“Love îs sufficient to bring us into a suitable mind of prayer. Christ will come on His own and He will stoop over our soul as long as He finds certain little things which gratify Him: good intention, humility and love.”
(Saint Porphyrious)
Lesson 10: Orthodox Prayer: Journey Toward Communion with God
Prayer is our communication with God. It is something we should do all the time. In the beginning, however, we need to develop the right condition in our souls for prayer, as well as the discipline to focus our minds on God, setting aside all earthly cares. This is not easy. First, we need to set aside a regular time to pray. We should arrange this for both the morning and the evening. This means we must give up something else that occupies our time. The hardest part is that this involves changing our daily habits and routines. We also need to create a physical place for our prayer.
In this lesson, you will learn how to begin a regular prayer life. You will learn about the differing levels of prayer. You will also learn how to establish a rule of prayer that you commit to carrying out every day. At first, it feels like a discipline. It may take some time before you feel like you are having a direct communication with God. Don’t worry, God knows your efforts. It only means that you have work to do in purifying your soul of its passions and overcoming your sinful tendencies. Your efforts at developing a sound prayer life will help you in this, too. To develop a prayerful life, you will need to seek God’s grace out of your love of God.
Read chapter 9 in Orthodox Way: A Catechism for Seekers
View the Video below.
After you have viewed this video and answered the questions, make up a prayer rule. Don’t be too ambitious. Then make the changes in your life to put your prayer rule into practice. Start simply because you will find out how active your mind is and how difficult it is to stay focused on even a simple prayer rule. Be sincere in your effort, and always begin with a feeling of love for Jesus Christ.
Additional Resources:
Beginning the Jesus Prayer: https://youtu.be/S_VeNg7GE2o?si=ika5BHBpGK0Dge0O The Very Reverend Protopresbyter Maxym Lysack of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Ottawa, Canada, speaks about the Jesus Prayer and offers advice for beginners.
Creating a Prayer Rule: https://youtu.be/XaeZLFxxgj0?si=zSphgUwpkwfMvUi4. The Very Reverend Protopresbyter Maxym Lysack describes how you can create a simple (and short) prayer rule for your home life. This talk was given on July 2, 2014, in Ottawa, Canada.
Why Every Christian Should Have a Prayer Rule - Fr. Josiah Trenham: https://youtu.be/VtBKYU-U3Qg?si=WZh6-4a81_OvPgzf.
After you have viewed the video, answer briefly these questions: