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How do I feel comfortable praying?

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ez2u:
Your feelings will trip you up.  Know the spirit of the Lord and that is what I believe the Lord was doing helping you to know Him  when you had your experience in prayer.My sheep know my voice.  peggy

gmik:
Such an important topic.  Great Thread.  "Get us in tune with HIS wishes"  Boy, I needed that.  ryan, god Bless you brother, wish I had found this site at 17!!!  but that wasn't God's plan for me.

TheRysta:
Thanks for all the replies people! There's actually a heck of a lot in this thread I have learned. Sometimes when I'm distressed I just repeat to myself facts about God I already know but this is something knew.

At the very core of my beliefs I am a pantheist; or as my dad puts it, I believe that God is a panther  ;D, so God being everywhere is at the very core of my beliefs. I am aware that he is close to me, by logic, but it's just that he FEELS so far away from me.

If "Thy will be done" is really the most important thing to pray about... what else is there? The only thing I can ask for is that God and the Holy Spirit can GUIDE me towards truth... but once again this falls into "Thy will be done". It's as if if I pray only that I'm praying too little but if I pray for anything else it seems too selfish.

I don't know what the word 'reverence' actually means but I assume that you mean that I should be humble to God and such. Is this humble simply to accept that he always knows best and not to get into a row about it, or is this humble all the way to the extent that you can't treat prayer like conversation. I am well, well aware that I am not equal to God, and I would never forget that. But can't I talk to him (or Jesus, or Holy Spirit etc.) like a mate or friend? I am humble in thought but the feeling of being constantly reminded of my humility makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe this comes from always associating God with hell... perhaps people who associate God with all the good things don't have this much of a problem. However irrational my fear is, I know it, don't worry.


Finally, I have always found the thought of a mother figure a lot more appealing than a father figure, which is very ironic because I don't really have a father figure in my life. Instead MY father idolises ME (my parents are divorced). Would seeing God in this way be blasphemous or something? I don't believe for a second that God is a LITERAL man in the sky, but I wonder if the application of gender is for any specific purpose such as dicipline or whether it's just to do with the attitude of the times. I don't think I would be LESS diciplined if I saw God as a motherly figure. IT would just help to ease these horrible paranoias I get about hell!

Don't start thinking I'm some sort of Catholic though... now if I were God thinking THAT would be blasphemy!  :D

- Ryan

cjwood:
good afternoon ryan,
first of all, YES INDEED you can talk to Jesus and His Spirit within you as a mate or friend. marky mark started a thread called "my friends" in the general discussion section where he uses john 15:14-16 where Jesus is speaking to His disciples and He calls them/us His FRIEND. actually the whole chapter of john 15 is a great one to read through and meditate on.

also, as far as your thoughts of a mother figure more appealing than a father figure, in regards to how you think about God our Father, that could indeed be due to the fact that your mother figure in your physical life is much stronger than that of your earthly father's relationship to you. as ray has mentioned in his teachings, God has feminine within Him in is infinite wisdome, as reflected in His creation of woman and all the feminine characteristics. i am paraphrasing what ray said, but i will search through his essays/audios to find the exact statement. there may be others on the forum who can find it or remember it ver batim.

anyway, my dear younger brother, you at such a young age (like astropho, and alex) have been blessed beyond your imagination with regards to the Truths God has chosen to reveal to you through HIS Spirit. if you continue to read through ray's teachings on the website and look at the scriptures which He uses to back every thing he teaches about the Truth of the Gospel, you will come to the realization that God is making you into His image and the image of our Elder Brother Jesus Christ. prayer and the Holy Scriptures are our Lifeline towards His will for each one of us, and although God seems so far away at times, it is because our carnal brains cannot comprehend how close He really is to us. ryan, it is confirmed through Jesus Christ Himself that He did not leave us as orphans in the storm (this worldly life), but when He ascended into the heavenlies He left us His Spirit, and this Spirit abides within you ryan. how close is that!? believe it and grow in your faith that He will never leave you. pray to Him asking and petitioning and giving thanks for all things that pertain to your life. God desires to hear your prayers. and yes, it is always and only His will that will be done, but He still wants a relationship with you and that includes communication, talking to His as your Friend.

stay strong in your stand ryan.
claudia

Ninny:
Instead MY father idolises ME (my parents are divorced). Would seeing God in this way be blasphemous or something? I don't believe for a second that God is a LITERAL man in the sky, but I wonder if the application of gender is for any specific purpose such as dicipline or whether it's just to do with the attitude of the times. I don't think I would be LESS diciplined if I saw God as a motherly figure. IT would just help to ease these horrible paranoias I get about hell!

Ryan! God is both your mother and your Father! God is all in all, see? He's a Parent whose children occupy his heart every moment of every day! You are a child of the Living God! You are the object of His undying affections!! God never stops looking at you and loving you. I promise that you can't out think God, Ryan! He is everything an earthly parent could never even conceive of! You human dad whether he idolizes you or not is NO MATCH for your Father God!! Your human dad has NO idea how wonderful you are! Your human dad doesn't see the deep things of your heart and mind, he can't because only your Father God can do that. There is no greater love in any human sense of the word! I can assure you that as your human dad looks at you with the proudest father's heart with love so overwhelming it takes his breath away, that is just an ink dot in comparison to the love that the Living God has for you! You go ahead and fantasize all you want about what God is to you, buddy because He is that and SO much more!! I wish we all had the capacity to know the depths of God's love for us!!
Kathy :D ;)

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