Are you not receiving help and protection from Heaven? Do you want your calls to be heard? Learn how to pray...
Jesus said:
To pray means to send luminous streams into space. If you do not receive help and protection from Heaven, it is only because you yourself did not send the light. The sky will not deal with what has gone out. Do you want it to shine on your calls? Light all your lamps.
How to get in touch with God and the world of the Higher Forces, the world of Beings of Light?
How do our appeals-prayers “work”?
Recall one of the religious postulates: "God is everywhere and in everything." Yes, this is true, but many people do not believe in it, they say: “If He is everywhere and in everything, then why do we not see Him?” Indeed, we cannot see the Creator and His helpers, because everywhere and in everything God, prophets, saints and other representatives of the Higher Forces are present at the quantum level, that is, invisible to the human eye, in the entire Universe. Everything small carries the information of the whole.
In each quantum of light - a representative of the Forces of Light - the effectiveness, strength and consciousness of an integral Being of Light. That is why, according to our prayer-call, which plays the role of a connection and a request, the light quanta of the Higher Forces rush into our fields.
The ongoing micro-discharge processes connect the quantum energies of our biofield with the light quanta of the Higher Forces, to which our prayers are directed. Multiple, diverse in strength, microdischarges release additional energy, which enriches and thickens our biofield.
But not indefinitely, but for a certain time, since the width and density of the aura are not constant, since the energy spent on various physiological processes in the human body thins it out.
Therefore, it is very desirable to strengthen the aura by replenishing energy with prayers at least three times a day.
At AURASUDIA, we conducted an experiment using the canonical prayers of different religions. The experiment involved believers and non-believers, people who pray and those who do not know prayers. In the process of research, prayers and mantras (Buddhist and Hindu prayers) were said and spoken to oneself.
The result turned out to be surprisingly stable: the deformed aura was leveled off, saturated with light, negative influences disappeared. The work of the chakras became more active and balanced.
Numerous studies and the identity of the results have become proof that the prayers of different religions, uttered by any person, regardless of his religious affiliation, help to get in touch and interact with the Higher Beings, represented around us at the quantum (in the form of the smallest energy particles) level: our prayer calls sound for the Forces of Light as an SOS signal, as a call for help. This help is immediately provided, expanding, normalizing and enhancing the glow of the aura.
The results of the research made it possible to conclude: prayer is not only a religious, but also a subtle-energetic, and therefore physical, phenomenon, as a result of which, due to complex biophysical processes, the aura of living objects is enhanced, the energy of water, minerals, crystals, plants and animals is enhanced.
How should you pray?
Prayer is the basis of the life of a true believer. According to St. Philaret of Moscow, "prayer is a private conversation with God." Alexander Men said that prayer is "the flight of the heart to God."
Prayer is a test of our sincerity: can we speak simple words from the bottom of our hearts? If we can, prayer will be heard.
Prayers are different:
● prayers-appeals;
● prayers-requests;
● prayer calls for forgiveness and well-being;
● memorial prayers;
● thanksgiving prayers.
About Omraam's thanksgiving prayer, Mikael Aivanhov writes:
"The biggest mistake people make is their ingratitude. They only know how to object, demand, shout, resent. But what have they done to have the right to demand? Nothing. That's why Heaven is closed to them and leaves them entangled in difficulties."
Do you know how many billions and billions of entities, elements, particles are involved only in keeping you alive? No! And you are always dissatisfied, outraged. Learn to be grateful! Right tomorrow morning, when you wake up, thank Heaven that you are in good health - after all, many will not wake up or wake up, but will not be able to move anymore. Say, "Thank you, Lord, for giving me life and health again today so that I can do Your will." When Heaven notices such a rare phenomenon - the ability to give thanks, repeating: “Thank you, Lord!”, “Thank you, Lord!” - Heaven is amazed, delighted and sends you all blessings.
When we turn to God with a prayer, filth is cleansed, and we are ready to receive heavenly influences, subtle cosmic energies. This is the hidden meaning of prayer, for prayer calls grace into our hearts.
Read seven times the canonical (main) prayer of the religion to which you are committed, or seven canonical prayers of different religions, if you treat them with equal respect, understanding that God is one.
Then ask in prayers for what is topical at this time for you, your loved ones, the people, the Earth. Ask God for spirituality, courage, an impulse to work, creativity and patience. Help through prayers is a reality higher than what we see with our eyes. If we are attentive and patient, then the fruits of our requests appear firsthand.
It is desirable to end the prayer ritual with prayerful praise, which, to some extent, through words and thoughts will make it clear to the Higher Forces, the Forces of Light, our gratitude and gratitude to Them.
The research found: the sevenfold repetition of canonical prayers optimally saturates the human aura, one or even three prayers is not enough to fully saturate the biofield with the energy necessary to ensure all physiological processes in the human body.
Modern researchers believe that when prayers are read next to a burning candle, sound vibrations cause vibrations in the world plasma, and it translates them into waves that ascend to God. Moreover, prayers cause the opposite effect, God's Grace descends on a person - energy and information of very subtle vibrations that heal both soul and body.
Based on materials - zdravclub.ru
). This is confirmed by many examples. The Apostle James gives an example from the Holy History of the Old Testament: through the prayer of the prophet Elijah, the sky did not rain for three and a half years. For the people of God, this meant a test of hunger.
Having before me a vivid example of strong prayer, I stand before him in the consciousness of my own weakness. And so that this consciousness does not fade in me over time, daily reminds me of sins against prayer. The daily evening rule contains a prayer to the Holy Spirit. In it, the believer asks for forgiveness from God: Forgive me, Lord, the King of Heaven, even standing in prayer, my mind moves about the wickedness of this world ... or about prayer is not radih. My mind departs from prayer, heading towards the wickedness of this world, because the worldly affects my mind more strongly than the spiritual. I take a negligent attitude to prayer, because although I know how much it can, but this knowledge has not become a force that transforms life, it has not become an experience. And therefore, when I need to solve some problem, I first of all select worldly means for solving it. I try to do the deed, and praying for the deed comes to mind only if the deed does not work out. Prayer in this case plays the role of a straw, which a drowning man grabs. But he sees that he is grasping at straws, that is, for something extremely weak, unreliable, but since he has no other way out, he clutches at what he has.
Of course, such an attitude to prayer cannot be called exemplary. Far from exemplary, the state of affairs must be corrected somehow. But how? Who can strengthen our feeble prayer? There are a number of conditions under which prayer can become stronger. The Orthodox mystical-ascetic tradition pays great attention to the conditions conducive to attentive prayer, in which the whole person participates. The Hesychast Fathers emphasize the importance of the psychophysical unity of a person who is praying and specifically speak of the first stage of mastering prayerful doing as a stage of oral prayer, that is, prayer performed not only “inwardly”, but also manifested in external speech, that is, bodily. However, a prayer performed aloud (vociferously) can be quite soulless. Even when praying for the whole church, a deacon can imperceptibly move from one prayer to a completely different one, and instead Many years proclaim Eternal memory.
In order to maintain attention during prayer, short words are practiced. Its most famous formula is the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. A short-word prayer is placed in one simple phrase, and the mind simply does not have time to get tired in just a few words, that is, a short-word prayer does not require any special intellectual efforts from the person praying, which allows the mind to actively participate in prayer for a long time. However, the practice of the Jesus Prayer is also not always an example of living, powerful prayer. By repeating the Jesus Prayer many times, a person can gradually move to a mechanical reproduction of the words of this wonderful prayer. One of the Athos ascetics of the 20th century likens the mechanical repetition of the Jesus Prayer to the ticking of a clockwork. There is no more life in such a prayer than in hours.
Another prayer enhancer can be seen in trying to pray as often and for as long as possible (eventually, pray without ceasing). But even this condition of intensifying prayer by itself does not lead to the achievement of the desired result. St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov compares a long prayer performed externally with abundant rain that falls from the sky and breaks on an iron roof, under which grains are stored. Grains do not receive moisture, do not germinate and do not bring a rich harvest. This image of St. Ignatius suggests that external methods to intensify prayer may not produce results.
The church writer, the archpriest, names another indispensable condition for success in prayer - this is the struggle with passions. Indeed, the prayer of a righteous, impassive person can do much. And therefore, the path to righteousness is the path to strong prayer. But much depends on how righteousness is understood. In the history of the Church there is an example of heresy, the content of which is entirely mystical-ascetic. The heresy of Messalianism is the heresy of the “prayers”, who believed that a 15-year struggle with the passions is enough to become passionless forever, and that for a passionless person prayer is such communion with God that replaces the sacraments.
The Orthodox attitude is radically different from the Messalian one: there is no end to the struggle against passions and repentance for sins on earth. This means that prolonged ascetic deeds contribute to the purification of the heart from passions, but do not guarantee dispassion. The rejection of messalianism also means that church conciliar prayer, church worship is not the initial stage in prayer work; church prayer is a lifelong school for all believers. The believer's personal prayer is strengthened by the fact that, like a small trickle, it enters the flow of prayer of those gathered in the temple of God (Archpriest Gleb Kaleda).
All these techniques that enhance prayer (prayer out loud, short, frequent and long, conciliar) will be fruitful only if a certain condition is met: there should not be an iron curtain between heaven (God) and earth (man). A person praying should not be covered from the heavenly rain with an iron roof. When a prayer book is opened to Heaven, it receives the rainwater of eternal life as a heavenly gift, and this brings abundant fruit. One person's efforts to become strong are not enough. Man's efforts must be multiplied by the power of God. Strong prayer can be precisely the result of assistance ( synergy) God and man.
There is no powerful prayer without the power of God. The most divinely revealed biblical conception of God is connected with the image of Power. The word which in the translation of the Old Testament we read as God(In the original language El, Eloah, Elohim), literally means ‘Strength’ or ‘Powers’ (in the plural, that is, Strength in the highest degree). God was perceived by the Old Testament man as a Power par excellence, an all-conquering Power. And in Orthodox theology this doctrine of God as a Force has found its own special expression. In the 14th century, Saint Gregory Palamas, an ascetic and great theologian of the Orthodox Church, formulated the doctrine of the uncreated divine energies. According to this teaching, God is revealed in the world as uncreated forces and uncreated actions, and the power of God directly is God Himself. And a person can achieve unity with God not in essence, as the pantheists teach about it, and not in personality, which would mean the dissolution of the personality of man in the Personality of God. The union of God and man is possible as direct and immediate, and it is possible precisely in energy, in strength, in action, and this union in the language of dogmatics is called synergy- assistance.
Synergetic prayer is unthinkable without God, Who acts by Himself in the one who prays, and unthinkable without a person, without his efforts. There is a story in the ancient Patericon that well illustrates this statement. A man came to the great ascetic Anthony with a request to pray for him. Abba answered him: "Neither I nor God will have mercy on you if you do not take care of yourself and pray." , enhanced by synergy, is possible as a joint action of two: God and man. The power of prayer is when the power of God is perfected in weakness(cm. ). This mysterious saying of the Apostle gives hope to all who are looking for strengthening their prayer. The Apostle Paul testifies that even an exhausted, weak person, if he realizes this weakness of his and confesses it before God, if he opens his heart so that God enters into him by His power, enters into him as a power that strengthens human weakness, then God really visits such a person and works in him and through him His wonderful works. This infirmity of a person who prays to God for strength is precisely that spiritual poverty that our Lord spoke of in His Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(). A person who feels himself spiritually impoverished asks for a spiritual gift, and if he seeks the most important thing - God Himself, the Giver Himself and the Gift, the All-conquering Power Itself - then the Lord descends from Heaven to the earth of the heart of such a person as grace-filled rain, fills him with life and makes his prayers effective and strong.
Prayer is not sorcery, but a way to cope with life's troubles without resorting to aggression, alcohol and other destructive things. Reliance on the power of love and trust, which are not available in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Namely, such states are able to work miracles! The article contains amazing stories of eyewitnesses. Prayer is an appeal to the invisible world, God, Holy people, angels, a dialogue with them. What is the power of prayer? What is the point of talking to those you can't see? How do words help? Why have prayers been so common for thousands of years?
I will write about how psychology answers these questions. You may not be a religious person at all, a skeptic, an atheist, but everyone has a psyche. Therefore, for a prayer, it makes no difference who pronounces it. If the words come from the heart, then they change our state.
1. Prayer relieves anxiety, makes it possible to act rationally, maintain rational behavior in a stressful situation. The brain is arranged in such a way that it forms a dominant, a focus of excitation, which depresses all the others, in response to a complex challenge of the environment. Is your child sick? You are seized with fear for him, it is difficult to concentrate, you are worried. And you need to act, make decisions. Or, on the contrary, wait for the doctors to do their job. Prayer will weaken the brain dominant. Prayer appeal, speech action will help to remain calm in a difficult moment. And the brain will direct the released resources to solving the problem.
2. Reading a prayer helps to harmonize the hormonal background, avoid violations of bodily well-being. With a strong emotional shock, adrenaline, the hormone of fear and stress, is released into the blood. Muscles tense, the heart is stronger, the rhythm of breathing quickens. We are ready to fight or flight. But it is not always possible to hit or run. And then tension begins to oppress our body, it is constantly in super-mobilization without exhaustion of forces is impossible. It is important to be able to relax, calm down in order to maintain health. My friend told me how her child was seriously ill with whooping cough. He was suffocating so much that he ended up in intensive care. She gathered her will into a fist, did everything necessary, not allowing herself to suffer and cry. The son survived and began to recover. And the mother ended up in the hospital with a nerve ulcer. Prayer also helps to dispel stress and maintain health.
“Dad got very sick. Doctors did not give any forecasts, they only shrugged their shoulders: “80 years, what do you want!”. My sister calls me and, crying into the phone, tells how bad our daddy is. And I went up to the icon of the Matronushka and began to pray. I don’t know how to pray, I said whatever came into my head, asked me to take away the illness and prolong the life of daddy. I have never had anything like this, I somehow went into prayer. As if I’m no longer at home, but somewhere I’m soaring, I see myself from the side, then a push and I settled on the floor. As if woke up, woke up, if you want. My throat was dry, my head was heavy, but my heart became calm. Dad did not immediately go on the mend, for some time he was on the verge, then his sister called and said that dad got better. After that, he lived another 5 years.
3. Prayer will include harmonizing states of trust, love, contact with the almighty power. The wonderful story below demonstrates how this state can come from within the psyche, in a dream. How much strength gives warmth, love, gentle light! How we need it in the most difficult and difficult moments of life!
“I have a girlfriend, a kind and pure person. Once she told me about a dream that she always had in difficult moments of despair and hopelessness. She graduated from the institute, entered graduate school and decided to marry her only beloved man, whom she had loved since the 8th grade. Parents were categorically against it: poor, without education, nationality is not suitable. Yes, and his parents dreamed of another wife. But the young people got married and began to live with the parents of a friend. Even the birth of a grandson did not reconcile the parents with this marriage. Endless scandals, demands for a divorce and expulsion of her husband. He himself left the house. Where he had been for weeks, she did not know. Every time she went for a walk with the child, the parents gathered their things and the child, saying: “Leave the house and do not come until you 
get divorced." A friend said that she was almost on the verge of madness and despair. And at that moment she had the same dream: she enters an empty room, the walls of which are made of gentle light and the room is permeated with some kind of loving light. In the morning she woke up as if renewed, calm, cheerful. Time passed and troubles arose. And when the edge of despair came, she again had a magical dream about a room in which there was so much light and so much love for her.Now she and her husband live wonderfully, a clever son has grown up. ”
4. Prayer focuses on an important task, connecting deep levels of mental organization to the solution. It may look like a miracle. There is a miracle.
“I will write how I believed in the power of words and prayer. My son was 18 years old, commissions to the army began. He is very tall, has scoliosis, flat feet, arthritis, heart valve prolapse - all the same, he is fit. I was very afraid of the army. You need to know my son. He is so weak morally, he never fought. We had some problems in childhood with developmental disabilities - he was born with a head injury and did not speak for a long time. And then he started to stutter. Strong stuttering was removed for us, but some hitches in speech still sometimes slipped through. A neuropathologist on the commission became attached to them, and they gave him a referral for examination in the department of neuroses. I walked near the church, went in and lit candles, asked: “Let my son not be taken away. If there is any chance, then take it, Lord! I have no one but him." I was afraid that he would be bullied. I was afraid for him, very much. At the same time, I had no money, no connections to cut off. My son was admitted to the hospital, but I could not come for a long time, I worked then seven days a week. I call him, and he suddenly begins to stutter on every word, which has never happened before. At the same time, he gets frightened and says - I do not understand what is happening to me. I come to him, and he just hums, even at the word mom, and can’t say more. To tears. At the same time, he does not mow and does not play the fool, there is no such trick in him. I'm going to the doctor. He himself says: “We can’t understand anything, he has spasms, his jaw began to tighten, then his neck.” They pricked him 
soothing different, he's like a zombie. I cursed myself, I think: “Here, I guessed it myself, I framed my son with my own words.” I went to church again, asking for forgiveness. The son could not say anything so much that he stopped trying, was silent. I'll come to him, go to the park, walk, be silent. Tries to say something, both crying. He was discharged without improvement, they did not give us an extract, they sent him to the military registration and enlistment office. The call for this time has passed, moved to the spring. He studied at a technical school, I went, asked that they not ask him, I answered everything in writing. Then, little by little, he began to come to his senses and the stuttering decreased. In the spring I went to the recruiting office, brings a military ID, conditionally fit. After that, the stuttering began to abruptly disappear, and now he does not stutter at all. ”
There is an expression "Whoever did not lie in a trench, who did not give birth to children - he does not believe in God." Indeed, in everyday life we think little about anything supernatural, we are immersed in vanity and problems. But in difficult situations, when the question of life and death arises, when the anxiety of uncertainty is unbearable, we seek strength and support from the invisible world. Even if he was not very interesting to us before.
Vasily Petrov, my great-aunt's husband, went through the war as a tanker. He told how at the front they secretly melted tin and poured crosses for themselves, how they prayed in order to survive. Many veterans and their relatives spoke about the same. Prayer helped to cope with tremendous anxiety in the face of death.
“My grandmother begged for my grandfather during the war. Every evening she and the four girls knelt down and prayed. Grandfather was sent from the very beginning of the war immediately into battle, only five wounded people remained from the regiment, who were brought to the front-line hospital. The head physician somehow approached him and offered to stay with him as a nurse, who picks up the wounded from the battlefield. “So you have a chance to survive,” the head physician said to his grandfather, “Otherwise, as soon as we heal you a little, you will immediately go into battle, from which you will no longer be able to return.” Grandfather reached Berlin, received two Orders of the Red Banner, returned to the village, in which there were practically no peasants left.
“My father-in-law told me how they prayed at the front. And the prayer, the 50th psalm of David “Alive in the help of the Most High,” showed me handwritten. All old, worn out. He believed that she saved him at the front ... "
Believers periodically resort to the power of prayer in order to improve their health, ask them to guide them on the right path, make the right choice, protect, protect. Many amazing healings and all sorts of miracles have already seen the world: sometimes in cases where medicine is powerless, the healing power saves people who are balancing between life and death.
The power of prayer: who to turn to?People who have recently started going to church do not know which saints should be addressed with this or that request. Depending on the fate of the great martyr, described in his life, each of them has a kind of specialization, a zone of influence. Turning to a saint who is "responsible" for the direction you need, you will soon be able to verify the power of prayer.
So, which saint to contact:
- requests for conception, bearing a fetus - Saints Zacharias and Elizabeth;
- a request to guide the child on the true path - Reverend Seraphim of Sarov;
- requests for healing - the Great Martyr Panteleimon, Matrona of Moscow;
- a request to deliver from anger - Reverend Efim Sirin;
- about the return of a missing child - Archangel Michael;
- a request to save the soul of a relative who got involved in a sect - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker;
- a request for marriage, finding a groom - the Virgin Mary, Catherine;
- request to protect from robbers, swindlers, robbers - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
It is difficult to overestimate the power of prayer and holy water. If every time in moments of despondency, anger, fear, you do not give in to emotions, but turn to the saints, you will feel relief and free your soul.
The Power of the Our Father Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is rightfully considered one of the most powerful and universal Orthodox prayers. It can be read in the hour of despondency, illness, any trouble, and always receive help from the Lord God.
Jesus Christ said: “Praying means sending radiant streams into space. If you do not receive help and protection from Heaven, it is only because you yourself did not send the light. The sky will not deal with what has gone out. Do you want it to answer your calls? Light all your lamps".
Turning to prayer, you open access to thin energy layers and can really influence fate and health. It is important to learn how to turn to prayer not only in grief, but also in joy, in gratitude.
The power of prayer - research scientistsDespite the fact that religion and science have practically no intersection points, scientists have found that the phenomenon of prayer has a place to be. It has been found that people who pray regularly when they are sick do recover faster and easier than those who do not turn to prayer texts.
Scientists have conducted many experiments on this subject, and found. That the positive attitude of a person in this case did not play a role: the observation was for babies, animals, and even bacteria.
Another interesting experiment was carried out: in one of the clinics in which the fetus is implanted in the mother's uterus, all women were divided into two groups. The members of one of the groups were secretly prayed for. Surprisingly, it was in women of this group that the fetus took root several times more often and the pregnancy proceeded well.
Mother's prayers show especially great power. When a mother begins to fast, lead a righteous life, pray to God for her children, she cleanses not only their aura, but also her own, thus influencing the fate of the whole family. Moreover, the power of maternal prayer is always equally great, regardless of which particular text the woman pronounces.
It is difficult to explain why prayers work, but even official science has recognized that they definitely have an effect.
Often we seek to find time for reflection, to find ourselves in silence, to read a soulful book, to find spiritual joy and achieve spiritual uplift. Although it is impossible to dispute the importance and spiritual benefits of these strivings, we must nevertheless ask ourselves, are these strivings the only ones that will help us enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Let's think about the effort it takes to understand that the power of prayer lies in groaning and shedding tears. For if the Lord experienced this state as a man, we should not be sure that we can understand the essence of prayer, limiting ourselves, however rich, to the rhetoric that revolves around the content and methods of creating prayer.
Delving further into our study of the power of prayer, we must necessarily mention one fact of life that is the opposite of the concept of power. He who consciously seeks powerful prayer must begin by realizing his deep and utter impotence.
The power of prayer can be understood only by those who find themselves unarmed in the chaos of their own helplessness. We can see this key idea in the writings of the Holy Fathers, in Holy Scripture, in the life and traditions of the Church.
The example of prayer that the Lord gave us in the form of a publican and a Pharisee shows that it is impossible to start prayer with a sense of self-satisfaction. Prayer cannot be, if not always, most of the time, an experience of rewarding the sense of security that the believer feels in his Christian life.
The power of prayer comes from a deep sense of powerlessness. When a person is freed from the personal, from everything that can give him a sense of personal security, he finds a source of strength. Thus, according to the Holy Scriptures and the works of the holy fathers, a spiritual person begins to live, constantly conscious of his own weakness. The experience of prayer is a continuous and ever-growing feeling of powerlessness.
A spiritual person does not reason about whether his prayer is strong or not. The Christian represented in the Triodion, in the writings of the fathers and in the Holy Scriptures, does not care whether he is strong or not. The only thing that matters to him is whether he really prays, whether he turns out to be immersed in his prayer with his whole being. The thoughts of a spiritual fighter at the moment of prayer are directed to God, and not to the result of prayer. For the result, by human standards, may also reveal the seeming futility of prayer, while with God it will have power.
Let me give you a very characteristic example from the Fathers of the Church, which shows the difference between God's judgment and the judgment of man.
Once upon a time, one ascetic wanted to take a break from his solitude in his cell, go outside and talk with other monks. Before doing so, he prayed to God and asked for a blessing to come out of seclusion and asked that fellowship or, as we would say today, interpersonal relationships with the brothers would give him strength. Then he went to the city where he was to meet spiritual people. But as he approached the gates of the city, he saw something that shocked him. A harlot stood at the gate and defiantly blocked his path. He immediately remembered his prayer and thought, “I asked God for the opportunity to gain spiritual strength, and He puts me in such an awkward situation?” He looked at the woman with pity and contempt while she continued to stare at him defiantly. He asked her, "Aren't you ashamed to tempt an old monk?" To this she replied: "If you are a real monk, you should consider yourself the earth and look at the earth, and not at me." Then the elder understood the lesson that the Lord taught him, realized that prayer gave him the strength and spiritual uplift he desired.
A praying person should not think about the result of his prayer, but turn all his thoughts to God, who is the source of life, strength and all good. The Lord knows what and when He must give or take away and for what reason it must be done.
Thus, we see that the problem of prayer power is not one of the topics by discussing which, we can secure an inner conviction that if certain conditions are met, our prayer will become a source of strength for us. But on the other hand, a person needs the strength given by God in order to strengthen and continue his life path, to gain integrity and realize his ideal, which, according to Christian teaching, is likeness to God, communion with Him, life in holiness.
Consequently, each person is called to set foot on the path that Christ revealed to Elder Silouan in his dream. The elder writes: “Keep your mind in hell,” the Lord commanded me, “and do not despair.” That is, pray and remember about hell, about the sufferings of the people who are there. But, nevertheless, do not fall into despair.
This is a specific instruction addressed to a specific person. But the general idea shows that a spiritual person should not make his prayer dependent on its result. Of course, it is useful to know how proper prayer should be carried out. Even the disciples asked the Lord to teach them how they should pray. However, it is of great importance to free a person from thoughts about the result of prayer. Because many "righteous" Christians are disappointed when they think prayer is "in vain."
The Apostle Paul prayed and asked God to deliver him from a certain illness from which he suffered. And after patient prayer, Paul received the answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect even in weakness.” The apostle Paul considered his illness a source of weakness and prayed to be freed from it. But the power of God is "made perfect in weakness."
We see how different are the judgments of man and God. Therefore, I believe that the problem of prayer power is a purely human problem. And, therefore, a person who understands that his business is to pray, and the business of God is to give a person what will be useful to him, argues correctly. And this person will certainly be given opportunities to realize that prayer is indeed a source of vitality for him. But more often than not, the person will see it in their past. It's hard to see it in the present.
Of course, in both the Old and New Testaments we can find many wonderful examples of powerful prayer. For example: “And because of their prayer, the place where they were gathered was shaken” (Acts 4:31) However, this does not mean that the believer should expect the same immediate result from prayer.
This topic cannot be studied or researched as a theory. It can only be experienced as an existential experience, when looking at the image of a praying person created in Triodion. The more a person is disappointed in himself, the more blessing he receives from God. But if he thinks like a Pharisee, he will not find God by his side.
The main problem is how a person can experience prayer power and not think about it or reason theoretically.
I would not like to add anything more to this subject, and not because my thoughts have run out, but because, in my opinion, in this serious matter we can only make some sketches that will become occasions for a deeper reflection of a person in accordance with his personal experience and personal problems.
If there are any questions, thoughts on what we have considered, let's listen to them.
Question: What do you mean when you say "experience existentially"? Are we talking about the philosophical system of Christian existentialism?
Answer: Of course no. There is a confusion of concepts. But I think with time it will somehow be overcome. When we talk about existential vision or experience, we do not mean existentialism and its well-known theory. Here we want to focus, by analogy with the system of existentialism, on all human existence, being as universal life.
When we say that prayer should be experienced existentially, we mean that a person should experience the moment of prayer with his whole being, with all the problems of his life. Mental prayer, which is now talked about in many books, the Jesus Prayer, which we mentioned, which is an ascetic prayer and consists in repeating the phrase: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” (unfortunately, we could not dwell on this topic in more detail), is just an existential prayer experience.
An ascetic or a monk who lives in a monastery constantly repeats this prayer during work, service and labor. Those monks who have been practicing this prayer for many years do it even in their sleep: when the soul sleeps, the mind continues to work and repeat this prayer. Such people know how to pray even when they are reading or talking.
This form of existential experience of prayer can also be shared by a modern person living in the world. Everywhere and always, on the bus, on the street, at work, he can repeat this prayer and gradually he will get used to it, and prayer will become a rule for him. A person will be convinced that, as writers dealing with this topic say, he begins to pray without doing it purposefully. And then he is able to meet any difficulty and problem that appears in life with a prayer on his lips.
On the contrary, the "conscientious" Christian, who does not forget to pray in the evening before going to bed and in church, whenever he hears the bell ringing, who feels the need to communicate with God, only when faced with difficulty, realizes that he prays in fragments. While a person experiencing prayer existentially does not have a program, schedule, sometimes even words. For the best expression of prayer experience is silence.
Translation from modern Greek: the editors of the online publication "Pemptusia".
