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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PRAYER AS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE (Part III)
By Monk Moses
How to Pray
Compressing lengthy, beautiful and comprehensive homilies of Saint John Chrysostomos on prayer, we offer the following salient points to help the praying person. Prayer must be a systematic and regular practice in our life, with a pious and reverent stance, and with absolute attention. To pray as we should, with the reverence appropriate to conversation with God, we should be aware of the great benefit of prayer, independently of knowing whether there have been specific responses. The person whose prayer is truly a conversation with God is transformed into an earthly angel.
God does not ask that we converse with Him using beautiful words, but that what we say emanates from a beautiful soul. Prayer does not need mediators, formalities, or appointments at prescribed hours. God's door is always open and He awaits us. If we are withdrawn from God that is something totally dependent upon us. He is always near. We need no particular eloquence. He bears us no matter how softly we speak. He understands us completely even if we say little. All hours are appropriate and all places good. And prolonged instruction in the art of prayer is unnecessary. It is sufficient that we want to pray; then learning becomes rapid and effortless.
It is the manner of prayer that is significant. We must pray with perspicacity and contrition seeking spiritual progress, forgiving others and asking their forgiveness, being truly humble. Our prayers will be received and heard if we are praying as God wants us if we persist in our prayers if we seek what is profitable to our souls and the souls of others, if our motives are pure, and if we avoid focusing exclusively on material things. And please note that all the prayers of the Prophet Moses and of Saint Paul were not heard by God, simply because it was not expedient.
It cannot be overemphasized that when we pray, our efforts should not focus exclusively on the idea of receiving. The objective of making our soul better is necessary and this too is accomplished through prayer. The one who prays with this objective becomes stronger than the force of worldly things and is able to fly above them all.
We mentioned earlier that prayer is obstructed by much sleeping, much eating, much talking and luxury. If these are obstacles to effective prayer, then certainly vigils, fasting, silence, quietude, and asceticism are the wings which make our prayers fly higher.
Vigils are inseparable from the life of prayer. As there is no bird without wings, there cannot be a life of prayer without vigils. A night without the memory of God is like a garden without flowers, a tree without fruit, a house without a roof. The prayers best loved by God are those of the night: before we sleep, after we sleep a little and arise at midnight, and early in the morning, before dawn. In this way, we dedicate the night not only to bodily rest but also to the well-being of the soul. By sacrificing some of our sleep, we give something of our own to God Who sacrificed His Son for our sins. Nocturnal prayer makes our sleep sweeter because the words of prayer continue to be active and stimulate beautiful dreams. It is said that Saint Arsenios the Great would begin his prayer each Saturday night just as the sun was setting in the west. He would conclude just as the sun rose to shine in his face on Sunday morning. That is how he measured his time of prayer!
A simple and frugal diet of fasting gives clarity to the mind and vigilance to the soul. A person who has eaten to satiety cannot pray, nor can one pray who is starved. One should eat just enough not to be hungry, perhaps a little less.
Silence is the adornment of the people of God Who measured their words and do not use their tongue as a lethal weapon. The person who is easy-going with words may find it difficult to pray effectively. Loquacity confuses, tires and obscures. Silence concentrates the mind, gives rest to the spirit, and keeps it in constant readiness. Monks persistently search for the quietest corner possible to set up their sanctuary. The objective is to have external quietude penetrate into the soul, for without inner silence and peace, external quiet is of no avail. When the serenity of the soul is accompanied by gratitude toward God, great results can be achieved.
According to Saint Makarios of Egypt, guarding our thoughts and praying with much quietude and peace are fundamental to prayer. And, according to Saint Ephraim the Syrian, the one who prays purely will burn and banish demons, while he who prays carelessly will become the demon's laughing stock.
(To be continued)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" - Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George