While reading the “Art of Prayer” I came across this article written by on of my favorite saints St. Theophan the Recluse. Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that I enjoy his writings and quote him often.
____________________
There are only a few words in the Jesus Prayer, but they contain everything. From of old it was recognized that this prayer, once acquired as a habit, could take the place of all other oral prayers. Is anyone who strives for salvation ignorant of this method ? If used in the way described by the Holy Fathers, this prayer has great power; but among those who acquire the habit of reciting it, not all discover its power, not all taste of its fruits. Why should this be so ? It is because they wish to grasp for themselves that which is a gift of God, coming only by His grace.
We do not need any special help from God in order to begin the work of repeating this prayer in the morning, in the evening, walking, sitting, lying down, working, or at leisure. By being always active in this way we can of ourselves train the tongue to repeat the Prayer even without conscious effort. A certain easement of thought may follow from this, even a kind of warmth of heart. But all of this, says the monk Nikephoros in the Philokalia, is only the action and fruit of our own efforts. To stop at this point is to remain satisfied merely with a parrot-like facility in reciting the words Lord, have mercy: it is to imagine that we have achieved something when in reality we have achieved nothing at all. This is what happens when we fall into the habit of repeating the words of this prayer mechanically without understanding what prayer really is. As a result we rest satisfied with the natural beginnings of its action, and cease to look any further. But whoever has truly understood the nature of prayer will continue to search. Realizing that no matter how diligently he follows the instructions of the elders the true rewards of prayer still elude him, he will cease to expect them from his own efforts and will lay all his hope on God. From this moment grace can flow into him; and at a moment known only to itself it will graft the prayer into his heart. Everything, as the elders teach us, will be outwardly the same: the difference will lie in our inner power.
What is true of this prayer is true of all forms of spiritual growth. A hot-tempered man may be filled with the desire to stamp out irritability and acquire meekness. In the books on asceticism there are instructions how to discipline oneself into achieving this. A man can read these instructions and follow them; but how far will he get by his own efforts ? No farther than outward silence during bouts of anger, with only such quelling of the rage itself as self-control can afford him. He will never himself attain the complete extinction of his anger and the establishment of meekness in his heart. This only happens when grace invades the heart and itself places meekness there.
This is true of every spiritual quality. Whatever you may be seeking, seek it with all your strength, but do not expect your own search and efforts to bear fruit of themselves. Put your trust in the Lord, ascribing nothing to yourself, and He will give you your heart’s desire (Ps. xxxvi. 3-4 Sept.).1
Pray thus: ‘i desire and seek, quicken Thou me by Thy righteousness.’ The Lord has said ‘Without me ye can do nothing’ (John xv. 5), and this law is fulfilled with exactitude in the spiritual life; it does not swerve by a hair’s breadth. When people ask ‘What must I do to acquire this or that virtue ?’ there is only one answer: ‘Turn to the Lord and He will give it to you. There is no other way to find what you seek.’
–Theophan the Recluse
1 Ps. xxxvii. 3-4 (B.C.P.).
