Hi, I'm 14 years old and i'm new to this site. Last night i started thinking about all the stuff going on in the world and this morning I saw an article that said some fancy machine is gonna create a black hole to swallow the earth, after that i started thinking i needed to be a little more religious than i am right now. so my question to you guys is how do i get god in my life?
i go to church every sunday
i'm deacon
but i just dont feel it? <--- O_0 did that make sense?
Comments
To grow closer to God, the Coptic Church would recommend you fast and pray with the Church.
Are u fasting right now?
And when you fast, are u praying also??
Do you repent and confess regularly?
Do you sing the tasbeha?
If you do all these things, and u still have no luck, why not go to a Monastery this summer? U are only 14. Take a spiritual vacation. It will do u the world of good.
Look. Whatever you've done, you've done it in secret before the Lord. He's seen what you've done.
You need to see sin as an illness and God as the cure.
No.. now is a good time to confess. U are young.
Look. Whatever you've done, you've done it in secret before the Lord. He's seen what you've done.
You need to see sin as an illness and God as the cure.
ok i understand, but i just worry that abouna will treat me different or something. :(
whats great about the church is it doesn't ask a lot from you... so its not right to over do yourself... don't start the with the 7 prayers of the agpeya and tasbeha and the whole nine yards... you gotta take it easy as a baby does... the baby is fed milk, and gradually makes his/her way to lahma we boftaik... but if he prematurely eats solid food, more than likely the baby will choke, and it can be very fatal!
now lets take this to the next level... the baby is fed! the baby's muscles are not strong enough to feed himself... so he needs somebody to feed him/her... somebody wise, who learned how to feed, by their mom and/or dad, so spiritually speaking, who is your mom?! the church... so you need to be next to your mom at all times... stay with her, help her, love her... be a child to the church! and now to the father, who is your dad?! God, communicating to you through the priest! you have to be a son, accept him to be always with you, to always be open to anything he asks you...
so you see how the spiritual life is like a family it does not only consist of you and only you! now when a child has a problem, what does he do?! he cries! and that is what you did... and that is a good thing... but the thing that is wrong is that you cried to other children who are helpless and could/should not answer you... the one you need to cry to is your father, and listen to him, and him alone!!!
NO ONE CAN HELP YOU WITH TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO!!! THE ONLY ADVICE IS GO TO YOUR PRIEST, AND SEEK HIS HELP WHICH IS LEAD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
whats great about the church is it doesn't ask a lot from you... so its not right to over do yourself... don't start the with the 7 prayers of the agpeya and tasbeha and the whole nine yards... you gotta take it easy as a baby does... the baby is fed milk, and gradually makes his/her way to lahma we boftaik... but if he prematurely eats solid food, more than likely the baby will choke, and it can be very fatal!
now lets take this to the next level... the baby is fed! the baby's muscles are not strong enough to feed himself... so he needs somebody to feed him/her... somebody wise, who learned how to feed, by their mom and/or dad, so spiritually speaking, who is your mom?! the church... so you need to be next to your mom at all times... stay with her, help her, love her... be a child to the church! and now to the father, who is your dad?! God, communicating to you through the priest! you have to be a son, accept him to be always with you, to always be open to anything he asks you...
so you see how the spiritual life is like a family it does not only consist of you and only you! now when a child has a problem, what does he do?! he cries! and that is what you did... and that is a good thing... but the thing that is wrong is that you cried to other children who are helpless and could/should not answer you... the one you need to cry to is your father, and listen to him, and him alone!!!
NO ONE CAN HELP YOU WITH TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO!!! THE ONLY ADVICE IS GO TO YOUR PRIEST, AND SEEK HIS HELP WHICH IS LEAD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
thanks that helped allot. I'll try talking to abouna this sunday
God bless and Pray 4 me
Copticdeacon
Fasting- don't try suddenly fasting EVERY fast, Wednesday and Friday. Fast a portion of each major fast, gradually building it up every time.
Reading the Bible- Start off by reading just a few verses a day, and contemplate on how you can benefit from them. Gradually build this up to whole chapters a day, and then even more.
Prayer- starting off by praying every hour of the Agpeya every day isn't helpful. Why not try reading just one of the hours each day, praying just a couple of psalms, again gradually building up?
I wouldn't do EXACTLY as I've suggested...this is just my own personal path that I've taken. The best thing to do is as SuperMAN suggested- talk to your priest as he will be in the best position to guide you on all this. He will probably suggest that you build up all these things gradually too, but he will know the best starting point and speed for you personally.
God bless your enthusiasm to make Him part of your life :)
Matthew
[quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=6854.msg91934#msg91934 date=1214843089]
No.. now is a good time to confess. U are young.
Look. Whatever you've done, you've done it in secret before the Lord. He's seen what you've done.
You need to see sin as an illness and God as the cure.
ok i understand, but i just worry that abouna will treat me different or something. :(
I understand your concern completely, but actually there's no need for it at all
I was just listening to a sermon today on the sacrament of repentance and confession and there are some things I think might be helpful to you.
Firstly abouna has heard it all and he's experienced, you really don't have to tell abouna all the details of your sin, it's enough to tell him the name of the sin only, eg I lied.
Abouna is not there to judge you or question you or make you feel bad, he's a loving father who's there to pray for you and to guide you. He puts both HIS SINS and YOURS on the Holy Body and Blood asks for forgivenss for both of you. Abouna always asks for repentance for you and for him at the same time. Also remember, whatever embarassing problem you might have, abouna has been through it all.. The priest who said the sermon was just saying: 'Do you think I came from another planet?? Don't deify priests, we also sin. Abouna also used to look at people in a wrong way, he also used to have youthful habits, he also repented and then fell again and cried and repented again and soforth... Under my black robe, there are a million sins..'' Just know that WE ALL SIN...and WE ALL NEED TO REPENT...
God Bless
Please pray for my weakness
[quote author=fearfulcopt link=topic=6854.msg91935#msg91935 date=1214843337]
[quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=6854.msg91934#msg91934 date=1214843089]
No.. now is a good time to confess. U are young.
Look. Whatever you've done, you've done it in secret before the Lord. He's seen what you've done.
You need to see sin as an illness and God as the cure.
ok i understand, but i just worry that abouna will treat me different or something. :(
I understand your concern completely, but actually there's no need for it at all
I was just listening to a sermon today on the sacrament of repentance and confession and there are some things I think might be helpful to you.
Firstly abouna has heard it all and he's experienced, you really don't have to tell abouna all the details of your sin, it's enough to tell him the name of the sin only, eg I lied.
Abouna is not there to judge you or question you or make you feel bad, he's a loving father who's there to pray for you and to guide you. He puts both HIS SINS and YOURS on the Holy Body and Blood asks for forgivenss for both of you. Abouna always asks for repentance for you and for him at the same time. Also remember, whatever embarassing problem you might have, abouna has been through it all.. The priest who said the sermon was just saying: 'Do you think I came from another planet?? Don't deify priests, we also sin. Abouna also used to look at people in a wrong way, he also used to have youthful habits, he also repented and then fell again and cried and repented again and soforth... Under my black robe, there are a million sins..'' Just know that WE ALL SIN...and WE ALL NEED TO REPENT...
God Bless
Please pray for my weakness
thanks that made me feel allot better about the meeting this sunday (i was literally sweating when i called abouna)
I would also like to tell you one thing. I have been confessing to the same priest for almost 3 years. He is my father, my friend, and a part of me. Never once has he looked at me in a judgemental way. Don't be afraid, he's heard it all. You have nothing new. On the other hand, most of the other people probably have worse confessions...
Relax. I would like to tell you that one of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to priests is the gift of forget; to forget the confessions people tell him!
I would also like to tell you one thing. I have been confessing to the same priest for almost 3 years. He is my father, my friend, and a part of me. Never once has he looked at me in a judgemental way. Don't be afraid, he's heard it all. You have nothing new. On the other hand, most of the other people probably have worse confessions...
I have one more question about confession, Can abouna tell other abounas my mom or any one what i tell him ? I'm pretty sure he cant , but just double checking