On Prayer

The complete formula of the Jesus Prayer runs like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner,” and it is this set form that is recommended to the beginner. In the first half of the prayer we profess Christ-God made flesh for our salvation. In the second we affirm our fallen state, our sinfulness and our redemption. The conjunction of dogmatic confession with repentance makes the content of the prayer more comprehensive.

It is possible to establish a certain sequence in the development of this prayer. First, it is a verbal matter: we say the prayer with our lips while trying to concentrate our attention on the Name and the words. Next, we no longer move our lips but pronounce the Name of Jesus Christ, and what follows after, in our minds, mentally. In the third stage mind and heart combine to act together: the attention of the mind is centered in the heart and the prayer is said there. Fourthly, the prayer becomes self-propelling. This happens when the prayer is confirmed in the heart and, with no special effort on our part, continues there, where the mind is concentrated. Finally, the prayer, so full of blessing, starts to act like a gentle flame within us, as inspiration from on High, rejoicing the heart with a sensation of Divine love and delighting the mind in spiritual contemplation. This last state is sometimes accompanied by a vision of Light.

A gradual ascent into prayer is the most trustworthy. The beginner who would embark on the struggle is usually recommended to start with the first step, verbal prayer, until body, tongue, brain and heart assimilate it. The time this takes varies. The more earnest the repentance, the shorter the road.

— Excerpt from: On Prayer • The Jesus Prayer: Method (p. 142-143)

Prayer is infinite creation, far superior to any form of art or science. Through prayer we enter into communion with Him that was before all worlds. Or, to put it in another way, the life of the Self-existing God flows into us through the channel of prayer. Prayer is an act of supreme wisdom, of all-surpassing beauty and virtue. Prayer is delight for the spirit. But the circumstances accompanying this creative work are complex.

Time after time we experience an eager upsurge towards God, followed repeatedly by a falling away from His Light. Time and again we are conscious of the mind’s inability to rise to Him. There are moments when we feel ourselves on the verge of madness. Pain forces the cry, ‘Thou didst give me Thy precept to love, which I accept with all my being, but there is no strength in me for this love. Thou Who art love, come and abide in me, and perform in me all that Thou hast enjoined, for Thy commandment exceeds my powers. My mind is too frail to comprehend Thee. My spirit cannot see into the mysteries of Thy life. I desire to do Thy will in all things but my days go by in perpetual conflict. I am tortured by the fear of losing Thee because of the evil thoughts in my heart; and this fear crucifies me. I sink. Lord, save me, as Thou didst save Peter who dared to walk on the water, to go to Thee’ (Matt. 24:28-31).

— Excerpt from: On Prayer • Prayer — An ever-new Creation (p. 9)

True prayer uniting us with the Most-High is nothing other than light and strength coming down to us from heaven. In its essence it transcends our plane of existence. … True prayer to the true God is contact with the Divine Spirit which prays in us. The Spirit gives us to know God. The Spirit draws our spirit to contemplation of eternity. Like grace coming down from on High the act of prayer is too much for our earthly nature and so our mortal body, incapable of rising into the spiritual sphere, resists. The intellect resists because it is incapable of containing infinity, is shaken by doubts and rejects everything that exceeds its understanding. The social environment in which I live is antagonistic to prayer — it has organised life with other aims diametrically opposed to prayer. Hostile spirits cannot endure prayer. But prayer alone can restore the created world from its fall, overcoming its stagnation and inertia, by means of a mighty effort of our spirit to follow Christ’s commandments.

— Excerpt from: On Prayer • Prayer — An ever-new Creation (p. 11-12)

Keep your mind firmly fixed on God, and the moment will come when the Immortal Spirit touches the heart. Oh, this touch of the Holy of holies! There is naught on earth to compare with it — it sweeps the spirit into the realm of uncreated Being. It pierces the heart with a love unlike that which is generally understood by the word. Its light streams down on all creation, on the whole human world in its millenary manifestation. Though this love is sensed by the physical heart, by its nature it is spiritual, metaphysical.

The life-giving Divine Spirit visits us when we continue humbly open to Him. He does not violate our freedom. He envelops us with His tender warmth. He approaches us so softly that at first we may not notice Him. We must not expect God to force His way in without our consent. Far from it. He respects man, submits to Him. His love is humble — He loves us not condescendingly but tenderly, as a mother aches over her sick baby. When we open our heart to Him we have an irresistible feeling that He is our ‘kin’, and the soul melts in worship.

Divine love, which is the intrinsic essence of eternity, in this world cannot avoid suffering. Mellowed through ascetic striving and the visitation of grace, the heart is allowed to behold — obscurely, perhaps — Christ’s love embracing the whole of creation in infinite compassion for all that exists. Now I am God’s, Christ’s prisoner.

— Excerpt from: On Prayer • Prayer – An ever-new Creation (p. 14)