Personal prayer outside of the Church is encouraged by the Holy Fathers of the church as well. Prayer is an essential component. Prayer is the personal relationship of the human being with God. Prayer is an encounter and a live and real relationship that is not forced either on us or on God. The prayer relationship begins and develops in mutual freedom.[1] An encounter with God is always a moment of judgment for us, it is a critical moment in our lives. God is power, truth, and purity. If we do not tangibly perceive the divine presence when we pray, we should be grateful because God’s mercy is evident in that He gives us a chance to judge ourselves, to understand and not to come into His presence at a moment when it would mean condemnation. We can come into his presence in repentance, broken-hearted. We must recognize that He is God and King and surrender to Him with concern for His Will.[2]
When we wish to pray we must start with the certainty that we are sinners in need of salvation, that we are cut off from God and cannot live without Him and that all we can offer is our desperate longing to become such that He will receive us, receive us in repentance with mercy and love.[3] In 2 Cor 12:9 St. Paul tells that the Lord told him “my grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”. Then St. Paul says that he would rather boast of his weaknesses that the power of Christ might rest upon him. This weakness and boasting is not the kind of weakness of sin then bragging about it; it is the kind of weakness of the broken hearted in repentance for sins and the telling of such before the Lord. This is repentance and confession, one becomes humble which is a means of becoming supple and completely transparent, completely abandoned in the hands of God so God can make us strong and manifest His power within us.[4] We must remember that all we possess is a gift. We possess nothing that we can keep. We exist because God willed us into existence. We have a body and it will die. We are masters of nothing that is in our possession. These thoughts can lead to despair; but if we remember that although none of these things are ours, we are in possession of them and we are rich because of the gifts we possess which is a sign of the love of God and the love of men. We are rich as a result of Divine Love. This is the Kingdom, the sense that we are free from possession, and this freedom establishes us in a relationship where everything is love, human love and divine love.[5]
When one focuses their prayer, one cannot put a visible sign in front of oneself, whether it be a cross, an icon or an imaged image of God or of Christ as we have seen him in icons. When we focus our attention on these items, we could place a barrier between God and ourselves through the creation of an idol of sorts. What we must remember is that God is simple, yet complex and unknown. Only if we stand with open-heartedness and open-mindedness before the unknown, can the unknown reveal Himself to us. Your prayer must be turned inwards, neither toward a God in Heaven nor toward a God far off, but towards God who is closer to you than you are aware.[6]If we do not turn to God willingly and with desire, we can neither be healed nor united with Him. Prayer is the spiritual method that elevates the person to God.[7] With humility, self-judgment, fasting and prayer, we express our total desire to receive the Divine Gift. Prayer strengthens and cleanses the Christian through a constant inner renewal with the release of passions. Turning back to God from sin finds our highest expression in prayer.[8] Through prayer, human beings are illuminated by the light of the Holy Spirit and are led to Theosis.[9]
The fruit of prayer is Divine Love. Love is not of this world. All things begin in God’s love and all things return to it. The life of divinity is the life of love, since God himself is love. The Giver of love is the Holy Spirit. God who is totally unknowable in human knowledge, unapproachable in His essence, is revealed to the heart that loves Him. There the human views the Divine. Other than love, there is nothing more divine-like, or more mystical, which leads towards Theosis. The sign that reveals whether a person has true love for God is love for the neighbor. Jesus’ words in Matt 19:19 gives us a new Commandment, which is to: “love your neighbor as yourself”. As we proceed towards union with God, we include the world within our love, so that it might be transfigured and renewed through Divine Grace.[10]
It is important to use the right prayer and the right moment to pray. Whatever prayer we use it must be the one that makes sense to us and which does not make us uneasy. Find words that are worthy of you and worthy of God, meaning that if you feel they are good enough for you, God can accept them. The words of the prayer must be completely true and allow you to identify with them so you can put all of your heart into an act of worship, recognition of God, an act of cherishing. Choose a moment when you can give your full attention to God and offer your prayer. Gradually the awareness of God grows within you to such an extent that whether you are with people or performing work or alone, you are still able to pray. Choose the right words and focus all your attention to them, then put all your heart into them to make them pierce through the very depths of your own heart.[11]
There is also the power of intercessory compassionate prayer such as prayer to the Trinity, the Mother of God (Virgin Mary, called Theotokos in Greek meaning “God Bearer”) and the saints. For Intercessory prayer, all glory, honor and worship is always given to the Trinity and veneration with the highest regard is given to the Theotokos.[12]
A word about prayer to the Mother of God: The New Testament gave women a greater role in the history of Salvation; they became equal to men in their responsibilities of the Church. “….there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28). The Theotokos is the most important personality among the New Testament women. When we pray to the Mother of God, we venerate her total release of her own will to that of God’s. She willingly accepted her role as the Mother of God. Because of her obedience to the Will of God, salvation for man came into the world to defeat death through the Incarnation. She is the protection of the human race. Focus of prayer to the Mother of God is that of worship for her Son and extreme thankfulness to her. She is the protection of the human race and this is why in moments like persecution, the power of God is made manifest through her. In her there is no discrepancy with the Will of God; she is in perfect harmony with Him. This is also why we ask both the Mother of God and Jesus to “Save us”.[13] Ideally, we should try to become like the Mother of God. In total obedience to God, she said “yes” to God and Salvation came into the world. We should always try to say “yes” to God to do His Will and not our own. God created us for a purpose. This purpose cannot be fulfilled unless we say to God what the Virgin Mary said: “Be it done to me according to thy word.”. She is our perfect role model. By her willing acceptance of God’s Will, the Virgin Mary was saved. Salvation is complete cooperation between the human and the divine.[14]
Learn how to tie and use a Prayer Rope
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[1] Beginning to Pray, Anthony Bloom, p. 26
[2] Ibid.. pp. 27-28
[3] Ibid., p. 31
[4] Ibid., p. 33
[5] Ibid., pp. 40-41
[6] Ibid., pp 45-49.
[7] Op.Cit., Partakers of Divine Nature, p.68
[8] Ibid., p.71
[9] Ibid., p. 71
[10] Ibid., pp. 80-89
[11] Op.Cit., Beginning to Pray, pp. 50-66
[12] Ibid., pp. 112-114
[13] Ibid., pp. 109-112
[14] Op. Cit., And He Leads Them, the Mind and Heart of Philip Saliba, pp. 76-77
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