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| Fr. Theodore G. Stylianopoulos Gospel, spirituality and renewal in orthodoxy IntraText CT - Text |
Prayer is both a “holy art” and “holy work” — a gift and a task. As a gift, prayer is the power of God’s grace raising us to the realm of God’s life. As a task, prayer is unceasing struggle to walk Christ’s straight and narrow path, to bring our whole life under His lordship, to let Him change us and our ways that we may be worthy of God’s blessings. The “Liturgy,” the abiding spiritual center of our life in Christ, etymologically means the “work of the people.” We come to the Liturgy to labor in prayer committing “ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God.” We also “lift up our hearts” in prayer to experience the grace and joy of God’s kingdom. It is said that prayer is the very soul of Orthodoxy, the breath of the Church, the light of each Christian’s conscience.
If prayer is the soul of Orthodoxy, as it is, why are so many of our faithful habitually late for worship? If the Liturgy is the center of spiritual life and renewal, as it is, why are we not more empowered to draw others to the Liturgy and the life of the Church through love, joy, goodness, faithfulness and the other fruits of the Spirit? If the lives of the saints are filled with prayer and prayerfulness, as they are, how do we explain the phenomenon of prayerlessness in our own lives? If we have beautiful churches, as we do, should not our hearts also be beautiful chapels, making melody to the Lord with hymns and prayers (Eph. 5:19), and thus be “true worshipers” praising and adoring our God “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:23-24)?
These are discomforting questions but need to be asked. Writing and reading about prayer may be inspirational, but they can soon be forgotten. Only the actual “work” of prayer, both private and corporate, and connected with the whole course of life, can become the “gift” of prayer releasing the grace and power of God. Christ taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” He also admonished us to be doers, not only hearers, of His words. Because we are His hands and feet, the Lord’s will and kingdom cannot be actualized apart from our own faithful consent and eager efforts through prayer in the context of our personal and communal lives.