My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer is a universal, spiritual phenomenon, the fundamental and inseparable element of every religion and every personal piety. As such, prayer has appeared in the history of mankind with an astonishing multiplicity of forms and expressions that range from the crudest and primitive to the most spiritually sublime. The traditions of the Holy Bible and of Orthodox Christianity provide an extraordinary perspective from which to see not only the nature and meaning of prayer but also its concrete expressions in practice. The basic presupposition of any real and truly spiritual prayer is the belief in the existence of the Living God. The believer not only believes that the infinite and invisible God exists, but that He also reveals Himself to people. It is through this revelation of God that it becomes possible for man to have a personal communion with God. When, therefore, the believer prays, he or she speaks directly to God and becomes aware of a communication with Him. Consequently, prayer presupposes faith in the reality and the presence of God, and means primarily that living relationship between man and God, which is nothing less than a direct and real spiritual contact and personal conversation between persons, between an "I" and a "you". The person who prays is the "I" and the God Who is addressed in prayer is the "You".
When therefore we say that we are praying, we mean that we are talking with and having a relationship with God, as a child speaks and relates to a father or a mother. Without this personal contact and relationship with God, provided for us through prayer, our faith in God remains theoretical, merely an intellectual conviction without practical consequences. But when we actually pray, our faith in God becomes a living and an active faith. Moreover, our every other moral and ethical act is enriched by prayer to acquire spiritual depth and meaning. The moral and ontological abyss that exists between God and man, between the infinite and the finite, is bridged with prayer. Prayer exalts the believer up to heaven, while heaven is condescendingly lowered to earth. The existing veil between the visible and the invisible is drawn aside by prayer, and man is thus made worthy to stand before the All-Holy God and to speak with Him -- "face to face", that is, person to person, and to express to Him the overflowing content of one's praying heart. In this way, our prayer draws the Omnipotent God from heaven and includes Him in our humble and praying heart, while, at the same time, the ecstatic and suspended soul of the praying person is exalted to heaven and united with the Infinite God.
Prayer, as the mystery of unity of man with God, is truly an incomprehensible miracle of miracles which can become a daily experience in the soul of the pious believer who prays with attention ('Let us be attentive!') and sincerity. Saint John Chrysostomos, who has taught us so many things about prayer and who has bequeathed to us so many beautiful prayers, emphasizes that prayer is the most powerful thing in the life of a person, and nothing can be compared with prayer. Prayer is the unique and priceless gift of the Creator to man because it is through this most important Divine gift of prayer that the creation is raised up to the Creator and the finite human person is empowered to converse with the Infinite God.
Prayer is God's greatest gift to fallen man. As such, prayer is also man's greatest power, which he can use to rediscover and restore the original beauty, the original glory, and honor of his nature, created in the image and likeness of God. Prayer has indeed strengthened all the Saints, and it can also strengthen us. Consequently, prayer should not be seen as simply one of the virtues, or merely a duty we must fulfill as Christians. Rather, we must see prayer as constituting the natural and perfect stance the very essence of human existence and interprets what it means to be a human being, that is, a person whose existence is always understood in relation to the true living God. According to the ascetic Saint Neilos, "Everyone who does not wish to be united with God through prayer is actually separated from God." In the spiritual tradition of the Church, prayer is always seen as an act that is purely free and personal, and which, when practiced faithfully and devoutly, always unites the believer with God. If, as it is said, we cannot live without God, then we must also say that we cannot really live without prayer, which brings us confidently before the presence of God and makes us witnesses of His presence and kingdom in the world.
Without prayer, human beings are alienated not only from God but also from themselves. Without prayer, human beings deny the underlying fervent desire of their heart, the great longing for a fuller, purer, more blessed life, which is our natural movement toward God. It is this communion with God and not only defines us as human beings, but also offers to us the victory over Satan, sin, and death. A Saint, a true human being, is not some superman or super-woman, but the person who truly lives his or her personal humanity as a praying human being. This means that the actual destiny of man is to pray and to be in touch with God through prayer, as the Psalmist confirms: "I will sing to the lord as long as I live" (Psalm 104:33). It is therefore not enough to simply say some prayers from time to time, in the sense of fulfilling an occasional or regular religious duty. The totality of our life must become a "prayer" in the sense that our life becomes real and true and authentic when it is all a time of prayer, that is, a time of communion with God. (Source: A Prayer Book. An Anthology of Orthodox Prayers by Father Peter A. Chamberas)
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George