www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Prayer Suffering

Please pray that my suffering- physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually be healed. I'm barely hanging on and have no support or love, which Is making this so much worse. My heart and soul hurt so much.

May the Lord God send you His healing angels to surround you, protect you and lead you.

Lord, have mercy!

May our blessed Virgin Mother of God help you see the light at the end of this tunnel. Kyrie Eleison!

Dear friend,

Last year, I had a bone infection that caused me suffering night and day to the point I didn't want to continue living. The pain would wake me up at night, pain pills notwithstanding.

Prayer at such times is very hard. But the wonderful thing about it is that it takes our mind off what we are suffering at the moment. You need to force yourself to pray, to be praying constantly. Read the psalms, say the Jesus Prayer, the Rosary, or simply say with Peter on the turbulent waves, "Lord save me!"

There is a prayer the Holy Fathers, including St Theophan the Recluse, taught for when we are in grave suffering and trouble: O God come to my assistance: O Lord quickly come to help me!

By saying this prayer over and over, you will be building a wall of defence around you.

But you need to force yourself to do it constantly and at every moment.

God will answer you. I learned the hard way that He truly does.

You can too.

Alex

prayers, arising like incense.

Praying for you...

... and considering that I am passing through the worst period of my life, the advice given by other posters is helping me too.

I will stay with you in prayer and add you to mine and my children's daily prayers. I know the waves of pain coming from all directions can be very overwhelming. Jesus is with you, cling to Him.

Thank you all for the kind words and prayers. Still no improvement. I'm praying for each of you as well.

Christ will carry you through, don't worry.

Thank God. Praise God and then seek His assistance, dear sister in Christ.

Didn't you say in another thread that your mother has been cured of cancer? That is a miracle! Sometimes we are so overwhelmed by many burdens that we forget to say thank you to God for the miracles we are sent.

You are fortunate to have her. While she may not be able to support you in the ways you seek, a mother's love, and just having her close, is the greatest love and support a human can have.

Meg--do you know the saints? They are awesome heavenly friends who can answer your prayers through their loving and powerful intercessions. If you are seeking employment, St. Xenia of Petersburg is a very powerful intercessor, and though you may not have heard of her if you are not Orthodox, there are people all over the world today that have her to thank for finding their jobs. Chose a saint, get to know them by reading about them, and find their Akathist or Supplication service, and pray it daily, as well as personal prayer from your heart.

I promise that perseverence of this sort will help you and also grant you peace of soul, that taking each day as it comes, things will get better.

My prayers continue for you, Meg. Don't give up...

In Christ,
Alice

P.S. Don't hesitate to speak to your priest or a priest. They often have resources to temporarily help those in need who are in their parish, or they have places to point you to (Catholic charities?)...
Don't feel humiliated. You have been through so much with your mother's cancer and loss of employment...and if you do feel humiliated or embarrassed (which is normal), just remember the Psalm that says that God will not despise the person with a broken and humble heart. In the midst of humility will come many blessings and answers to prayer.

Prayers offered, aplenty! God bless you, may He lead you to true peace.

If I may share something that is really personally very helpful, it was recommended to me that I read three chapters of the Gospels daily, so as to get through all four Gospels each month.

The Orthodox Study Bible is my favourite for helpful explanatory notes, but there are others.

After a time, Christ really does speak to us through the Gospel. After a while, He speaks to me personally as I listen.

This transforms one's prayer life and relationship with God and Christ.

A large part of suffering and the pain we feel comes from our own reaction to it. It is we ourselves who tend to make things worse for ourselves.

Perhaps we feel that we deserve to be punishes, penanced etc.

Christ's words in the Gospel that we read lifts all that and through such a simple daily rule.

In addition to speaking with God, we need to let God speak to us - this is a crucial part of our relationship with Christ.

Alex

Hello Megs,
Just checking in to say hello. I have thought about you and prayed over the last week and will continue my prayers. Do not worry, people who are down and sad are not the only ones who make things harder for themselves. We all do that pretty well on our own by sin. (I know, and our Lord knows, how hard it is to see let alone walk in the dark. I, or others are not accusing you of sin or that you are trying to make it hard on yourself. I pray that does not come across that way on this cold screen.) It is only that different personalities, life experiences, etc. can of course affect the way we experience and deal with the crosses in our lives. Orthodox Catholic and Alice, had good suggestions about the Saints, reading the Word of God and the Jesus prayer. I find the Jesus prayer to be a sort of anchor or tether in the darkness. The name of Jesus is very powerful, although I am sure I am preaching to the choir. Hang in there, you are not alone.

Hi Rachel and all praying for me. I am sorry it's taken awhile to respond. I've been sick and everything has gotten exponentially worse. I am so grateful for all of your prayers and suggestions as well as your taking the time to write me supportive, comforting, thoughtful responses. I'm spending so much time praying and reading the gospel...just about every waking minute. I'm trying so hard not to be discouraged, but I truly feel I'm at my breaking point with things attacking me from all possible angles. I'll keep you all updated and keep you all in my prayers, as well.