Prayer and Going to Church

drivingbananas · Post by **drivingbananas** » Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:13 pm

For the last 8 months, I have started going back to church. I used to go when I was a little girl but as I grew up, I kind of lost interest. Now, I really want to be closer to Christ. I go to church frequently and I have joined a bible study, but I have a very hard time with prayer. What I mean is that when I start to pray, I get these images sort of like static in my mind when I am listening to others praying in group. I know that sounds weird, but I have been having this problem for a while now and it really frustrates me. I feel like I am being distracted on purpose. I also find it hard to pray. I can read my bible, but I don't know how to get comfortable talking to God. Does anyone else have these issues? Any ideas on how to conquer them?

MMH · Post by **MMH** » Sat Dec 25, 2010 12:04 am

Christ is listening and he understands. Just the idea of wanting Him to get closer to you just brings spectacular joy to His heart. His utmost concern is you, thats His desire . On this Christmas Day, thank Him for the joy of loving you and the gift he brings, Pure love

struggling Christian · Post by **struggling Christian** » Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:57 pm

You are not alone. I struggle with praying too. I get bad thoughts while I'm trying to pray and my mind wanders. I don't know how to conquer this problem either.

drivingbananas · Post by **drivingbananas** » Sun Dec 26, 2010 2:51 pm

Thanks both MMH and struggling Christian. I know that for me it is most important that I know God loves me. I think maybe the phrase "practice makes perfect" kind of applies here. I am hoping that the more that I try, the more that my mind will stop the static and stop wandering.

On another note, I kept thinking about Christ's birthday off and on yesterday. For most of my life I never really considered the significant reason for Christmas. This year is th first year that I really thought about it. I hope that each of you had a pleasant Christmas!

Paisleegreen · Post by **Paisleegreen** » Mon Dec 27, 2010 2:55 pm

Hi drivingbananas--There is video on YouTube about the Nativity Story. It is told in a format/social network such as Face Book. If you are familiar with FaceBook you still can feel the specialness of the story.

I cry every time I watch it, and I've watched it at least 4 times. The music is beautiful while the story is being told. I guess what touches me is that Joseph was rejected by his so called friends and then Elizabeth's excitement over her pregnancy with John. I don't know if this will affect you any which way, but I thought I would share my experience with it.

Some people laugh with some of the comments Joseph post, but others that have had life's experiences and are sensitive to others will see different meanings in this video.

Part of it is knowing how people are...and Mary and Joseph was having a difficult yet exciting experience. You can feel their pain and delight of their news about the expected child named Jesus.

Paislee

P.S. I had a wonderful Christmas, thank you.

Flyer99 · Post by **Flyer99** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:06 pm

Hello there. Prayer can be very intimidating and confusing... how do we pray, do we do it correctly, is there a correct way to pray, what do we say, do we ask for things, etc, etc. It can be very frightening and imposing for many people.

I found a great video series on prayer done by the director of prayer at Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London, England. His name is Pete Greig and he is awesome (and funny). He has written books on prayer and that is his speciality. You may wish to take a look at some of his talks on prayer. He explains why prayer can be so tough. I have included the link to his talks for you.

God Bless, and you will find that many others have the same problems as you

http://www.htb.org.uk/media/me...te-greig/all/all/all