The Catalog of Good Deeds: Prayers

Showing posts with label Prayers. Show all posts

In Orthodox spirituality, we recognize two basic types of prayer: liturgical (that is, worship); and personal prayer. In our Church both of these types of prayer are understood as corporate acts — they are carried out by believers as a single body, the body of Christ.

Liturgical prayer is obviously corporate. A group of brothers and sisters in the faith gather together in one place to offer hymns and prayers to God. However, even when we pray in private, we do not pray alone. Rather, we join our voices to the countless other Orthodox Christians throughout the world who are also lifting their hearts to God in prayer at that time. Christianity is always lived out as a group, never as an isolated individual.

Liturgy and private prayer are interdependent. It is not enough for us only to pray by ourselves, because every human being has an innate need for community, a need to belong. Our liturgical worship also gives us the order and structure that we need to have stability in our spiritual lives.

At the same time, our liturgical prayer is truly vibrant and life-giving only when those present are "people of prayer" outside the services as well. Our faith is not "Sunday-only" and our prayer life shouldn't be Sunday-only either. Each type of prayer, liturgical and personal, compliments and supplements the other.

In both worship and personal prayer, structure is important. Worship services have a set structure of fixed and variable parts. Although our private prayer can be much more simple and "customized" than worship services, we still structure it as part of our daily lives. In our personal prayer life, we need to develop a habit of praying regularly at certain times during the day. This habit of regular prayer is called a "rule of prayer."

Ancient Christian sources instruct Christians to pray three times a day: in the morning, at mid-day and in the evening. In this way we keep God on our minds and hearts throughout the day — upon waking up, in the midst of our daily tasks and upon retiring for the night. This regularity is very important because, at its core, a life or prayer is a life lived in the constant remembrance of God.

The Saints teach us that our prayers should include the following four elements, in this order:

1 and 2) glorification and thanksgiving: the primary work of prayer is to glorify God and thank Him for His great blessings, both know and unknown;

3) confession of sins: we ask God for His forgiveness for when we fall short of the life that He calls us to;

4) supplication: we ask God to be merciful and grant our petitions for others and for ourselves.

This structure helps us remember that God’s blessing are giving to us not because we have earned them, but in spite of our imperfections and faults. It also helps us avoid looking upon God as a spiritual "bell boy" who is there merely to answer our requests — the last thing we do is ask for things, not the first.

Prayers do not have to be long or complicated to be effective. Some of the most powerful prayers in history have been sentences of only a few words. The Thief on the Cross merely had to say, "Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom", to hear Jesus' promise, "today you shall be with me in Paradise."

When trying to develop a habit of daily prayer in your life remember this: it is far better to spend five minutes each day in private devotions, than to "bank" the time and take in 35 minutes of personal prayer once per week.

By Fr. Andrew Jarmus

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2009/10/prayer-is-test-of-everything.html

"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

The older I get, the more I struggle with the inner dialogue of “I have to do something about ____” and “but I’m just one person…what can I do, really?” As a Millennial (which Microsoft Word says is synonymous with utopian, idealistic, and visionary), I’m annoyingly optimistic. But there’s only so much one person can handle on their own, there’s only so much of the world’s pain, anxieties, and fears that one person (aside from Christ) can try to solve.

I try to balance the desire to “do something” about the world’s problems – to offer a voice, to be the hands and feet of Christ, to serve – while also allowing myself to sit at the feet of Christ and listen. Ora et labora, pray and work, has been something Christians have struggled to balance for centuries.

But who likes listening when the world is shouting at you to speak, to act, to do something, anything, to fix the world’s problems that just seem to be getting worse?

So when I read the Gospel passage from the Feast of the Dormition (the same as for the apodosis or leavetaking of the feast) from Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28, I could certainly identify with both Mary and Martha. Mary sat listening to Christ while Martha took care of offering hospitality to her guests. Martha was upset at Mary’s inaction, and Jesus tells Martha that she is anxious and worried about many things but one thing (being with Jesus) was needful.

What we need is to find some balance. Here are three things to keep in mind.

1. Acknowledge anxieties and worries

Most of my own confusion with answering the “what can I do?” question comes from the seemingly oppressive list of problems that need solving. In our heads, all mixed up and confused, these problems really seem unsolvable. What we need is to pause and acknowledge the various things in our lives that we’re anxious and worried about.

Are we struggling with grief and sadness over the loss of a loved one? Maybe we’re battling all the lies we tell ourselves.

Then there’s the general political tone in our country today. Regardless of where we fall on the political spectrum, life after the election is certainly different. There’s a lot of uncertainty for many people who struggle to find hope and give thanks in such a divisive political climate. We don’t want to get stuck in our worries, but it’s easier to deal with them if we have cleaned up the clutter of our thoughts.

After we are aware of what problems we’re personally struggling with, then we can turn them over to Christ.

2. The One Thing that’s needful

In the Gospel reading about Mary and Martha, Mary was perfectly content with sitting at the feet of Christ and listening to Him. I’m guessing Martha would have wanted to sit and listen to Jesus too, she just had SO much to do! Sound familiar? We’d love to be at church, we’d love to read the Bible, we’d love to spend some alone time with God…but…look at this LIST!

We need to commit ourselves to Christ and see that He is the one thing that’s needful.

But what if we just feel burnt out? What if that urge to sit at the feet of Christ, that urge to pray and grow in our faith is just not as strong as it once was?

I am so very good at distracting myself from prayer. I can fill my free time with so many things until it comes down to growing in my faith – and then suddenly there’s just not enough time. Time seems to stop as I stare blankly at my to do list or at the daily news in shock, but what I really need is to break out of this inaction and turn to Christ.

You see, behind all of the world’s problems and the problems I might face, I am only one person. But One Person is also the solution to all of the world’s brokenness – Jesus Christ – and He can and will be present with us if we have the faith to let Him work. From a position of trust in Him, He will direct us to the right course of action.

3. The role of action

Once we’re centered and letting Christ direct us, we’ll have the better vantage point to see what we can do. But there are different types of action.

If I’m inclined towards selfishness and laziness, doing something physical might be exactly what I need to do. After all, service changed my life and might change yours too. When we serve someone in need, we serve Christ Himself. And, that’s what Martha was doing wasn’t it?

They key to the issue might be what the Church connects to the story of Mary and Martha from the next chapter of Luke. Jesus calls blessed those who “hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28). Some of the Gospel requires action on our part, and this is our keeping of the word of God. But we have to hear it first.

If I’m inclined to worry and trying to do everything and anticipate all the possible problems that might come next, it will surely take work just to…stop. Action for me would be to slow down and listen to Christ. We have an opportunity for action – that work of the people of God – to serve together in prayer. Like Elder Sophrony of Essex reminds us, "The early church lived without a New Testament, but not without the Divine Liturgy."

Whether our action is by serving those in need, or speaking out when we need to, or stopping ourselves for a moment to listen to what Christ is trying to tell us, it takes work on our part.

***

We cannot ignore evil any more than we can ignore the anxieties in our own lives. So we have to slow down for a moment and acknowledge the fears and worries we have. We need to sit at the feet of Christ in prayer and study and listen to what He might have us do. And then we take action in the best way we can – following the lead of Martha who showed hospitality to Christ as best she could.

Are you a Mary or a Martha? If you’re feeling more anxious these days, how have you strengthened your personal prayer life? How is God calling you to action in your corner of the world?

By Sam Williams, Pastoral Assistant

at Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Source: https://blogs.goarch.org/blog/-/blogs/balancing-our-inner-mary-and-martha

Prayer is good. I hope you’ll pray after you read this article.

I hope you’ll surrender your heart to God at least temporarily. Let Him enter your heart so that you could calm down and chill a little. I would like you to perceive this state as a spa center of some sort. A spa for your soul.

We’re talking about relaxation of your soul. Calm down. Don’t say anything. Keep calm. Transform yourself. A friend of mine told me, “When I return from Mount Athos, I feel calm for ten days! Instead of being nervous all the time, strange things happen! Whatever happens at home, I remain calm, serene, and quiet. My wife is surprised, too. ‘What’s going on with you? Why aren’t you nervous?’ she asks.” That’s the effect of prayer that changes you from within.

It is because you’ve become one with God. It’s because you’ve become a different person. You are “rebooted”. There are people who attempt to “reboot” themselves with alcohol. You are restarted by prayer.

In contrast to them, you don’t lose your mind and logical thinking. You are made stronger. You don’t need wine, tsipouro, whiskey, or cognac—only the Holy Spirit. You enter an altered state of mind where you see and you don’t see at the same time. You hear and you don’t hear at the same time.

People tell you about their problems that make them anxious or irritated. You look at them with different eyes and from a different vantage point because you’ve touched the mystery and depth of prayer. You’ve dived into the place where there is no commotion. You’ve learned the meaning of the world of Christ. You aren’t troubled by the things that used to bother you a lot. Well, I think if I continue, it will annoy you. Enough. Thank you for your love and for the prayer of love that you will begin to pray with. Pray for yourself, too. And for those who love you. And for those whom you don’t actually love. And for your dearest one. And for the rescue of your marriage. You can pray for me, too, if you want to. May the real prayer unite us all.

Someone asked me, “How do I know that everything is fine with me if I stay in the Church? I see many people who are close to Christ, who go to church, who are baptized, who pray and take part in worship, who perform their social functions well, but they don’t change… or they even get worse sometimes. I notice it everywhere in the world around me. I would like to see a different picture in the church. Father, please tell me how can I be sure that everything is fine with me?”

Here is my answer: There aren’t any unequivocal signs because everything is in God’s hands. The changes that occur are concealed, mysterious, and hidden. The crowd cannot see them.

Some clues are evident, though. Only you and God know what happens inside your soul. It’s invisible. However, everyone can see how you treat your husband or wife, your children, and your neighbors.

Fragment of "Marriage Has Its Challenges"

by Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/arhim-andrey-konanos-o-tom-chto-proishodit-v-glubinah-nashey-dushi

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The Difference between Liturgical and Personal Prayer

Prayer as the Reflection of Your Spiritual Life

Asking an Elder about How One Should Pray

Mary or Martha: How to find the Balance between Our Work and Prayer

Why so Much Self-humiliation in Prayer?

Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos): What Goes on Deep Inside Our Souls?

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