Christian prayer and chat thread Open to all

[Dutchoma]

The old thread was nearly full, so here is a new one. Oldies and newbies, chat or prayer, all welcome.

Praying especially for MHD and JanFeb’s daughter.
Also praying for all who are preparing Holy Week/Easter services.

Hello @52andblue. I'm so sorry for what you are going through. Broken relationships are so very difficult. I think Libre, Oma and Jangly have all given you very wise words, and I agree with them that God is just and we will see justice - true and proper justice, with God knowing the heart of everyone. It's interesting you ask why people who commit evil are allowed to live long and healthy lives - if you look at many of the Psalms, the writers then were asking exactly the same question. It's one thing I love about the Bible - the sheer honesty of it and the way it allows us to shout out our feelings of injustice and pain. It's ok to do that - to ask God why. And often we don't get the answers, but what we can know with perfect assurance is that God loves each and every one of us with a love that goes beyond our imaginations. I love a passage from the book of Ephesians:

'I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.'
Ephesians 3:17‭-‬19 NIVUK
bible.com/bible/113/eph.3.17-19.NIVUK

This shows us that God is love and God can't help but love us with love that goes beyond all the borders. God loves you with great, great passion, has loved you from before you were born. You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139).

Often forgiving people doesn't mean you will suddenly feel forgiveness. It's more an act of the will, a decision to cut yourself off from damaging ties these people have bound you with. It's up to them to make their own acts of repentance, or not. All you can do is come to a place where you decide you are not going to allow their toxicity to be part of your framework anymore, and so you choose to forgive. Forgiveness doesn't mean excusing the other or saying what they did was fine - it means that you are not allowing their actions to define you. It's very liberating and it's difficult, and God understands that. They will have to answer to him for their sins against you.

I hope some of this makes sense. Please do come here and ask questions and ask for prayer. We are here to help and to pray.

Hi all

I posted this on a new thread earlier but reposting here in the hope of your prayers

"My beautiful DD has had a rough few months and has really struggled mentally. She's applied for a flat and, if she was successful, it would change her life for the better. She really is the kindest, most lovely person. She'll know the outcome next week.
Could I please ask for your prayers for a positive outcome for her x"

Yes, of course saveaprayer. God cares about all our needs and `He will be with her, whatever happens about the flat. Let us know how it goes, won’t you?

Thank you so very much x

@Madhairday
@JanglyBeads

Sorry for delayed reply. I am REALLY struggling atm.
With their behaviour to me at the end (my Mother, who was abusive to me, cut my children out of her will - did it in front of one of them on her death bed too)
and with my Faith (as above). BOTH of them dying unrepentant (the 'will' thing is not so much the money but the deliberate hurt inflicted right until the end) has made me question everything. I have moved area recently & not connected with a Church but I find I can't speak to God any more either.

I did have an odd dream last night though. I was visiting Mother in Hosp. The hours were odd so I stayed over (they brought a bed in). As I woke a nurse was giving me a gentle wash. I said: 'no, not me, Her in the corner'. She said 'this is for You' And she started singing a Hallelujah. It was extraordinary. Beautiful.

So, even though you are unable to speak to God, He is speaking to you in the tenderest, loving terms. I pray that you will be able to dwell on the feelings you had during that dream, because I honestly and truly believe that is God Himself speaking to you.

I hope you will find a church somewhere to sneal in at the back, meanwhile we are here to listen and to pray for you.

@Dutchoma - yes, I'm trying to focus on the dream (rather than my intensely angry 'revenge' thoughts, which I've found upsetting in themselves).
It occurred to me on a dog walk this am that I am maybe not 'bad / wicked' for having such (dramatic!) thoughts.
Perhaps both people involved are not 'bad' either but very very damaged- they've dumped that on me but I can let it (safely, hopefully!) flow through me & perhaps that's what God wants? (why me, I don't know but hey ho, 1 step at a time)
I thought the dream was just 'wish fulfilment' on my part but yes perhaps that was God 'speaking' too ? Thank you for your kind & interesting reply x

Selwyn Hughes said about thoughts: “You cannot stop them landing on your head, but you can stop them building nests in your hair.”
As far as I understand it (correct me if I’m wrong), both the people that have hurt and damaged you are dead now, so they come within Gods realm. You can let it go. You are not in any way wicked or bad for having ‘thoughts’, they come like birds and you cannot stop them. But you don’t have to dwell on them. You can wrap them up in tissue paper and put them at the back of a high shelf in a cupboard. It is in the past and you can let it go.

@Dutchoma - I like that quote!

(both have end stage cancer, so not 'in God's hands' yet but on the brink of it, yes. One - very 'religious' - may be dead already, I don't know - I will have to wait for an obituary probably. The other doesn't have long either I think. This person is my Mother & when I visited recently with her grandchild in tow, was deliberately cruel in unexpected ways).

Thank you for listening, I do appreciate it.

52andblue I am sorry to hear what a terrible time you are going through.

My dad died 6 months ago now and I am a bit worried that I am kind of praying to him! Normally when I go to work I put worship music on and pray, asking God to look after my children, thanking him for good things etc, almost having a little chat in many ways. Since dad died I have taken to having a little chat with him in my head - I drive past the church where he is buried and in my head I talk to him as though he can hear me, just like I do when I am praying to God. I am feeling a bit confused as to whether it’s ok.
Anyone had any similar experience, or can give advice as to whether this is ok?

Hello compostmaker welcome. I’m sorry to hear of your dad’s death. I think it is a gift of God that you feel you can still talk to him as well as pray to God and have q relationship with Him. Is there a minister or friend you could talk it over with in real life?

I think it's entirely understandable. It sounds like you're still talking to God anyway which is good.

Maybe focus on the worship aspect of prayer a bit more? And ask God to help you with this new situation... He will!

Thank you both for the good advice. I am much too introverted to talk to anyone about this in real life!

I’m glad you could share it with us CompostMaker and I hope that nothing we have said will make you feel there is anything wrong with sharing your daily life with your dad as well as with your Heavenly Father.

I hope everyone had a good Jubilee weekend. We had a lovely party at the village hall.

Hello everyone!

Didn't know we had this here!

I'll appreciate your prayers please!

Just had another failed cycle of IVF. The pain of disappointment doesn't get easier. Also had a hysteroscopic myomectomy last week. Please pray for healing and fruitfulness. It means a lot to us.

Thanks.

I’m praying for you now delectable. I’m so sorry, it must be incredibly hard. I pray for healing and fruitfulness for you.

@Donhill much appreciated!

I know the pain of barrenness only too well Delectable We never got as far as IVF, ( it was over 40 years ago). I did have two children though after the fibroids were taken out, so I hope you will soon have good news.

Hello again.

I'm still very much struggling with my sense of God.

My Mother is now dead (& 'family' behaved very badly about it)

I don't know what the status of my old Partner is. I think he's alive (but remote).

In a way though what matters is my relationship with God (which is interlinked with my 'relationship with' / sense of myself as I struggle to believe God cares)

I have lots of challenges with 2 children with Autism & a worse than useless exH and somehow, God & I have got separated (if indeed we were ever 'together')

I think you are right in saying that only your relationship with God matters. So you need to build that relationship. I do firmly believe that God will be found by those that seek Him. Your life sounds very hard and it is perhaps easier to think that there is no God, in that way you cannot be disappointed. Eventually I think that is not very satisfactory.
I will pray for you that you find a chink where you see the light shining through. Do follow that light when you see it,
I found this poem and I thought:”yes, it does remain a matter of just persevering.
I pray for your blessing

Hello to everyone who’s been on here and Apologies for reviving this thread with a request. Reading CompostMaker and 52and blue’s posts I realise a lot of us are dealing with bereavement, anger, vulnerable relatives etc. if anyone can pray for my
poor brother who has suffered mental illness and social exclusion all his
life. He is now in the depths of
depression and thinking a lot about our late parents, nearly like a delayed bereavement . I didn’t notice him mourning when they died but it seems to have hit him hard now. He’s trying to make sense of their lives, as I did intensely especially after mum died suddenly 27 years ago. I am nearly sure he’s on the autistic spectrum and doesn’t process emotions in a “ normal “
way. He tells me he’s been praying. Thanks for any kind thoughts or
prayers. My thoughts to all on this thread.

Will pray for him, @TheGander

N o apologies needed for reviving the thread. After the last lot of messing about by Mumsnet, I lost the will to post on here, especially as nobody else did. So I am glad it has a bit of life in it again.
For your brother: yes, certainly prayers, but not quite sure what to pray for. What would help him? Someone to talk to to ‘get it all out’? A chat with his doctor? but not sure that they can do much more than a handful of antidepressants and I’m not sure that would be a real help. It’s a long time since your mother died, how old is your brother now? Being on the spectrum won’t help either, has he had any help with that?