WHAT IS PRAYER?

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.

WHAT IS PRAYER?

PRAYER, as a mystery of the unity of man with God, is truly an incomprehensible miracle of miracles which can become A DAILY EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUL OF THE PIOUS BELIEVER WHO PRAYS WITH ATTENTION AND SINCERITY. Saint John Chrysotomos, who has taught us so many things about prayer and who has bequeathed to us so many beautiful prayers, emphasizes that prayer is THE MOST POWERFUL THING IN THE LIFE OF A PERSON, AND NOTHING CAN COMPARE WITH PRAYER. Prayer is the unique and priceless gift of the Creator to man, because it is through this most important divine gift of prayer that the creature is raised up to the Creator and the finite person is empowered to converse with the Infinite God.

PRAYER is God’s greatest gift to fallen man. As such, PRAYER IS ALSO MAN’S GREATEST POWER, WHICH HE CAN USE TO REDISCOVER AND RESTORE THE ORIGINAL BEAUTY, THE ORIGINAL GLORY AND HONOR OF HIS NATURE, CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD. Prayer has indeed strengthened all the Saints, and it can also strengthen us. Consequently prayer should not be seen as simply one of the virtues, or merely a duty we must fulfill as Christians. Rather, we must see prayer as constituting the natural and perfect stance of man as a creation of God. In other words, PRAYER REVEALS THE VERY ESSENCE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE AND INTERPRETS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HUMAN BEING,THAT IS, A PERSON WHOSE EXISTENCE IS ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD IN RELATION TO THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. According to the ASCETIC Saint Neilos, "EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT WISH TO BE UNITED WITH GOD THROUGH PRAYER IS ACTUALLY SEPARATED FROM GOD." In the spiritual tradition of the Orthodox Church, PRAYER IS ALWAYS SEEN AS AN ACT THAT IS PURELY VOLUNTARY AND PERSONAL, AND WHICH, WHEN PRACTICED FAITHFULLY AND DEVOUTLY, ALWAYS UNITES THE BELIEVER WITH GOD. If, as it is said, we cannot live without God, then we must also say that we cannot really live without prayer, which brings us confidently before the presence of God and makes us witnesses of His PRESENCE AND KINGDOM IN THE WORLD.

Without prayer human beings ARE ALIENATED NOT ONLY FROM GODBUT ALSO FROM THEMSELVES. Without prayer human beings deny the underlying fervent desire of their heart, the great longing for a fuller, purer, more blessed life, which is our natural movement toward God. It is this COMMUNION WITH GOD THAT NOT ONLY DEFINES US AS HUMAN BEINGS, BUT ALSO OFFERS TO US THE VICTORY OVER SATAN, SIN AND DEATH. A Saint, A TRUE HUMAN BEING, is not some superman or superwoman, but THE PERSON WHO TRULY LIVES HIS OR HER PERSONAL HUMANITY AS A PRAYING HUMAN BEING. This means that the actual destiny of man is to pray and to be in touch with God THROUGH PRAYER, as the Psalmist confirms: "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live" (Psalm 104:33). It is, therefore, not enough to simply some prayers from time to time, in the sense of fulfilling an occasional or regular religious duty. The totality of our life must become A "PRAYER" in the sense that our life becomes real and true and authentic when it is all a time of prayer, that is, a time of communion with God.

Above and beyond all the definitions of prayer mentioned above, it must be emphasized that essentially prayer is an extraordinary and exceptional privilege, a truly unique privilege given ONLY TO HUMAN BEINGS. This special privilege empowers the believer to become worthy, "with boldness and without condemnation" to call upon God in heaven and to address Him as "FATHER," and, spiritually united with all the other children of God, to say the prayer which Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has taught us to say:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by Thy Name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our transgressions
as we forgive those who transgress against us,
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
This is indeed the classic prayer, the Lord ‘s Prayer, which our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught His Disciples to say when they asked Him: "Lor, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1).

It should also be emphasized that, for fallen human nature, prayer is not from the very beginning a natural and spontaneous condition of man, but rather A SACRED DUTY, A HIGH PRIVILEGE AND AS NOBLE CALLING THAT MUST BE FULFILLED WITH FAITH AND HUMILITY. Prayer is like a sacred art that must be willingly and consistently practiced. Every art of course requires a certain degree of training and constant exercising. Prayer too must be constantly cultivated, precisely as a most refined art of the human spirit, with persistent vigilance and daily practice, so that with the passage of time and with the grace of God it may become a natural and a spontaneous condition and an unceasing activity of the spiritually regenerated person in the Holy Spirit and in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

PRAYER AS THEOLOGY

"You are a theologian when you truly pray; and when you truly pray, you are a theologian." This pithy observation was authorized by Evagrios of Pontus who summarizes the teaching of his brilliant spiritual mentor, Saint Gregory the Theologian, for whom the term "theologian" meant SOMEONE WHO, THROUGH ASCETIC STRUGGLE AND PURIFICATION, HAD ATTAINED KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IN PRAYER AND CONTEMPLATION. Evagrios thus encapsulates Saint Gregory’s synthesis of mind and heart, knowledge and love, ,and the corresponding notion that theology and spirituality are NOT separate, self-contained activities, BUT RECIPROCAL CORRELATIVE COMPONENTS FORMING AN INTEGRAL UNITY.

This also the teaching of the Orthodox Church, for which TRUE THEOLOGY IS THE FRUIT OF PRAYER and NOT an exercise that is independent of or secondary to it. The way of prayer LEADS TO TRUE THEOLOGY, AND A THEOLOGIAN IS SOMEONE WHO HAS LEARNED HOW TO PRAY, AND TO PRAY TRULY. Authentic theology is the speech of the blessed–as well as their silence. The logos concerning God (Theos) is a word of truth that emerges only after the turmoil of the passions has been stilled. In the same way, "whoever speaks concerning the passions descends into Hades, together with the word of his teaching, bringing to life through his word every virtue deadened by evil and leading it to resurrection."

It follows THAT THE THEOLOGY CAN NEVER BE REDUCED TO MERE"ACADEMIC" KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, OBTAINED SOLELY FROM BOOKS AND DIVORCED FROM A LIFE OF ASCETIC PRAYER, CONFESSION, AND ONGOING REPENTANCE. Knowing the chemical formula of water cannot satisfy one’s thirs, just as concepts and theories about God are, by themselves, EQUALLY FRUITLESS FOR SALVATION. TRUE THEOLOGY IS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD BASED ON EXPERIENCE, ROOTED IN A LIFE OF VIRTUE, AND IMBUED WITH THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THEOLOGY IS PARTICIPATION IN THE LIFE OF GOD MADE AVAILABLE TO US THROUGH CHRIST, WHO CAN BE KNOWN ONLY THROUGH LOVE, BECAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD ENGENDERS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND SUCH KNOWLEDGE ENGENDERS LOVE. LOVE (AGAPE) AND KNOWLEDGE HAVE A TRUE INTERDEPENDENCE. FOR THE BELIEVER KNOWS CHRIST WHOM HE LOVES, AND LOVES HIM WHOM HE KNOWS. [Resources: A Prayer Book. An Anthology of Orthodox Prayers and The Light of the world. Prayers to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ)

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Thongs!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George