/christian/ - Christian Discussion and Fellowship

>>544362

Can you explain just a bit further?

For instance sometimes it appears that when I pray to God, the responses I get in various ways from God, such as supernatural answers, are honest to goodness lies.

Which, at least to me, seems to only serve the purpose of sinful harassment from God, unjustified harassment and intimidation and abuse and such things like that….the likes of which an immature person or a child would do to another.

The Bible says that God will not allow a person to be harmed or tempted beyond what they can handle, but this appears to happen to me on a regular basis.

So, when I pray to God it appears that He is telling me there is some sort of massive conspiracy against me as a person, but He won't provide evidence or do anything to stop the conspiracy (yet) and won't deliver me from what I already suffer from the conspiracy.

It basically appears that the other people involved in the conspiracy are apostate Christians harming brethren, so it is like God is showing them favoritism while afflicting people who are less evil than they.

One thing God says to me is "Well they are going to Hell FOREVER, so isn't it right to give them what they want in this life?"

And I mean, yeah, I agree with that, but not if it also causes me to lose my salvation by turning away from God. If God cannot deliver me from this then why the point of calling me in the first place.

I forgive God even if He makes mistakes, it's really no big deal at all to me, I just need deliverance from God because the whole situation is literally making the whole religion of Christianity look like a bunch of nonsense. That may be what my evil afflicted want, because they don't actually care about God or Christendom.

>>544377

Oh, your problem is simple. You're not talking to God.

You're talking to a demon.

>>544379

I love you guys, I am honest, I will try anything.

How do I talk to God?

>>544379

I have read the first chapter of the Philokalia, I see that you have an Eastern Rite flag.

Orthodox Churches are fun, especially since I am a westerner.

>>544381

Stick away from the Philokalia for now since it's a complicated thing and really meant for people already in the Church. If you want to read something, you should read the Gospels starting with Matthew in a good study edition of the Bible.

If you want to speak with God, all you've got to do is pray.

Christ even gave us a prayer to use.

Our Father,

Who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

If you pray this prayer, God will surely hear you. But don't expect to hear Him respond!

Do you attend church, anon?

>>544386

On occasion. I am a bit of a "church-hopper."

The responses I get while praying are very difficult to discern. Would it not seem that God should disallow other confusing responses and banish them from deceiving me, seeing as the responses I'm getting to my prayers are not from God?

>>544391

If you're seeking communion with God, aim to make church a part of your life. Start with frequent attendance.

Demons can be crafty, and if you're focusing on "hearing" some sort of answer to a prayer, they'll take the chance. I encourage you to ignore responses entirely. Focus simply on your prayer, whether it be for support, deliverance, mercy, or what have you.

>>544396

Aye, good advice.

It appears what these forces are trying to do is over time create an illusion of 'conspiracy' in my mind, with the conspiracy progressing and taking on new dimensions as time goes on.

These 'forces' appear to be spirit creatures, but with control over time and control over nature, who can manipulate any aspect of the physical world like any human.

It is very unfortunate for humanity, indeed, if what I am experiencing is one giant spiritual deception.

It seems like God's responsibility to Creation would be to prevent this from happening.

It reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas where Jesus says, "If you pray, you will be condemned."

>>544398

I'm glad you're starting to get out of the web of deception!

Demons are immortal and immaterial, but they're not all-powerful. With God on our side, we have nothing to fear; heartfelt prayer is the sword that will keep them at bay. If you want some more to use, you could read some psalms aloud or use the ones listed here: https://oca.org/orthodoxy/prayers

>God's responsibility

At the end of the day, we've got to trust God's judgement. He made all of us and everything, and we know He is infinitely good and loving.

Side note: be careful! The gospel of Thomas isn't canonical. There's some stuff in there that's not Christian in the slightest, which is why it's not in the Bible. I would avoid getting spiritual advice from it.