Prayer
“Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2)
High Speed Connection to the Heavenly Realm
Humans are unique among creatures, being endowed by God with an invisible soul that can spiritually connect with their invisible Creator through prayer. God is much closer than we realize, as His Presence is not confined to a remote galaxy. His Spirit is everywhere at every moment and fills all things, which is why King David declared: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” (Psalm 139:8) God is outside of space, time and knowledge, yet in His mercy and condescension, He acts in our space/time dimension, and also communicates divine revelation. Through His incomprehensible essence, there is nothing God does not already know. The Lord proclaims to the Prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) God announces the end from the beginning, and He is able to penetrate our thoughts (Amos 4:13). Yet, this invisible God, Who knew us before we existed, and Who is omnipresent, makes Himself reachable through prayer. He invites us to come to Him: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) The Lord God knows what we need before we ask Him. Jesus tells us not to despair, for God knows our needs (Matthew 6:25-32). In His abundant love He even helps us to connect with Him through prayer: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26) Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13). Jesus, Himself, would send His disciples away, so He could find time alone to pray to the Father (Mark 6:46), thereby underscoring how prayer connects us to the Father.
The Book of Psalms is an anthology of prayers to God, which were meant to be sung either joyfully or soberly, depending on the theme. Through it, the Psalmist pours out his soul and inner most thoughts to God in praise, worship, repentance, concern, supplication, or thanksgiving. It is no wonder that God refers to King David the Psalmist as “a man after His own heart.”
Orthodox Christians pray individually in private, and also collectively with family at home, or during the divine services. We pray while standing, prostrating, bending at the waist, lighting a candle, censing sweet-smelling incense, or holding a prayer rope. Our prayers at times are audible, and at times silent, but in every case, reverential. God desires our prayer be done in humility, with a contrite heart: “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17).
We pray to God not because He needs our prayers, but because we need Him. We are blessed and strengthened when we appear before Almighty God in holy prayer. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians says, "pray without ceasing", and to the Romans, "be constant in prayer." Orthodox Christians pray the sanctified prayers from the Psalter, as well as the pious prayers of early Church Fathers, and we also include our own personal petitions and supplications. As a rule, prayers are offered early in the morning, at midday and at evening. Contemplative prayer occurs throughout the day, as we ponder God’s glorious attributes and marvelous wonders.
The Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer is a constant uninterrupted calling upon the divine name of Jesus with the lips, with the mind, with the heart, while at the same time a mental picture of His constant presence is formed and His Grace dominates, during every job, at all times, in all places, even when we sleep. The prayer is only these few words: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” According to one of Jesus’ parables, these words were uttered by the tax collector when he appeared at the Temple to pray. He, “standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ Jesus concluded this parable saying: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)
One who accustoms himself to this prayer experiences as a result so deep a consolation and so great a need to offer the prayer always that he can no longer live without it, as internally continues to say it in silence such as the prayer becomes a harmonic internal echo of the words. As medicine, the Jesus Prayer is destructive of the passions and altering of conduct. Just as a doctor places a dressing on a patient's wound, and the dressing works without the patient's knowing how, calling on the Name of God "removes the passions" without our knowing how and why, according to Barsanupius and John. The Holy Name, when repeated quietly, penetrates the soul rather like a drop of oil, spreading out and impregnating a cloth. Our modern translation of "mercy" is limited and insufficient. "Mercy" comes from the Greek eleison. Eleison has the same root as elaion which means olive and olive oil. In the Middle East, olive oil provides physical healing for many sicknesses, particularly respiratory. "Have mercy" means to have "healing oil" on my soul. The Fathers tell us that praying the Sacred Name changes our personality, from overstrain to joy. The Jesus Prayer functions as therapy, much like healing oil, transforming our personality from overstrain to joy, and by continuing to pray, these changes become permanent.
What about Jesus’ warning to His Disciples not to engage in vain repetitions in prayer? In Matthew 6:7, Jesus says: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” Jewish religious practices may have been influenced by other religions, such as Zoroastrianism, which was practiced in Babylon, where the Jews had earlier been during their captivity. Some Jews may have therefore recited mantras, as is common among the Oriental religions, thinking superstitiously that God will likely hear them because of their long babbling of syllables, single words or phrases. Through their mantras to abstract ideas or natural forces, Eastern mystics seek connecting with their own inner capacity to develop healthy emotions that will help them live morally, producing happiness and enlightenment. It is a self-oriented focus, rather than God-centered focus. Jesus warned about the Jewish religious leaders: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” (Matthew 15:8). The aim of Christian prayer is to profoundly and humbly connect with our Creator, so that we may ascend to perfect union with Him. The Orthodox Church refers to it as prayer of the heart, where we experience God. The Lord is not moved by long, repetitious, self-centered babble, but by spirit-filled prayer coming from a pure heart. In Proverbs 15:26 we read: “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but the words of the pure are pleasant.” Lengthy prayers and repetitions of the Jesus Prayer are not forbidden, if done humbly from the depths of our heart, so that our prayer may arise as sweet-smelling incense before the Lord. Indeed, there is repetitious prayer in heaven: “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). In the same 6th chapter of Matthew, Jesus warns His disciples not to do charitable deeds in front of others (verse 1), or to pray loudly on the street corner, as the hypocritical religious leaders did, for this is as unproductive as repetitive mantras - self-centered, vain, and therefore, displeasing to God.
“The Way of a Pilgrim,” one of the world's great classics of spirituality, begins with an anonymous Russian peasant of the 19th century who sets out to seek the truth, attempting to follow St. Paul's command to "pray without ceasing." By chanting the Jesus Prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me"), he attains a greater intimacy with God. Generations of readers, including Christians of all persuasions, have benefited by reading of the pilgrim's attempts to discipline his mind toward a constant awareness of God's presence as manifested through Christ's mercy.
Wisdom from the Holy Fathers On Prayer
"He who is able to pray correctly, even if he is the poorest of all people, is essentially the richest. And he who does not have proper prayer, is the poorest of all, even if he sits on a royal throne" ( St. John Chrysostom)
“Prayer is grace. God gives it when there exists zeal and humility… Let Christ not be missing from your heart.” (Elder Amphilochios of Patmos +1970)
“...he who loves God cultivates pure prayer, driving out every passion that keeps him from it.” (St. Maximos the Confessor, Second Century on Love no. 7 Lecture 9 no. 2)
“As our body becomes dead and full of stench when the soul leaves it, so a soul in which prayer is not active is dead and stenches. That to be deprived of prayer should be counted worse than death is clearly shown us by Prophet Daniel, who was ready to die rather than be deprived of prayer at any hour. One should remember God more often than one breathes.” ("Reflections on the Eight Thoughts", Abba Evagrius, "Early Fathers From the Philokalia," translated from the Russian text, "Dobrotolubiye," by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer)
Why doesn’t God Answer My Prayer?
Unbelievers and skeptics are quick to trivialize and minimize the power of praying to God. A frequent argument lodged against the Christian faith by avowed atheists and agnostics comes from perceived unanswered prayer, especially in difficult times. Looking at how the wicked oppress the poor, the Psalmist cries out: “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1). Upon further reflection he concludes: “LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may oppress no more.” (Psalm 10:17-18). The irony with humans is that we want God to let us exercise our gift of free will, but then blame Him when our ill-conceived actions or the ill-conceived actions of others harm us. To Adam and Eve, He warned them that disobedience would lead to separation from The Source of Life, and result in spiritual death. He later warns the people of Israel: ““I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; “that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” God urges us to choose life for our souls, but He never stands in the way of our choice. Israel eventually chose turning away from God, adopting idol worship and other heathen practices, and is later taken captive by the Babylonians. For us to receive blessing, our prayer must be in accordance with God’s will, which is based entirely on pure love. It is hard for our minds to sometimes understand God’s will and how things will play out in the end, so we murmur against God in our shortsightedness, doubting His goodness and faithfulness.
The Apostle Paul encourages the church in Rome with this promise: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). This verse follows Paul’s message about the whole creation laboring and groaning, waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God (verse 22). He earlier assured the church that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (verse 18). Paul knew about not receiving the answer that he was praying for. He shares his suffering from an affliction concerning which he pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from him. “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Paul realized that his physical affliction was being used by God to fortify his spirit. The realization that what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, strengthened Paul’s resolve to forge ahead with his missionary mission, in which he was physically healing others who had physical afflictions. With a humble heart, over time, we see God’s amazing purpose in allowing us to experience a different outcome than what we intended. God exists outside of time and space, so He is able to know the end of all things. Our view is short-term, whereas God’s view is long-term. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Receiving a different outcome does not mean God isn’t answering our prayer; it takes faith to realize, as Paul did, that God has a better plan.
Jesus, Himself, prayed with great agony prior to His suffering and execution: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (verse 44). An angel appeared to strengthen Him. Christ trusted His Father, but the Father did not remove this horrific ordeal. Does this mean the Father didn’t care? Far from the truth. Just three years earlier, St. John the Baptizer had heard a heavenly voice at Jesus’ baptism proclaiming, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Rather, Christ’s suffering and death was the manner by which God can beyond any doubt demonstrate His amazing love for us, for “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends” (John 15:13). Through His death, Jesus was able to conquer death on behalf of all who believe in Him.
Life will always be difficult, Jesus told us so. He consoles us with these words: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Our requests must be pure, for as the Apostle James says: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3). And when we ask, we must do so in faith that God exists and that He has our best interest at heart: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrew 11:6).
