“LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY” Luke 11:1.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY" [Luke 11:1].

"So He said to them, ‘When you
pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your Kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily
bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone
who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into
temptation,
But deliver us from the evil
one." [Luke 11:2-4].

In his commentary Saint Theophylact says the following: "This disciple of Christ is jealous of John’s disciples, which is why he wants to be taught how to pray. The Lord teaches and does not reject the demand of the disciple. He says, "Our Father Who art in the heavens." See the power of prayer. It immediately leads you upwards. And it encourages you, since you have called God, "Father," not to fall far short of the likeness between you and your heavenly Father, but to strive to make yourself like your Father. The Lord did not say, "My Father," but, "Our Father," so as to urge ust to have brotherly love and to oblige us to love all men as our very own brothers. He says, "Who art in the heavens," not to limit God to that place, but to lead the listener upwards to the heavens and away from earthly things. "Hallowed be Thy name" means "Glorified be Thy name," that is, "Make our lives be to Thy glory." Just as God’s name is blasphemed by the wicked, so too is it glorified by those who lead a good life. "Thy Kingdom come." The sinner begs that the Kingdom of God not come, because he fears the judgments and punishments that will accompany it. By contrast, the righteous man prays that the Kingdom of God will come quickly, so that he might be delivered from temptations and find rest. "And may Thy will be done, just as in heaven by the Angels, likewise by us men on earth." For every deed of every Angel is done according to God’s will. He teaches us to seek only our "daily bread," that is, the bread which is required for our being and for the sustenance of our life, and not to ask for more than we need. That we enter not into temptations means that we do not leap into temptations by our own will. We should not ask God to throw us into temptations; we should instead beseech Him to do just the opposite. But when temptations come upon us, then we should withstand them with courage. We may say, here, that there are two kinds of temptations. The first kind are VOLUNTARY TEMPTATIONS, such as drunkenness, murder, adultery, and the other passions. We willingly entangle ourselves in these kinds of temptations. The other kind of temptations are INVOLUNTARY, such as those which tyrants and violent men inflict upon us. From voluntary temptations, that is, from the passions, we must therefore flee, and pray that they not come, and say, "Lead us not into them," that is, "Do not permit us to fall into temptation, namely VOLUNTARY PASSIONS. But deliver us from the evil one." For it is the "EVIL ONE" who leads us into both involuntary and voluntary temptations. Therefore, when you are tempted against your will by a man, do not think that the man is the cause of your temptation; it is not he, but instead THE EVIL ONE who persuades the man to rage against you."
+

"Pray without ceasing" [ IThessalonians 5:17].

Saint Paul offered this advice in his First Epistle to the new believers in Thessaloniki. He did so precisely because he understood how essential prayer is to the life in Christ. The holy Fathers of the Church teach that unceasing prayer is a proper goal, for spiritual growth comes through such discipline. For centuries, Christians have used the "JESUS PRAYER" as a way to pray unceasingly from the heart: "O LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME A SINNER."

It is important to say the Jesus Prayer with faith, humility, reverence, and sincerity. The Orthodox tradition is to use a prayer rope. A prayer rope is a cord of intricate knots made from yarn in the form of numerous Crosses, usually braided by monastics. To use a prayer rope you merely recite the Jesus Prayer once for each knot on the rope, until you have used all of the knots on the rope. Using a prayer rope helps one to concentrate on the prayer which takes a minimal amount of time and therefore permits him/her a way of worshiping our Lord God at any time of the day or night. It is especially recommended to everyone to recite the prayer at a time of temptation until such time that it recedes. When the Jesus Prayer is offered with faith and conviction the Christian believer will find inner-peace, spiritual strength, courage to face one’s problems, inspiration and hope.

___________

"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+ Father George