When I make the “Sign of the Cross” before praying, I feel so blessed ‘opening’ and ‘connecting’ myself to God and all those in Heaven. It is very uplifting. However, when I make the “Sign of the Cross” finishing the prayer, I feel I’m closing myself off, away from God, until I pray, again. It gives me a feeling of disconnect! Please advise as to how to feel ‘connected’, even when closing with the “Sign of the Cross.”<\/p>\n
Thank you and God Bless.<\/p>\n\t
The Bible says nothing about making a sign of the cross before or after prayer. It is simply the innovation of the Catholic church. It has no biblical basis.<\/p>\n
Notice that throughout your note your entire emphasis is on\u00a0your<\/strong>\u00a0feelings. Should a person be happy (which is the meaning of the word “bless”) to have an opportunity to talk with God? Absolutely! But God says He is with a Christian at all times — not just when a Christian prays. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him<\/em>” (I John 4:15-16). The idea of “abide” means that the person has a close relationship with the one they are abiding with. When a Christian loves God and stands up for (confesses) Christ he has a close relationship with God and God has a close relationship with him. It is not a momentary thing. The relationship becomes a part of the Christian’s life.<\/p>\n How do you get a close relationship with God? “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked<\/em>” (I John 2:3-6). It is what you do, not what you feel that is important. When you do the commands of God, the feelings follow along. But feelings alone will not connect you to God.<\/p>\n\t Thank you so very much for your answer. Now when I read my question it seems I was forgetting that because of my love and dedication to and for God, He lives in me, always! I compare it to, say, my husband, of course, lives with me in our house. There isn’t anything I can do to make it feel<\/em> like He isn’t there!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: When I make the “Sign of the Cross” before praying, I feel so blessed ‘opening’ and ‘connecting’ myself to God and all those in Heaven. It is very uplifting. However, when I make the “Sign of the Cross” finishing the prayer, I feel I’m closing myself off, away from God, until I pray, again.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[546,54,1510,440,1599],"class_list":["post-8586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-feelings","tag-obedience","tag-prayers","tag-rituals","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25566,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-trouble-remaining-focused-in-my-prayers-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":0},"title":"I have trouble remaining focused in my prayers. What should I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a couple of questions regarding my prayer life that are bothering me.\u00a0 I\u2019ve searched for the answers to these myself, but the only places I\u2019ve found them addressed is from the Catholic church, and I\u2019d rather hear an opinion from a member of the church of Christ.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38990,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-the-church-of-christs-view-of-baptism-different-from-the-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":1},"title":"How is the church of Christ’s view of baptism different from the denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I recently came across a YouTube comment about baptism that puzzled me a bit: \"It's also important to know the church of Christ view of baptismal salvation is different from every other view; that of the Lutherans, Anglicans, Catholics or Orthodox.\" Is this a correct assessment? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49451,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-only-males-were-circumcised-how-did-females-enter-the-old-covenant\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":2},"title":"Since only males were circumcised, how did females enter the Old Covenant?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother, This question came up in a recent Bible study. We were covering the book of Romans, the last few verses of chapter 2. Circumcision came up. After a little discussion, a sister in Christ asked how women made a covenant with God under Mosaic Law, since circumcision was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-know-about-the-acts-of-paul-and-thecla\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":3},"title":"What do you know about the “Acts of Paul and Thecla?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading some Bible literature and came across a reference book, \"Acts of Paul and Thecla\". I was wondering if you could enlighten me and provide some clarification of this book and relevance to the Bible. I understand that is was one of the lost books of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37418,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-is-the-cross-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":4},"title":"Where Is the Cross of Christ?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer When I make it about how I feel, what I like or don't like, how inconvenient things are to me, or how I shouldn't have to do x, y, or z because it's difficult, then I have to ask... where is the cross of Christ in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cross-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24308,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-matter-how-you-are-baptized\/","url_meta":{"origin":8586,"position":5},"title":"Does it matter how you are baptized?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I get confused about baptism.\u00a0 I believe a person should be baptized by immersion.\u00a0 Some feel the mode does not matter - just as long as you get baptized.\u00a0 I have attended a Baptist church that says baptism does not save you - that the thief on the cross\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Response:<\/h2>\n