all have them - unless we're Saints?"

Christians are saints called by the gospel of Jesus Christ to be holy and sanctified in Christ. They are washed clean in the blood of Jesus Christ which continues to free them from sin if there is repentance and forgiveness of God is asked.

 1 John 1:7.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
 8.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
 9.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 10.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

.
These are the sins repented of when one comes to Jesus Christ.

You make Christ and what he did for man to no avail with this statement.

All sins can be repented of except one, blasphemy against  the Holy Spirit.

 Matthew 12:31.  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Let me relate a fictional story. It's about a fellow - we'll call him Joe - who was christened when a few weeks old. As a schoolboy he joined the local church choir, but in his free time he was just a kid. He nicked the odd bar of chocolate from the store, and when he was a student he "borrowed" one or two textbooks from the library, and forgot to return them. He graduated, married, had a couple of children and then, persuaded by his wife, started again to go regularly to church. He became a religious man and prayed regularly, But he completely forgot about his childhood stealing.  Would these early sins be forgiven? He never repented of them.

Then they are not forgiven and he is not saved. One repents of all past sins known or forgotten when one initially comes to Christ. It is a primary point of God's salvation plan.

To repent means to turn away from something. So if someone isn't doing it anymore they've repented. Confession is important, too, though. Sometimes God brings it to mind later. But if we tell Him right away it's better.

Thank you, Ollie and Whitehorse. Now you see my dilemma. One thinks the man would be saved and the other thinks he would not.
It seems to come down entirely to a matter of faith.
I feel that in my own life there are sins that have been forgotten, and I would like to think that although unremembered, they will be forgiven.
Thank you to all who have contributed to this discussion. They have helped me to clarify my own feelings, but have left a degree of mystification.
Who knows - I may be back some time with another contribution.
Thank you all again, and God bless each and every one.
(And a Happy New Year)

Amen, Ollie! Thank you, Cathe!

Some of you sound like Job's comforters.  LOL
Job too had a problem with Satan but his friends didn't think so and they told him in no uncertain terms.  What we need here is an Eliphaz the Temanite.

Griff has a problem with God hearing / answering his prayers.

 Job 15:1-8  Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
 2 Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?
 3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?
 4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
 5 For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.
 6 Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
 7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
 8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?

Well Griff ought to try praise.  Not half hearted praise but from the heart.  Praise the Lord : praise his name.

 Ps 9:2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
 Ps 9:14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
 Ps 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
 Ps 22:22  I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
 Ps 22:23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
etc.

Praise the Lord, Griff.  I did and he saved me.  Praise his name.
Praise is the secret !

OK – how about when one commits sin that they are unaware of?  (You KNOW it happens!)  Sins such as unrighteous pride, or EGO (Edging God Out).  I know I have to be guilty, even though sometimes I don’t recognize the sin.
Is it OK if, during my morning and evening prayers, I ask Jesus to “forgive my sins – even those I haven’t realized”?  
Of course I generally ask Him to help me see clearly when I do transgress – but I still don’t believe we always see some sins in ourselves.
 ???

I symphathise entirely with Judge Not.  Part of my problem too.

Oh okay Griff.  Physician heal thyself.  :)

D L Moody said - he tried to pray for faith but it did not come, after he opened the Word it never stopped coming.

Open the Word.   Some have suggested praying a Psalm.

God Bless

I know this post is very late but I just got here! ;D

I don't know you or your feelings Griff but here is my thought:

Faith = A whole lot of BLIND faith.
To Be Forgiven you must ask for it and recieve it.

When I first began to contemplate GOD'S forgiveness it was too hard. It made me not want to have the relationship with GOD that I needed, because it was confusing and scary.

So right on the edge of giving up, I decided to just believe that I am forgiven for anything I genuinly ask forgiveness for (as long as I am still here to ask) and to believe that GOD answers my prayers, if they need answering (keep in mind, usually what we think we need turns out to only be what we want)and just see how it goes.

Time went by (slowly, because blind faith is well, its hard!) (in the beginning) and then one day I suddenly remembered a prayer from around age 6 or 7....where I asked GOD to please let me have a husband that loves me with all of his heart and a baby to love me forever. HELLO!!!!  I have exactly that!

Now from the age of 6 or 7, when I desperately wanted these things, until I figured out I had them (20 years) I thought so many times that GOD doesn't or won't answer my prayers. So many BAD things happened to me in that time. And I had men in my life (at different times ;D)that I desperately wanted to be GODS answer for me, but they would only hurt me. But here I am with an answered prayer(that I had forgotten about) that I see everyday!

I've rambled enough...... final thoughts...... Our idea of when or if our prayers should be answered isnt right. GOD knows when to give you what you need. And GOD forgives when you truly mean you are sorry(and he knows when you mean it).

And as for sins you may have forgotten try.......   GOD, I have sinned, I am a sinner and I don't want to be. Forgive me of my sins LORD and guide me to you. In Jesus' Name   Amen



i hope this helps griff..........We are all sinners and GOD loves us all!

May GOD Bless YOU!!!!!!        

P.S. I'm so sorry I wrote so much...I just saw how long this is!

Oklahoma Howdy to BrownLamb,

AMEN SISTER!

You made many excellent and Biblical points about prayer and our personal relationship with our Father and Saviour. Child-like faith in our Father who is ALL and can do ALL according to HIS will and purpose is a beautiful thing. Child-like faith can also help us to wait on THE LORD with patience, seek HIS will, and simply yield like an obedient child. Our child-like faith can also give us joy and thanksgiving when we start to realize the blessings and riches in Christ HE has freely given us.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Blackeyedpeas your the bees knees!
 (please ignore the nerd like display) ::)

I am so thankful for my early belief, it has carried me through the years. Even when I forgot HIM when I was led astray as a teen.......HE never forgot me!! Glory to HIM!!!!!! HE is Amazing!

May GOD Bless You!!