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Christian Prayer thread

991 replies

Dutchoma · 25/10/2018 13:32

NIGHT PRAYER

Comfort me with Your love O God
Wrap me up in Your strong embrace
Shelter me from the storm O Lord
Envelop me in Your tender care
By day I pour out my heartbreak to You
By night I give you my racing thoughts
In You I take refuge
In You I will not be afraid
For you hold me strong, You hold me safe
Calm my fearful heart O God
Still my anxious mind O Lord
For all my life is found in You
All my being is given to You
All my hope begins in You

Prayer found on web.dawesvillecps.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/17th-September.pdf

I found this prayer on Facebook and tought it was a beautiful way to start the new prayer thread.

There was a beautiful picture with it too, but I don’t know how to transfer that.

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Dutchoma · 27/12/2018 14:04

Very sorry to hear that CoolCarrie. S, the family and you are in my prayers, as is Barbaraanne and her dog.
Also prayers for Becca and BES, together with all on this thread and lurkers.

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BlackeyedGruesome · 27/12/2018 22:18

Thanks Oma, hope you had a lovely Christmas with family.

So sorry Carrie. hope your friend has lots of support.

Dutchoma · 28/12/2018 07:52

I did BES, thank you. I am now looking forward to seeing dd and the two grandchildren on New Year’s Eve. They are staying overnight.

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BlackeyedGruesome · 28/12/2018 11:28

need prayer for the conmputer and the resulting meltdown.

BlackeyedGruesome · 28/12/2018 20:50

Ds calmed down and mostly managed without the computer. Ex came and fixed it within about 2 minutes annoyingly and thankfully.

Dutchoma · 28/12/2018 22:05

annoyingly and thankfully in equal measures eh?

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WhatOnEarthDoIDoNow · 28/12/2018 22:19

Hi all I'm new to this thread but a practicing Christian whos struggling at the moment.

BlackeyedGruesome · 28/12/2018 23:26

more thankful, but there is that little annoyance that it was so easy to fix and why could I not do it several hours earlier...

Dutchoma · 29/12/2018 07:34

Welcome Whatonearth. Share as much as you are able to.

Will you know next time BES?

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Becca19962014 · 29/12/2018 09:54

Can you download a manual for the computer bes and store it somewhere? They usually have a guide to quick fixes in the back or look up possible issues now it's working online in case it happens again?

Becca19962014 · 29/12/2018 09:56

My anxiety issues are continuing. I'm reading a new book about grace and trying to get out, it's so wierd because when I do it usually I feel ok but actually getting to do it is a struggle.

Woke up several times last night with stomach ache and panicky feelings.

Becca19962014 · 29/12/2018 09:57

If you could pray for gods strength I'd appreciate it.

Barbaraanne22 · 29/12/2018 12:02

My little dog is lying here next to me recovering from the after effects of the anaesthetic. 🙂. All the lumps have been removed and sent for testing and the surgery site is well bandaged and pain killers appear to be working. Thank you for your prayers.
BES - I find technology so frustrating when it goes wrong. Glad it's fixed now.
Dutchoma I pray you have a great time with your dd and grandchildren at New Year, that it is precious time.
Becca I pray for strength and God's peace for you.
Whatonearth - I pray for God's presence in your life, that He makes His love for you clear and He provides for whatever you are struggling with.
For everyone else here, both posters and lurkers, 🙏

Dutchoma · 29/12/2018 12:39

Thank you Barbaraanne. I’m glad your dog is doing as well as can be expected. I hope no further nasties appear.

Praying for Becca as well

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Becca19962014 · 29/12/2018 13:20

Thankyou both.

WhatOnEarthDoIDoNow · 29/12/2018 20:12

Thank you @Dutchoma. I'm autistic with generalised anxiety disorder and I'm just not Ok right now. I've been busy and on the go with no stops or breaks since the 7th Dec and I'm just not OK.

While I've been at uni my mum basically transformed my room into a storage space so I've got nowhere to hide. I was staying away from home from the 19th, I went to visit a friend with another one of our housemates till the 21st. Our housemate went home on the 20th and my friend and I went to visit a different friend for his bday. We we're supposed to just be there till the 22nd but he (and his mum) asked me to stay another couple of days as he was singing and playing in two different concerts so I ended up staying till the 24th. Which I'm pleased about as he's not at uni this year and I miss him like crazy. He did ask me to stay until the new year but I said no because I love my family and they'd have been devastated if I'd not went home. Yet when I went home all they can do is criticise the fact that I went away before christmas supposedly for four days so I'd get back in time to make cakes and do crafts with my nieces and nephews but then extended my visit by two days because I miss my friend and he finds Christmas at home difficult as he and his dad clash.

My family are not Christians so struggle to deal with me being one but accept it with minimal teasing. However when they found out that it was just me staying with him and his family as the other three guests left there was an uproar. They wanted to know who was around and when, what we we're doing, where I slept and what pjs I packed. I had a normal pair of a vest and long pants pjs to wear under a onesie as he lives in an old and draughty house in the middle of nowhere.

Some of there ideas of what exactly we got up to are funny, some are interesting and some are downright vulgar. I know that they're teasing but they either think very little of me or of him and he is as straightlaced and bible following, law abiding guy there is. There are a lot of demands to meet him which is fair. I've been on holiday with him, stayed at his and I'm going away with him again in the summer.

They struggle with the fact that I can't/wont say what our relationship is as I don't know we're very good friends, we care for each other a lot and have a very intimate bond but we're both also autistic, still at uni and awkward. For all I know he could be gay or whatever (I doubt it, but he could be) and they can't grasp that that wouldn't upset me or change how I feel about him as I disagree with their notion of romantic or familial love being the only valid forms.

I love him as a person, and while I find our relationship as it is now (somewhere between friendship and dating) confusing as I'm sure does he but that doesn't mean that I love him or will love him any less if we only ever remain friends, I love my friends and the people around me equally and think that that sort of platonic love and fondness for people is worth any less than romantic or familial love. But the other feelings I feel towards him are confusing and I don't understand them so I pray and they don't understand why I'd rather do that than tell them, when I know that God holds the answers I need and they'll tease me instead. They'll try to help me understand as well but they'll still tease me and I'm feeling rather fragile right now

I'm currently trying to process all of the different things I've done and places I've been, people I've seen and all the interactions that I've had both with him and other friends and strangers. As well as my family's reaction to me staying away before christmas, which while dramatic I understand because I never deviate from routines and I did in a big way this year. I'm trying to sell a load of unwanted gifts that my family bought me this and last year as they don't know me at all while also trying to empty or declutter my room from the crap my mother put in while I've been away and boxing stuff to give to charity and stuff that can go in the loft instead and piling stuff for that my nieces and nephews might enjoy having or playing with.

While also having a massive case of PMS and irrational behaviour due to hormonal imbalances and an inability to shutdown or meltdown due to a lack of privacy (I've been sleeping on the sofa and with my mum which I don't mind for a short time but I can't cope without my space right now my head is too full). Which is also stopping me from being able to revise for uni exams or complete my essay which are due the 1st and 2nd week back. I cannot process work until I have processed everything else and I can't do that till I have space.

I keep praying for grace and peace as I know I am far more blessed than many but right now all I want to do is get on a train or plane and run away.

Dutchoma · 29/12/2018 21:01

Dear whatdoidonow it is ok not to be ok and to have confusing feelings about relationships. I don’t know how your autism affects those feelings, but I can well understand that you are confused. I think in time that may get better, I think if you can accept that it is confusing you are half way there,
When are you going back to uni? You have had a very busy time and it doesn’t sound as if you have had a lot of time to process your thoughts while you were at home.

Maybe you could go back to uni immediately in the New Year, so that you can revise for your exams and not have so many people around you. Not having your own room and your own space will not be helpful and it is important that you keep up with your studies.
The boy can wait - if he is worrth his salt he will. Your feelings for him may well clarify given time and space.

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WhatOnEarthDoIDoNow · 29/12/2018 21:22

@Dutchoma thanks, I’m hoping to head back on the 2nd but I’m dependant on my mother being able to drive me down, which is why I’m so manic about sorting my room at least that way I’ll have somewhere to work.

I think I know how I feel about him, it’s an alterous attraction. Like I’d be happy to date him but I’m equally happy being his friend. It’s just never experiencing these emotions before means I need to take longer to process them and what that means for me mentally. I know it won’t change anything in my interactions with him and tbh I think it’s likely he’s having the same issue.

My main problem is my family. They love me, but they don’t get me. They’re not academic and we have nothing in common and since I’ve been very young I’ve not been able to be myself as it makes them feel inferior. They also think that because I’m at uni and my accent is changing that I’m a snob and becoming a ‘toff’ because all of my friends are very middle class and we’re dirt poor working class and I’m not. I’m very proud of my family and where I come from I’d never hide that or be ashamed to bring any of my friends to meet them. But my accent will change because I’m not in the area anymore and tbh it’s probably better for my career prospects in the long term anyway as it’s very regional.

My concern with bringing the boy back (he’s asked if he can meet my family and wants them to like him) is that the my family are likely to behave like lunatics for the first hour or so till the excitement has worn off. That any they’re very different morally to me and him and he’ll either be totally fine or he’ll panic and act like a prat unintentionally.

BlackeyedGruesome · 30/12/2018 00:18

meeting family can wait too.

university should be near the top of your priorities list, with mental health.

you need space for that so see if you can create it in other ways. (in a quiet church for example? or library? )

WhatOnEarthDoIDoNow · 30/12/2018 01:28

Oh yeah there’s no way I’m going to demand that he meets my family. We both have other priorities to ourselves first. Anything afterwards is fine but not worth sacrificing for.

I’ve been ‘banned’ from escaping to the library (not practical anyway because of where we live it would take over an hour both ways) and I think my family would riot if I went to a church. They accept my beliefs as long as I’m not ‘shoving it down their throats’ so I can only go to church when I’m not at home and I’m finding that difficult. But because I was with him and not them before Christmas I’m now obliged to make up the time I missed with them.

Dutchoma · 30/12/2018 09:10

I am now obliged to make up the time I missed with them that is quite manipulative Woedidn. I understand that they love you and you love them, but loving a person means that you allow them to be their own person. I doesn’t look like your family have grasped that idea.

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Becca19962014 · 30/12/2018 10:17

what it's difficult being the only Christian in your family. When I visited years ago I was on the way to stay in the monastery I'm a member of. All they did was complain I was wasting a whole week of annual leave on visiting and how rich the church is and hypocritical and about how anything I needed from them I should be getting from family

Thinking back it was always the same. Whenever I had someone else in my life I was spending time with they'd be jealous and complain.

I struggle with my relationship with God a lot and part of it is to do with my family dynamics.

Becca19962014 · 30/12/2018 10:32

I'd appreciate prayers as I struggle with my vocation and faith following the statement that I must choose between mental health support or my vocation and cannot do both and, yet I need both.

The conflict is tearing me apart - I know that sounds really melodramatic but I've no other way to describe it.

Dutchoma · 30/12/2018 13:07

Bexxa I have prayed for you that the Lord will speak direct to your heart and that the ears of your heart will be wide open to hear what He says.

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WhatOnEarthDoIDoNow · 30/12/2018 14:10

@Dutchoma oh yeah it’s manipulative, but in my family family comes first. When you have free time you first spend it with them first, any spare time after that can be spent with friends.

I get that @Becca19962014, it’s more difficult than people think living with the scorn from people you love the most.

I’m also praying for both of you and hoping/praying I can get everything sorted here.