"Prayer is the test of everything;
prayer is also the source of everything; prayer is the driving force of
everything; prayer is also the director of everything. If prayer is right,
everything is right. For prayer will not allow anything to go wrong."
— St. Theophan the Recluse
Perhaps
the most popular and basic definition of prayer is that it is a conversation
with God. While this is essentially true, Orthodox Christianity looks upon
prayer as something deeper than "conversation".
Prayer is
understood as an intimate encounter with God. When we pray, we meet with God in
our hearts, in the sanctuary of all our thoughts, motivations, dreams, emotions
and concerns. This is a place where we can share our inner selves with no other
human person as completely as we can share ourselves with the Lord.
To enter
into this very personal and intimate place with God, full of faith and love, is
to feel His presence in our lives in the most profound and life-giving of ways.
In this place in our hearts, we no longer perceive God as being "out
there", looking down on us. Rather, we sense His presence inside us,
stirring our hearts, guiding our actions, enlightening our minds.
Our
Orthodox Christian Faith teaches us that prayer is the most natural thing a
person can do, it is what we are created for. In Paradise Adam and God converse
frequently. It is only after the Fall that we hide from God and choose not to
speak openly with Him.
Human
beings were made for prayer, not because God needs us to pray to Him, but
because we need to connect with Him who made us, saved us from sin and death,
and showers His sanctifying grace upon us. Without prayer there is no life, not
in its fullest sense. As human persons we are created for prayer just as we are
created to breath or to think. Prayer is part of our unique nature; of all
God's creatures, only human beings are able to perceive and interact with both
the visible (physical) and invisible (spiritual) realities.
Prayer is
so important in our lives that St. Gregory of Nazianzus instructs us to,
"remember God more often that you breath". At first, this task might
seem daunting, perhaps impossible. In truth, we find that often the greatest
obstacle to our developing prayer life is our own lack of trust in ourselves,
and in what God can do for and with us.
Often we
"psych" ourselves out when it comes to prayer. We think that it is
only for the spiritual "specialists" to engage in prayer -- clergy,
monks, nuns. We feel that if we need to struggle with our prayer life we must
not be "doing it right". In truth, it is only when we struggle with
prayer that we are approaching it in a healthy way.
But even
though prayer is -- or at least should be -- a natural part in our human
make-up, prayer is a discipline, it is a spiritual exercise. An analogy
commonly used by the Saints is that prayer is like a fire. Initially, it starts
out only as a small spark in our soul; eventually though, if we fan the flames
with a constant effort to pray, this spark grows into a spiritual flames —
these flames are the burning bush in our souls, where we, like Moses, speak
with God.
To feed
the fire of prayer in our soul, we must work ourselves into a regular pattern —
or "rule" — of prayer. Like a fire, if our prayer life is left
untended, it will die away and turn cold. The more we pray, the more meaningful
and nourishing our prayer life becomes, and the more of a desire we have to
enter into prayer…
By Fr. Andrew Jarmus
Excerpt from: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2009/10/prayer-is-test-of-everything.html
CONVERSATION