Thanks my friends..I'm gonna start reading the Psalms again tonight. Maybe just praise God instead of praying.

At times everyone feels unhappy because prayers are not answered soon enough. There are three way of prayers happening. The prayer will be answered quiet soon, taking a little while, or may not for a long while. The object is to keep praying daily manor and when you least expect it you will come up with the answer from God. My thought and prayers are with you.

KajunButterfly There are alot of comfort verses in Isaiah chapters 40-66. I keep going back to those chapters for comfort. BF

...for ALL of you amazing people who have responded on this thread. I needed this as well.

I have learned that for me prayer is not always with head bowed and an utterance of words. Sometimes it is 'feeling' the Holy Spirit with me, just like a best friend... too tired to think, but knowing the Spirit is interceding for me. He wants to do that for us. 'We are strongest in our weakness.'

For me, peace with God has come with learning not to just have God in my life, but to let God BE my life. And as I have learned to do that, I feel in more of a 'state' of prayer all throughout the day.

Butterfly, You are in my prayers right now...and I can tell from your posts that you love the Lord. And that is what he wants. I don't think he expects more from us than we can give. So please be good to yourself and love yourself as much as you love all the folks you are praying so hard for. Let the Spirit intercede for you when you are too weak.

Sending you lots of hugs today.

Thank you for this!

As one who has been in and out from under a 'depression cloud', I certainly know the feeling of 'emptiness' that can settle in..... A writer could equate this feeling as that of 'writer's block'...... it just 'ain't there'.

I've heard things said such as "If you've prayed twice for the same thing, you've already prayed once in doubt"......
And others sometimes imply that prayer has to somehow be politically correct...

But, in my humble opinion, I truly believe "PRAISE" to be the way to go.
Sing Praises....'Dance' Praises.....
....and if STILL that 'emptiness' is there, or if I'm too down and out to have the 'energy' for that,...or I've sparked a pain flare from trying to 'dance' ......I never go wrong by simply crawling up in my Father's Lap "Abba Papa".....and don't say anything at all.
Just curl up in His Lap.....and cry if we must. Those tears will pretty much say it all to Him.

Truly the place we need to have a well worn path to. The safety and security of the Heavenly Father's embrace.

There is a song that states 'God inhabits our praise'. I also think that counting our blessings goes a long way in turning the tide of our emptiness.

May you all know more of the Father's love in the New Year.
pat

I wish prayers worked. Even Mother Theresa suffered. When I pray, I feel like I am pretending.

Don't give up. It will become real for you. Try praying with several people. There's more power in that. Try praying the Lords prayer,and forgive people who have offended you. I pray for God to forgive me for my sins before I pray usually. Sometimes I forget.

Have you received Jesus into your heart? Ask him to make it real to you. Talk to him,and tell him what you told us.

Everyone suffers. In reading the Bible you will understand after a while. God bless you. Don't give up. Brokenfriend

Mother Theresa was spiritually dry and suffered, a great deal of her life, as you said, to be able to feel her love of the Lord. Many of the saints suffered these deserts of the soul. I can't remember from which one I got the prayer, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief". I say that so many times. Keep on "pretending", if that is what you can do. God hears your prayers, even if you can't feel them. He loves you all the more for it, when you carry on with no gratification. You are precious to Him, and He is with you all the time. Blessings to you, Linda

Thank you for your sharing on this. I try to remember when I wake up to say hello to God and simply ask Him to make me a good girl today (I'm 63!, but I am still His child) and let me be a blessing to others.

There are too many to pray for, so I just ask blessings for us all over the world, especially those most in need of His comfort.

I love the way you shared about curling up in our Father's lap, I do that, too. This way I accept how little I am and so in need of help, so I say Abba, Papa, ( just like you!) hold me. I even know what chair we sit in. It was an old overstuffed chair that was my father's for as long as I can remember. There are pictures of him in it, and all of us kids, over the years. I got it when they got new furniture and had it for years, too. It's name was Squash. There we are, my heavenly Father and I, where I can just be His child, in a gone, but not forgotten chair.

Praise, as you say, is really all I can give Him. He saved my from a deathly addiction, so what do I have to give Him, but gratitude and praise?

The reason that I believe that we must pray for others is not so much for Him or the recipient, whom He already holds in His loving hands. But so we learn to care for and love each other. It's a gift given us so that we can feel a part of God's work in the world. I need to learn to love and care for others by practicing it in prayer. We can hold up each other all over the world to our Father. It's like an exercise for us in which we just do the the best we can, even if we just say "God bless us all and let me do Your will today, with Your support and love. Please forgive me for an imperfect job, but I will try."

That focuses my day, and if I forget what I wanted to do, I can start over anytime during the day

Sorry for the ramble, Love, Linda