I have reaffirmed my faith in God and am having two problems. Help me out here?

Question

My first problem is the ability to let go of wanting to be in control of my own life instead of putting it in God's hands for his own pupose. I still want to try and solve my own problems which leads to stress and worry. My second problem is I want to meditate and let his words be heard or felt in my heart but my mind wanders all over the place and I am easily distracted while trying to meditate. ANY TIPS

Answer 1

The serenity prayer worked for me:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change...the courage to change the things I can...and the wisdom to know the difference.
Then when you know you cannot do anything about a problem you should be able to lay it on the altar and believe in your heart that God will intervene. As far as being too distracted to meditate, don't let that frustrate you. Get out your bible and read and relish Gods word. Let His word sink into your heart as you read. Feel the emotion of God's saving grace and be amazed at what He will reveal to you through His word. Believe me that peace that "passes all understanding" will come to you. Even at the most trying times. God bless you mightily and stay strong in your faith and your walk with our Lord.

Answer 2

I am going to say, what I believe, always reserving the right to be wrong, especially for other people.

The first problem, you still have to work, Paul made tents to support himself. Jesus indicates to use the talents given you in the parable where He condemned the one who hid the talents. Paul said if a man doesn't work, he shouldn't eat. So it isn't wrong to make plans and work toward their accomplishment. What we should do is ask for guidance by the Holy Spirit and not worry past that, something a lot easier said than done. Remember to be thankful when the help comes and ask why if it doesn't. God can always handle serious questions!

Second, sounds like you are trying to spend time just meditating and doing nothing else. Yep, your mind wanders under these conditions, especially if worried about something else. Try reading a couple of verses several times and then go on about your business, but try to recite the verses and think about how they apply to what you are doing. Read Psalms 1, it seems to indicate this type of meditation.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

ask for guidance in prayer everyday- several times a day, actually. that should help with the first problem. when it comes to solving my own problems, it took a long time for me to figure out that i need to do all i know to do, and then just stop worrying about it. after you've done everything you can, give it over to God. He never sleeps nor slumbers, so why should *you* worry about it? pray for guidance concerning your problems, do what you feel you have to do, but make up your mind not to worry. know that God *will* do what's best with your situation, even if it doesn't seem that way at the time, and give Him thanks in advance.

i'm not to sure what you mean by ''meditate.'' if you're talking about reading the bible, or contemplating what it says, you should always pray for understanding. additionally, turn off the tv or the radio, go somewhere quiet, and do your thing. if you're still having trouble concentrating, try taking ginko biloba. the bible says nothing against taking natural supplements, and ginko helps me tremendously to stay focused, especially since i rarely get enough sleep.

Answer 4

Both of these issues get easier over time. It is wonderful that you have found your way back to the Lord though! I found that although you always have "Alot to think about... you never have anything to worry about." Giving your problems over to God get's easier overtime as you realize that when you don't things just fall apart. That's not to say stressful things won't come up, but it's all a test on how you deal with it.

Secondly, on meditating on his word, I find it most useful when I am listening to soft piano ballads, nature tunes, etc. At first, try not to listen to any music with words in it while you are trying to meditate on his word.

One other thing that might help you give your problems over to the Lord is the following... don't keep God in a little box... he's AMAZING... let him rule your life and you'll be amazed at what you will find!

A great book to check out is "Living your best life now!" by Joel Olsteen. It will give you some amazing insights into our amazing faith!

God Bless!

Answer 5

Good question!

I think fear of "losing control" can be conquered or
helped with the realization that God knows you better
than you know yourself and knows what will truly fit
in your life and what will teach you what you will need, for
you don't know the future but God does. I have seen
this happen many times in my own life and it
surely builds faith. He does abundantly above
all we ask or think!

Answering the second question will
actually help a lot with the first. Yes, it is difficult
sometimes to focus during prayer time. What
helps for me and what helps for my husband is
different. I usually start with singing praise songs and
my prayer starts with all the things I am thankful for.
This helps me focus. My husband always starts
out with reading the scriptures for a while, usually a
few chapters then he is motivated to pray.
After I thank and praise God for a while, sometimes
I then start praying for individuals, one at a time.
I pray for each person sometimes in an in-depth way
and God reveals things to my heart. Sometimes I
pray for the USA or Israel. It helps to have a good topic
or issue to start out with and be sincere with that topic,
not just going through a ritual or formality of praying, but to wholehartedly communicate. This really builds ones
relationship with the Lord.

I hope that helped!
I always look forward to Saturday and Sunday
mornings when I get up a sunrise and have
extra time to pray and read the Word. I also
pray while I am commuting to work, but get distracted
by traffic, it works pretty good sometimes, though.

Answer 6

What kind of "control" are you wanting to relinquish?

If you are being led to believe that you must blindly follow the advice of a religious leader or dogmatic principles, that's giving up control of your logic and reason, something that isn't necessary to have faith and trust in God.

Self-control is something all righteous who walk with God are able to exhibit. It isn't lack of control. Mastery of evil inclinations requires self-control.

life is full of stress and worry, even for the faithful ..faith will simply help you navigate your way through those very normal parts of life.

If you think that you don't show real faith if you still possess a desire to let your logic and reason function then perhaps you're really looking for a way to numb yourself with giving over responsibility to something else.

It takes practice and effort to learn how to be calm within yourself. As in anything else..start slow and build from there. Perhaps you are trying to hard to separate yourself from yourself rather than really listen to what is inside you. Then perhaps you can better "hear" and feel God.

Answer 7

You're not in control of your life unless you're in open rebellion to God, but then it is just an illusion. But, if you are walking by faith then faith is what is sustaining you, no matter what your mind is telling you and the more you think of yourself as an unprofitable servant then the more you will see God working in each moment of your life. It does belong to him after all.

Read the bible out loud, especially the Psalms to keep your mind from wandering. If your mind wanders while you are trying to meditate on the word find one verse and say it over and over until you have memorized it, then when your mind wanders remember that verse and repeat it to focus your mind on the word.

Answer 8

1. Like jumping off a diving board as a child. Just close your eyes and leap, and feel the openness of the air, the feeling of flight.

2. Get out of the city or such if you can. Try to find a quiet pasture or some woods to meditate in. Being next to nature can help when talking to Him. Remember, He himself states, " I do not reside in buildings made by hand ".

Answer 9

Yes, I have some tips. Consider whether it is wise to put your life in someone else's hands, let alone someone you cannot see or hear except in your imagination. You feel stress and worry not because you want to run your own life, but because that desire is in conflict with your attempt to "turn it over to God." If you really felt you are no good at making choices for yourself, you would find the handing over a relief, not a stress.

My guess is you are not particularly strong in your faith, and I congratulate you for that. Faith is defined as belief in the absence of evidence, or even in the face of evidence to the contrary. We would not accept that kind of argument in any area other than religion, so I fail to see why we should accept it in religion.

Keep using your mind. It will get you through this troubling period.

Answer 10

I'm not sure that I understand your problem correctly, but it would seem that you are frustrated about your religious orientation. But by reading your situation as you have described it, you seem like a very intelligent individual who is having a difficult time understanding just where you fit in.

You have probably been brought up in a religious environment and feel committed to it, but on the other hand you are probably having problems sorting out the impossible logic of religious belief from the realities of everyday life as you see them. I think that once you have decided to discard the miracles and other fantasy of religion, then your frustration will start to resolve itself.