Why am I a miserable christian? (Deist, lordship, church, preach)
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I chose my wording as joy, not happiness. And peace, during hard times. I've been struggling, And I feel hopeless. I have given up on myself, my life. I'm trying my best to trust God, but I don't feel any different, and life still looks the same... I talked to a friend and its a mental prison to him from how I described it. I can repeat bible verses and force myself to believe, but it's almost mocking and heart breaking when me and my family are going through things and they only get worse and worse. But, I see people in church who have peace, and they have more then me, and some have less then me. But everyone seems not depressed. For over 2 years I've cried out to God and his voice is quiet and silence. My prayers have hit the ceiling, and I literally ran out of tears to cry. And I have read the psalms, I am aware this happens in life. I've started to doubt Gods goodness. He could surely at least be here with me if he won't change things or help me. What am I missing? Why am I a miserable christian?How can I be a christian who has joy and peace? My heart is dying and I will still try my best to follow him. I'm not sure how many times I need to pray I surrender, too. If this is what life God has for me I've Ran away and become bitter. But now I just say whatever he wants, I have nothing else.
And I know self pity is a sin. I try to be positive as possible. But it hits me hard sometimes.
I chose my wording as joy, not happiness. And peace, during hard times. I've been struggling, And I feel hopeless. I have given up on myself, my life. I'm trying my best to trust God, but I don't feel any different, and life still looks the same... I talked to a friend and its a mental prison to him from how I described it. I can repeat bible verses and force myself to believe, but it's almost mocking and heart breaking when me and my family are going through things and they only get worse and worse. But, I see people in church who have peace, and they have more then me, and some have less then me. But everyone seems not depressed. For over 2 years I've cried out to God and his voice is quiet and silence. My prayers have hit the ceiling, and I literally ran out of tears to cry. And I have read the psalms, I am aware this happens in life. I've started to doubt Gods goodness. He could surely at least be here with me if he won't change things or help me. What am I missing? Why am I a miserable christian?How can I be a christian who has joy and peace? My heart is dying and I will still try my best to follow him. I'm not sure how many times I need to pray I surrender, too. If this is what life God has for me I've Ran away and become bitter. But now I just say whatever he wants, I have nothing else.
And I know self pity is a sin. I try to be positive as possible. But it hits me hard sometimes.
You sound depressed D - have you seen a doctor to be evaluated for that?
self pity maybe just a little bit, but some great blues has been written and played in that frame of mind.
i am a rotten christian. but a much better human being than when i started the journey.
imho jerry faldwell is a fantastic christian and a lousy human being.
I chose my wording as joy, not happiness. And peace, during hard times. I've been struggling, And I feel hopeless. I have given up on myself, my life. I'm trying my best to trust God, but I don't feel any different, and life still looks the same... I talked to a friend and its a mental prison to him from how I described it. I can repeat bible verses and force myself to believe, but it's almost mocking and heart breaking when me and my family are going through things and they only get worse and worse. But, I see people in church who have peace, and they have more then me, and some have less then me. But everyone seems not depressed. For over 2 years I've cried out to God and his voice is quiet and silence. My prayers have hit the ceiling, and I literally ran out of tears to cry. And I have read the psalms, I am aware this happens in life. I've started to doubt Gods goodness. He could surely at least be here with me if he won't change things or help me. What am I missing? Why am I a miserable christian?How can I be a christian who has joy and peace? My heart is dying and I will still try my best to follow him. I'm not sure how many times I need to pray I surrender, too. If this is what life God has for me I've Ran away and become bitter. But now I just say whatever he wants, I have nothing else.
And I know self pity is a sin. I try to be positive as possible. But it hits me hard sometimes.
Djmagnum, you are miserable because you expect something from God He does not do. God does not answer prayers. This is something I had to learn the hard way. Learn from my experience and millions of others. Statistically, Christians who pray have no better an outcome than atheists who don't pray and other theists (Hindu, Buddhist, B'hai, Moslem, etc.) who do pray. When you come to accept this fact then you can take a tremendous amount of stress off your body and know that you simply play the odds in the outcome of your situation just the rest of us. I gave up praying a year ago and nothing has changed in my life. I still get the same illnesses, I still have the same problems with the same rate of resolutions and non-resolutions to them as before. I am not atheist. I believe in God. I am deist, with a leaning towards Christianity in some aspects (Do unto others, etc.)
Job went through some really bad stuff , and he had no idea why or even if there were an end to it.
But he hung in there.
I have found , in my life that there are issues I had to deal with , and the time I spent in the wrong direction there were character changes that had to be cultured against the wrong direction,and taught new in the right direction.
There are some that God CHANGES ,and some that must put a great deal of effort into the relationship .
Humanly speaking we take a lot for granted and especially take God for granted particularly under certain peoples teaching.
I have found that God is a jealous God and His design from the beginning is to be man's teacher. We foul that up listening to men claiming to have God's word.
News flash
Jesus is God's word.
That title is not shared with any one else.
You want Jesus Lordship in your life , that's great , keep praying ,and learn to listen .
One of the things that has helped people to listen, is to be involved in intercessory prayer.
A name comes to mind and you pray for them as you feel lead , if you don't feel lead , don't stress over it .
It's a bit like learning to pray in tongues . which is actually a primer to learning to pray at all.because the language comes from the Holy Spirit.
Saying words you don't understand may sound silly , but if you've ever learned other languages some of them can be funny too. Point is , speaking in faith and obedience is a very small but important step to greater things.
Looking for God's leading and praying for others is a most beautiful expression of love and worship.
The smartest thing the disciples asked Jesus was, "Teach us to pray" because in that hungering and thirsting after His righteousness, He then has the license to fill the believer.
Jesus provided the Holy Spirit to be our teacher in Jesus place . Jesus said so.
Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness , for they shall be filled.
It's the relationship.
How available do you make your self for God's use ?
Not what men ask ,but what He's might ask.
Trust and obey.
Obviously you do not want to be miserable... But what is it that you want that you are not getting?
Agreed. Please don't listen to Thrill.
My advice: 1) Look inward. Is there anything in your life that could be hindering your prayers, your fellowship with God? Confess all known sin and get busy serving God.
2) Get involved in a ministry serving others. Visit someone in the hospital or a nursing home. Work in a food pantry. Volunteer at a local school as a reading buddy, etc. Buy a needy person a meal. Your joy and peace will return.
Hi Dj, I’m sorry you’re in this place where you are. There's a lot of 'Me' and 'I' in your post and not much 'Him'. That needs to change.
I’ve always believed there are spiritual solutions to spiritual, physical and mental problems, but then a few years ago I saw a friend in depression, and I was totally shocked at how pervasive and deep it was - I’d only known them up to that point when they weren’t depressed – a very happy and capable person, but this was something totally different – a deep, deep cloud of confusion and depression – this person had had it before for a 5 year period, before I knew them, but at the point I got to know them they were free of it. The last bout resulted in time off work, and after a couple of years there was an eventual breaking free and God healed them, in a soaking room session at Bethel church. It was clear that there were no simple solutions, no wham bam prayer answers.
I do believe there are spiritual ‘keys’ to unlocking doors and moving through the gate, and there are two aspects to those keys: (1) They may appear to be very simply, indeed, too simple; everyday ordinarysolutions thatpeople suggest to you or may occur to you – but even those are inspired by God. Who else would they be inspired by, when ALL good things come from Him. And (2) YOU have to take the key; pick it up, put it in the lock and turn it and push on the door. There is hope, but there comes a point where only you can lay hold of that for yourself. Put it on like a garment. Even PUT ON the garment of praise, for the spirit of heaviness. Think of the bestsongyou know,finda place where no-one can hear or find you, and sing and dance before God, being determined, like David to do it for and unto Him. …I had one specific time in my life where I’ve had ‘spiritual laughter’, because circumstances were dire –the circumstance (spiritual issues in the family of my future wife!!) was staring me right in the face and I was a complete gonner, totally high – the song God used on that occasion was ‘Them bones, them bones, them dry bones…’ You could start with that one – find a good recording of it, sing along, and “prophesy life” back into a dead situation. Remember, it doesn’t have to make sense to your brain or carnal mind – it is your spirit, through His Holy Spirit, that will kick start the change. …I love the C S Lewis story of how the Lion sang at the beginning of creation.
You are doing the right thing asking for help – that is the best first key to pick up, put in, turn and push.
(Sheesh, I need to preach to myself more often. This is good stuff. Thank you Lord!)
Last edited by Age-enduring; 10-16-2014 at 01:27 AM..
Reason: added last line.
My advice: 1) Look inward. Is there anything in your life that could be hindering your prayers, your fellowship with God? Confess all known sin and get busy serving God.
2) Get involved in a ministry serving others. Visit someone in the hospital or a nursing home. Work in a food pantry. Volunteer at a local school as a reading buddy, etc. Buy a needy person a meal. Your joy and peace will return.
Djmagnum, don't listen to me or anybody else here. Go with what you see happening in your life:
You're praying. Are your prayers being answered?
If they are, then I'm wrong. If they aren't, then I'm right.
But don't let yourself be hoodwinked by people who say, "God will answer your prayers. It just takes time. You just have to have faith and be patient and wait on God." I know people who have prayed all their lives and never had a single prayer answered. They're still miserable, depressed, poor, divorced, lonely. They've died waiting for their prayers to be answered.
Check your results and see if all your prayers are making a difference in your life and then make a rational decision about whether you want to continue down this blind alley or make some positive changes yourself.
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