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Let us Pray
Prayer and
Its Merit
Prayer is elevating the mind to
the Almighty God and confiding with Him in spiritual utterances.
Through prayer we worship and thank Him and lay before Him our
needs.
Prayer is not only an obligatory duty, but the first and the most
beneficial one. We were lead to it by natural instinct which guided
us to approach our God, may He be exalted. Moreover, God instructed
us regarding prayer through children of
Israel. He taught them the
principles of His worship in the elementary school of prophets until
the time came when He sent His beloved Son, the Divine Teacher, who
taught the world the perfect Law and true worship.
The effect of prayer is really mighty, as the Apostle points out:
“Great is the power of prayer of a righteous man” (James
5:16), especially the perfect
prayer of spiritual elders through which they receive divine gifts
and see miraculous visions. On this matter, they have experiences
and stories that call for wonder, and that cannot come by except by
total devotional effort. In this connection, Yohanna Abu-Al-dawaly
the Elder says: “whoever wants to devour the sweetness of
Christ, let him labor to devote himself to prayer which draws one
near to God more than any other spiritual exercise. For with it,
the mind associates itself with God and takes His likeness, gains
His gifts, and becomes the fountain of His secret mysteries.
Through prayer, he opens His treasuries and apportions His
treasures; he becomes worthy to see His glory and wanders in the
clouds of the lights of His Majesty where the hosts of the Most High
dwell. He is then taken over by silence and bewilderment, stunned
by the brilliant light rays shining on him. Such is the life of
spiritual men and their utmost pleasure”.
The honor of prayer is so great that it can hardly be spoken of. It is
more sublime than the honor of all other virtues and worthy actions,
for the latter can only attain perfection through prayer.
As for the benefits of prayer, they are beyond demonstration or
reckoning. For, if those who sit with the learned and philosophers
gain knowledge and understanding, what then can we say about those
who confide with the Lord of both wisdom and the wise, and the
Creator of knowledge and the learned? Let us ask Speaker of God
(Moses) about the benefits of prayer. His answer would be that
through prayer he saved the people of God from many enemies, braided
for them crowns of victory in many wars and received for them many
graces. Indeed, prayer is a weapon before which fail all war
machines, a weapon that makes the valor of heroes void and puts
legions to rout.
Was it not prayer that quenched the burning fire heated seven times in
the Babylonian furnace? Was it not prayer that shut the mouths of
savage and ravenous beasts in the den of loins? Did it not prolong
the life of Hezekiah the king fifteen years and rendered him
victorious over his enemies? Did it not bless the barren Hanna with
Samuel, the chosen of the Lord, who was found to have no peer? Did
it not crown Prophet David with the crowns of victory in his
repeated grievous wars? Did it not become a haven of salvation from
the surging waves of divine wrath? Did it not confer upon Zacharia
the priest with a fruit whose equal has never been seen among those
born of women? Did it not open the prison doors before the Apostle
Peter? Did it not bring the light of faith to Cornilius?
And what shall I say of the blessed Apostle Paul whose thirst for
persistent prayer, while guiding many peoples to truth, was never
quenched. He realized that to pray, himself, was much more
effective than commanding people to persistently do so. This is
just as true of all the rest of the Apostles, evangelists, martyrs,
confessors, pastors, teachers, monks, solitarians and holy fathers.
Prayer was their perseverance and ultimate aim. They turned to
prayer to enlighten and guide the world.
What other work then, I wonder, is more venerable, beneficial,
honorable, and wiser than this praiseworthy work. Said one of the
Saints: “Prayer is wings by which we fly up high to God, and a
ladder by which we ascend to Heaven. It is a means of becoming
partners with Angels, an unfailing hope, and a treasure that does
not become exhausted or reached by moth or trees. It is a sea that
never dries up. It is like trees that never wither and a trade that
never loses. Prayer is the origin of righteousness and the
foundation of all virtues. Moreover, prayer is the support that
helps to stay firm in true faith and a reliable aid for honest
work. Blessed and happy are, therefore, those who make it their
companion day and night. For, in prayer, there exist happiness,
joy, delight and benefit that can only be felt by those who have
experienced them.
Make use of it, O’ Christian, for it is the aid for success for all
works, for heaven has a door and a key. Blessed be God who hears
prayers and answers petitions.
The Necessity Of Prayer
The necessity of prayer is
attested to in the Books of both the Old and the New Testaments, and
by the lives of men of God by whose lights we are guided and by
whose steps we follow.
In the Old Testament, we find the following: “You
shall fear the Lord Your God and Him shall You serve“.(Deuteronomy
6:13; 10:20); “Praise the Lord, praise, O you servants of the Lord, praise
the name of the Lord”. (Psalm 113); “Blessed
are they that dwell in Your house; they shall praise You forever.”
Psalm 85:4);
“O You Who hears
prayer, unto You all flesh shall come.”
(Psalm 65:2)
In the New Testament, we read: “Watch
and Pray.”
(Matthew. 26, 41), so watch, you, and pray always; See also the
parable of the Unjust Judge. (Luke 18). We further read:
“Continue steadfastly in prayer
being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
(Colossians 4:2);
“Pray without
ceasing.” (Thessalonians,
5:17); “Be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12), “Pray at all times
in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep
alert with all perseverance, making supplications for all the
Saints.” (Ephesians
6:18).
Thus we see that in both Testaments men of God made praying and
worshipping Him their supreme concern. For instance, in Genesis
12:8 we read of Abraham, “the
close Friend of God,
"that he “built an altar
to the Lord and called on His name.”
Likewise did Isaac and
Jacob (Genesis 26:25). Moses Says “I
fell down before the Lord…I prayed therefore unto the Lord and
said…”
(Deuteronomy. 9:25). Of
Hannah, mother of Samuel, it is recorded: “She
prayed to God and wept bitterly.”
Jonah, too,
“Prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the whale.”
Daniel is reported to have prayed three times daily, kneeling on
his Knees. Look over the prayer of Hezekiah, as given in Isaiah 37,
and the prayer of Solomon, recorded in II Chronicles 6. As for
David, the Prophet and the great king, his famous psalms attest to
his worshipping God since his early youth. Hannah the Prophetess
used to worship God in fasting and prayer night and day. (Luke
2:37). The Apostles, Mary
the Mother of Jesus, His brethren and all the holy women
“continued earnestly in prayer with one accord.” (Acts 1:14; 2:46).
But of more significance than all is the fact that Christ, may His
name be exalted, Who Himself laid down the path of divine worship,
made prayer our duty, taught us how to pray persistently, showed us
the fruit of prayer, and Himself prayed giving us a good example.
In this connection, Mor Yacoub, the Doctor of the Church, says:
“If the One Who hears
and heeds our supplications Himself prayed, who then would not be
industrious in prayer? If, indeed, the One Who needed not to pray,
nevertheless gave Himself earnestly to prayer on our behalf, what
would be the situation of him who stands in need of it if he did not
pray? Take heart, O You who prays, and weary not, for the prayer of
Son of God is in Your behalf. Let your prayer join His mighty one.
He will accept it for the sake of His own prayer.” The early Apostles and believers followed this example. The
forefathers, the successors to the Apostles, the Saints and the
faithful everywhere in the world followed suit. Mor Ephraim Said:
“Be constant in prayer
day and night, for prayer helps him who loves it in both worlds.
Persist in it for the farmer who frequently cultivates his fields,
reaps increased yields. Do not be like the slothful in whose fields
thorns will grow.”
Having
then seen the necessity and advantage of prayer, let us not fall
into the error of thinking that it is necessary only at the time of
need. Rather, it must be continuous as it is nourishment to the
soul as food is for the body, especially since the body and the soul
of man has constant needs. Further, man is always exposed to
tribulation, misfortunes, falling into grave offenses and faults.
What better vessel than prayer is there to cross the stormy seas of
trial and temptation, and reach the haven of safety?
If we assume that man might sometimes be free of physical pains and
circumstantial trials, can he escape from spiritual trials and
mental warfare? The fire of this warfare is constantly being set
ablaze by the Enemy of the soul against whom the Apostle warns us
saying: “Be sober, be
watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.”
(I Peter 5:8). If we assume that some time may pass in one’s live
when he may not come upon physical distress or spiritual trial, he
still needs to be cautious not to get entangled in them. This is
Christ’s commandment to us: “Watch
and pray lest you enter into temptation.”.
(Matthew. 26:41). If one is in a virtuous state, he must ask God to
remain in it. Even if one thinks that God is the Lord of knowledge
and wisdom and thus knows what the needs of His servants are before
they ask, and that He grants their requests freely, he should
nonetheless make his petitions known to Him, thanking His graces,
lest we would be put at the level of dumb animals.
The wisdom of God requires that He grants not our needs unless we ask
so that he makes known to us the magnitude of His graces and thus we
may receive them with due thanksgiving and make not light of them.
For this reason, He taught us to ask diligently that we may receive,
to seek insistently that we may find, and to knock at the doors of
His mercy pressingly that they may be opened to us. For he who asks
receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be
opened.
We wish to add that man has three enemies: Satan, flesh and the
World. There are likewise three weapons against them: prayer
against Satan, fasting against flesh, and almsgiving against the
World.
Man’s duty is also threefold: towards God, towards himself, and
towards his neighbor. With prayer he fulfills what he owes to God;
with fasting he pays his debt to his body; and with almsgiving he
performs his duty to his neighbor. How good prayer is when
accompanied by fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. (Tobias
12:8).
Forms And Divisions Of
Prayer
There are two forms of prayer:
mental and oral. Mental prayer is spiritual meditation
exercised by the mind and the heart without the involvement of the
tongue. Oral prayer is translation in spoken words the hidden
emotions of the heart.
Oral prayer is divided into three types, namely, Praise,
Thanksgiving and Petition. These constitute the contents of
the Psalms which are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and they are the
best form of prayer. For if we fix the eyes of the mind on the
grand Omnipotence of the Lord of the Universe and meditate on His
marvelous Creation and His grand makings in the sky and earth, we
cannot but break into praise and magnification to the Wise Creator,
singing with the Prophet: “O Lord how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom have You made them all.”? (Psalms. 104:24),
If the mute creation is bidden to offer praise to its Creator, how
can Man, who is endowed with the faculty of speech, lag in utterance
of praise to Him? Now let us reflect on His boundless goodness to
us- not the least part of which was His having brought us out of
nothingness to this noble image and fine form, and raised us from
the level of animals by endowing us with rational articulate soul,
in the likeness of Angels. He, May His name be glorified, takes
care of us wholly as long as we live and tolerates us whenever we
commit sin. He confers upon us the graces of divine forgiveness and
the great gift of the grace of redemption. Who can, then, reckon up
all His ineffable graces? Who can even do without raising praise and
thanksgiving to His divine goodness? Everyone must thank God for He
is Good and His mercy endures forever. (Psalms 118:1).
Since God is our Father and Lord, before His bounty we bring our
needs. We ask Him to grant us our necessities, both spiritual and
corporeal, and deliver us from all forms of temptation and
pitfalls. We ask Him to grant us purity in soul and chastity in
body. We ask Him to forgive our sins and confirm us in true faith
and work of righteousness. We ask God, too, to implant His divine
love in our hearts and aid us to acquire virtue.
Who then is not in urgent need of all this? Who is he whose soul
does not desire and his heart does not yearn to constantly recite
the prayer of Jesse’s son: “Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean…etc.”? (Palms 51:7)
We also ask that Christ’s kingdom may extend throughout the whole
world, that the Lord may reign over all humanity pouring concord and
peace upon churches so that true and Orthodox faith prevail among
them. We further ask that He may grant peace and security to the
world that we may live in happiness…etc.
Concentration
in Prayer
As prayer is an intimate
discourse with God Almighty, it is imperative that we collect the
mind and thought that they may meditate on their Lord and address
themselves to Him without a mediator. For if Moses the great was
prevented from approaching the bush until after he had taken off his
sandals from his feet, how is it that you intend to address Him Who
is Most High and above any sense and thought, without casting off
every recklessness and improper thought?
Concentrating the mind and keeping it away from
distraction is not easy. It can be achieved only after long and
hard work and persistence in spiritual worship. No one can attain
pure prayer without persistence in worshipping God with a bona fide
heart, just as one cannot learn a trade until after certain length
of time. Therefore, if we do not posses something of these let us
not think of leaving prayer until after our minds have been
cleansed, otherwise we would be like those who seek perfection
without laboring. But let us pray, anyway, and pour our hearts and
thoughts before The Merciful One. He, The Most High, will guide us
in His mercy to the haven of life and direct us as He wills. This
requires that our intention be well-meaning and our desire intense
in concentrating our thought as best as possible. Also, we should
avoid everything that could cause us to be reckless, be it external
or internal. Let us act according to Father Makarius’s advice:
“If your prayer is not spiritual, strive to attain verbal
prayer. The spiritual prayer then will grow.”
Experienced people have known that even though it is
difficult, initially, to achieve concentration of mind, it becomes
easier, however, after good training, especially when it tastes the
sweetness of prayer. When it reaches this stage, it withdraws from
all that exist on earth and in heaven and becomes absorbed by the
love of its Lord and overwhelmed by His Majesty. This is the
situation with those who attain perfection.
Mor Isaac the Elder says:
“Prayer is not a matter of knowledge and eloquent phraseology. It
is rather a Matter of clearing one’s mind from extraneous thoughts,
rendering it serene in a state of concentration attained by silence
of movements and serenity of senses”. He further says: “pure
prayer calls for concentration of mind, serenity of conscience,
tranquility of thoughts, reflection on the new world, hidden
comfort, and discourse with God”
Father Oghris incites collecting
the mind away from recklessness saying: “strive to make your mind
silent when at prayer never letting it talk. Only then you will be
able to pray.” Mor Yacoub says: “When you hear the sound of
the bell, O wise one, hasten to church for prayer. Let your
thoughts be collected, not meandering amongst trivialities. It is
disgraceful to be in church yourself and let the mind tarry in the
market- half of you in one place and the second half in another! Let
your whole self be in the church and pray to God humbly and with a
sincere intention. Ask Him for mercy and compassion, for He is
compassionate, and He answers him who calls upon Him with a
submissive heart.”
Saint Ephraim says: “When you pray, have your mind well
in control and restrain your thoughts directing them towards your
heart. Let not your body be standing there and your mind off on
some other occupation. Rather, make of your body a church, and of
your mind a splendid temple. Make of your mouth a censer, of your
lips incense, and of your tongue a deacon that you may please God.”
Inciting prayer, he further says: “Will you not, O
lover of profits, stand upright for prayer wholeheartedly for you
will derive benefit from it in both worlds. Do not consider the
time of prayer worthless. For every time you pray you store up in
the Highest a treasure for yourself. Steal away an hour of your day
and pray to your Lord. Your prayer will not be snatched away from
you nor will you be robbed of your petition” The chosen Apostle
Paul sums this all up when he says, “I will pray with the
spirit; and I will pray with the mind also” (I
Corinthians. 14:15).
Conditions Of Perfect
Prayer
The first of the essential
conditions of prayer is faith. We should couple our prayer with
firm and unshakable faith that we may receive what we ask for. This
was enjoined on us by the Lord Himself: “Therefor I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you
will.” (Mark 11:24). Likewise the Apostle says: “But let him ask in faith, with no
doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven
and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he
will receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1: 6,7)
The second condition is that we must link to our petition a strong
and firm hope, so that if our prayer is not answered quickly or not
answered at all, we should not give up. Rather, we should persist
in our petitions and call on the Almighty, night and day, as He
instructed us to do in Luke 11:5,18, and in the night of His
betrayal when He repeated three times the same words in His prayer.
(Matthew 26:44)
The fact that our petitions are not always granted does not mean
that God is unaware of them, or that He does not care for us. You
see, God has His divine purposes, one of which is that if He granted
us our requests easily we might come to regard the matter too
lightly, and this would lead to ingratitude on our part. Also, the
denial of a petition may be for reasons quite unknown to us. One of
these reasons could be that a particular request might not be to our
good. Since God knows better than we do what is good for each one
of us, He does not pay attention to some of our petitions, simply
because He is merciful towards His servants and wants them to be
saved. (I Timothy 2:4).
It is also possible that a particular petition may not be in harmony
with the holiness of God and His divine will. Therefore, be
careful, O you who seek to pray in the spirit and truth, not to ask
of your Lord anything that is in conflict with His perfection -thus
revert in harm to you. Rather, accept God’s plan for you. This is
what you mean when you say in your prayer: “Your will be done, as
it is in heaven so on earth.” Will it be palatable to us, then,
after we have called Him “our Father” and submitted to Him our
will, to worry or loose our hope just because He did not answer our
prayer?
The
third condition is that our prayer should be offered in much love to
God and to the neighbor. As to love to God, it is love that stirs
man to glorify his Creator Who, through this love, dwells in his
heart and makes Himself an abode there. As to the love of neighbor,
it is incumbent on us to forgive those who trespass against us so
that He may see our love towards them and thus treat us as we treat
them, as He made clear in Matthew 6:14, 15. Also, we should pray
for the wellbeing of all our Christian brethren, asking for
repentance for sinners, guidance for strays, persistence for the
repentant, and relief for those who are in distress of any kind.
Clarity of thoughts should be added to the above. In this connection
Mor Isaac the Elder says: “Purity of prayer does not mean that no
idea whatsoever should occur to the mind. It does mean, however,
that one should not entertain such ideas and thus stray.”
One should also understand prayer. He who does not understand what
he says had better keep silent.
Magnification of the
Lord by the soul is part of prayer, as one contemplates the
greatness of the majesty of God before Whom he stands. As such, he
realizes that he is unworthy to address Him, being himself of dust
and in the likeness of the worms therein.
A sense of awe that stems from the omnipotence of The Mighty and
Awe-Inspiring Lord of Lords should be present at prayer at all
times. Father Oghris says: “A prayer that is devoid of fear,
tremble, concern and purity is useless”.
Remembering his sins at prayer, one should develop a sense of shame.
As such, one should dare not lift his eyes towards heaven. Rather,
he should call upon God with a contrite heart saying: “O God,
I have sinned against heaven and before You; I am no longer worthy
to be called Your son…”
Hope is another element of prayer, called for by the abundant mercy
of God towards the world. Once it gets strong, it imparts the soul
an ineffable joy.
Let your prayer be based on seeking God’s good pleasure, His glory,
the extension of His Kingdom and all other graces that are in
harmony with the Divine Will. However, if the object of the prayer
is to realize worldly expectations or empty pleasures, it will only
bring disappointment. This is what the Lord meant when He said,
“You ask but you do not receive because you ask for bad things.
Do not multiply words as the pagans do.” (Matthew.
6:7).
Times Of Prayer
The times of prayer have been
handed down to the Church by her founders, the Apostles and Saints,
with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in pursuit to the example
of the Prophets. The Apostles set the times for prayer at six.
The doctors of the Church added a seventh, thus bringing to
fulfillment what the Prophet said: “Seven times a day I praise
you for your righteous ordinances.” (Psalms 119:164)
This is what our great scholar Mor Gregorius Bar Hebraeus said in
his book, “The Ethicon”. This indicates that all servants of
God glorify Him as Angels do.
The Seven Prayer Times are:
·
Evening
Prayers or Vespers
·
Compline
or Prayer upon retiring (sutoro)
·
Midnight Prayer
·
Morning
Prayer (Matins)
·
Three O'clock Prayer
·
Six O'clock Prayer
(Noon)
·
Nine O'clock Prayer
We have placed Evening Prayer first as in our ecclesiastical
tradition the day begins in the evening. This is the order reported
by Metropolitan Yacoub of Bartella in his book entitled: “The
Treasures”
We pray in the evening to give thanks to God who gave us night,
so that we may rest after the toils of the day. Upon retiring we
pray to ask for protection from enemies of darkness and also because
of the possibility that we might go to sleep and wake up in the
world of eternity. At
midnight we pray to meditate on our Savior, Who passed the night of His Passion
without sleep, to teach us to always stay awake and pray so that we
may escape from the Evil One and his powers.
In the morning we pray to thank God who gave us day. At The Third Hour
we pray, for Jesus was condemned to death at that hour after being
scourged. Thus we reflect on His passion and thank him for bearing
all that for us so that we might escape the pains of the Day of
Righteous Judgment on the judgment day. At the Sixth Hour, the hour
of His crucifixion, we pray to ponder it and thank God for His
goodness and His love.
We pray At the Ninth Hour (three in the afternoon) because it is His
actual hour of death. At that hour the whole earth trembled and was
shaken, and the whole creation shuddered at the dissimulation of the
Jews. We reflect over these things, and thank Him for His love
which is the greatest of all. We also ask Him to save us from
eternal death and gather us with our faithful departed in the
company of those of the right side. We learn from the Book of Acts
(Acts 2:15) that the
Apostles used to pray at the sixth hour. Peter also prayed at the
sixth hour (Acts 10:9), and he and John went up to the Temple to
pray at the Ninth Hour (Acts 3:1). Acts 16:25 tells of Paul and Silas praying and praising God at
midnight. They never went to sleep
or woke up in the morning without offering worship. (Acts 1:14; 2:43).
Mor Gregorius informs us that the Ascetics added another
prayer- the Eighth which is called Dawn Prayers. Laymen,
however, not being able to keep the seven times of prayer, pray in
the morning, at noon and in
the evening. As the Psalmist says: “As for me, I call upon God
and God saves me, in the evening and in the morning and at
noontide.” Daniel, too, was to be found in his upper room, with
windows open towards Jerusalem, kneeling humbly three times in the
day and praying in the presence of his God, as he used to do before.
At the present time, however, the Church has condensed prayer times
into morning and evening worship. The Night, Morning, Third Hour,
and Sixth Hour prayers are offered in the morning. The Ninth Hour,
Evening or Vesper, and Compline or Retiring prayers (Sootoro)
are offered in the evening.
The source:
The Spiritual Treasure on Canonical
Prayer, By: Mor Ignatius Ephrem Barsoum
Copyright ©
2005 Archdiocese of the Western US.
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