The first condition for the
attainment of true prayer is a fervent desire to be saved and be pleasing to
God — a readiness to sacrifice all for the sake of God and the salvation of
one's soul. As Bishop Theophan the Recluse states: “Consider prayer to be the
first and foremost duty in your life and as such keep it in your heart. Go
about your prayers as to the fulfillment of your primary duty, and not as to
something to be done between tasks.”
A habit of absentminded, inattentive
and careless prayer breeds a coldness towards God, dejection, a weakening of
the faith and a darkening of the mind, and these in their turn lead to
spiritual numbness. For prayer to be fruitful it must be fervent, offered up
with an awareness of the need for what we are asking (Col. 4:2) and it must be
untiring and relentless, pursuing its purpose with the firm resolve of the
widow in Our Lord's parable who seeks protection from her adversary (Luke
18:2-8). At the same time, however, we must ensure that our supplications be
worthy of God and of His glory and not opposed to His divine will. Surely we
must pray: “Lord, let Thy, and not my, will be done in all things!”
There are different degrees of
prayer and for the beginner the effort of prayer consists mainly in attentively
reading or listening to prayer, in standing, bowing and making the Sign of the
Cross. Here a great deal of self-exertion and patience is called for, because
our attention becomes distracted in this process and our heart may not feel the
words of the Prayer. Through this verbal prayer — through the diligent exercise
of it — the Christian, with the help of God, gradually trains his mind to
collect itself, to understand and penetrate into the words of the prayer and to
pronounce them without becoming distracted by outside thoughts.
The Christian must remain constantly
mindful of God and must walk in fear of God. He is always before the eyes of
God as God is invisibly with him always and everywhere. One's Guardian Angel is
also always by his side. One must also be mindful of the fact that earthly life
is not eternal. Death, which passes no one by and carries us off in many ways,
must always be brought to remembrance as well as the fearsome Day of Judgment,
where we all shall have to answer for our every sinful word, deed and thought.
We must always call to mind Hell and the eternal torment which awaits all
sinners, as well as the Kingdom of Heaven prepared for the faithful who lived in righteousness. In this way
we may lead our lives in the fear of the Lord.
When we pray we must remember that
if our prayers will rise speedily to God, they must be said with charity, for
prayer said without love is not heard. According to St. John Chrysostom, charity
is the wing of prayer. As the Holy Fathers also teach us, we should begin our
prayers with glorification of the Creator of all, with a sincere thanksgiving
to God for all His mercies, for all the trials and sorrows sent down for our
benefit and the benefit of our neighbors. Then we must make a confession of
sins in repentance of heart after which we will be deemed worthy to entreat the
King of Heaven in prayer.