How often have I searched for the "Method"
to pray. I hate to admit to you, but
often. "Just tell me the steps so I
can follow them and come to know God," I have asked repeatedly. But, after time in our foolish efforts we
find out how naive this notion is. Still
I seek for the "Method." How
about you?
The quotation below from Elder Paisios strikes me as
an important truth:
One afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak in
private with a venerable monk in the library of the monastery’s
guesthouse. At one point, I told him,
“Elder, I’d like you to teach me to pray.”
With a surprised look in his eyes, he repeated my words, “You want me to
teach you to pray?”
“Yes, Elder, what should I do in order to pray? What do I have to say? How should I sit?” Being influenced by Hinduism, I imagined that
there must be a special method or technique, just as there was for the
meditation I practiced. He understood
how little I knew, but he didn’t show it.
“It is really quite simple, and you must approach prayer with
simplicity. Just sit calmly in some
corner and speak to Christ as though He were in front of you and listening to
you. And He is in front of you and
listening to you. Just speak to Him as
you would one of your friends.”…
On the following day, I walked two and a half hours in
order to see Father Paisios and to tell him what happened. Smiling, he said, “Sit down, and I’ll bring
you a pistol.” He went into his cell and
brought me a prayer rope with thirty-three knots, representing the years of
Christ’s earthly life, and a cross. “Guess what?” he said, laughing. “This shoots spiritual bullets. Every time you say the prayer “Lord Jesus
Christ, have mercy on me a sinner,” it’s like shooting at the devil, so he
won’t come near you. Take it,
so you’ll have it to defend yourself.
Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2009/10/elder-how-do-i-pray.html
CONVERSATION