8 prayer

ORTHODOX PRAYER

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place”

(Matt 6:6)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Prayer

Answer these three questions:

How do you pray now?

When do you pray now?

Where do you pray now?

What is your favorite prayer?


Prayer

Do we still pray like a child?


Why Do You Pray?

Aim is to have a personal relationship with God.

The way to God is an inner journey accomplished in the mind and heart. Theophan, AP p73

The primary work of the moral and religious life. Theophan, AP 61

We must attune the thoughts of the mind and the disposition of the heart so the spirit of man wi! always be with the Lord as if joined with Him - Theosis. Theophan, AP 73


Differing Needs1. One who is careless about his salvation - Comes to church according to custom as an obligation.

2. One who has abandoned sin and is zealous for virtue - Reads many prayers and goes to church often trying to keep his attention from wandering and experience feelings

3. One who has entered within - Stands before God in his heart without distraction or use of long verbal prayers.

Take away oral prayer from the second you will take all prayer from him - impose oral prayer on the third you will extinguish prayer in him.


Two Types:Inner and Outer Prayer

1. Outer prayer - worship and reading

2. Personal prayer - aims towards inner prayer.

Outer Inner

Both are necessary. Outer prepares for the inner

To join with God in His kingdom, we must learn to withdraw within ourselves. Best achieved with concentrated inner prayer.


What is Inner Prayer?

Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God in praise and thanksgiving to Him and in supplication for the good things that we need, both spiritual and physical. St. Theophan the Recluse, p 53 Art of Prayer

A mutual personal encounter with God. When we open our heart to God.

To pray is to stand before God with our mind in our “heart.”


TasteSmellSound

TouchSight

Emotions Actions Bodily functionsHeart beatDigestionBreathing

God

Brain

MindReasonWill

Soul

Body

Through the Heart we find Union with God

Holy Spirit

Heart

Assumptions Patterns

Passions


HeartJesus: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they sha! see God.” Matt 5:8 What did He mean by Heart?

Innermost part of our being & part of our sub-consciousness.Where the knowledge of God is revealed to us.Soul’s control center that reigns over the body.Place from which grace penetrates throughout the body and the mind.Where Christ comes to dwell within us.

Peter says, “Do not let your adornment be merely outward... rather let it be the hidden person of the heart.” 1Peter 3:3-4


What are Requirements for Inner Prayer?

Inner prayer first requires: Faith based on an inner experience of God Fear (awe) of almighty GodAcknowledgement of His infinite powers Joining with Christ in His Church.Attitude of repentance (Metanoia)Commitment & continual effort to practice God’s commandments.


Why is Prayer so Difficult?

Because of our separation from God - our sinfulness.

The body’s programing in the brain

God

Soul

Body


Brain - Enemy of PrayerMental programming - Patterns of behavior etched in our brain.The devil knows our weakness and continually temps us.We respond automatically - an exercise of our willWe lack capacity to intercede in the moment to live a virtuous life.Through prayer we gain self control and capacity to receive grace. As we learn to control our passions we increase our ability to pray.


ReviewAdam and Eve separated themselves from God, deceived by the snake to disobey Him, and were expelled from paradise.With this came death and suffering. “Curse of death is sin” Paul

God sent the prophets and laws.Then he sent His only Son - the incarnate God.He taught, was cruelly killed, rose from the dead claiming victory over death. He ascended into heaven, and empowered the Apostles with the Holy Spirit testablishing the Church on earth.


Through Baptism we become part of the body of Christ and enter into His Church with clean slate.Church nurtures our spiritual health

Worship services,sacraments, clergy, teaching ascetic practices such as personal prayer, fasting...Environment helps us become liberated from our traditional mental programming the devil uses us to keep us separated from God.

Through regular worship, participation in the Sacraments, and personal prayer we can work on our transformation which comes through the grace of God - SynergiaPersonal prayer plays a key role. Warning: These methods used outside the Church often lead to strengthening our ego and separating us further.


BaptismAwaken

IncarnationResurrection

Death &Final Judgment

Fall

Paradise

Grace

WillSynergy

PrayerFastingStudy

Meditation

Ascetic Discipline

Worship & Communion

Repentance

Theosis

Love GodLove neighbor

Virtuous Life

The Church

Creation

Orthodox Life


Stages of Prayer

Oral prayer

Mental prayer

Inner (noetic) prayer of the heart


Oral PrayerPrayer of the Worship services and the homePrayers handed down through the tradition of the ChurchIt is not in the Orthodox tradition to make up extemporaneous prayers, unless you are in a spiritual state. If you don’t have noetic or inner prayer, you should pray with your mind using prayers from the church services.Use of prayer booksExtemporaneous prayer can be dangerous spiritually.How?


Oral prayer leads to inner prayerEnter into the spirit of prayers you read and hear, reproducing them in your heart. Offer them up from your heart to God as if they were born in your heart under the action of the Holy Spirit.


Remember

Oral prayer is prayer only if the mind and the heart also pray. Theophan AP 59

We must aim at inner prayer - there is a progression

To do so we must purify our heart through a life of repentance.


Orthodox View of PrayerWhen Scriptures mentions the Holy Spirit praying within someone, a prophet or Apostle, it is not talking about prayer using the rational faculty (external) but about prayer of the heart (inner).

When the disciples came to Jesus and asked “Master, how should we pray?” Jesus did not respond: “Just talk to me.” What did He tell them?

Luke: “He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Our Father which art in heaven...


Orthodox View of Prayer

When St. Paul talks about prayer and participation in the Body of Christ, he is talking about something sensed and perceived inwardly.The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” Romans 8:16 This inner sensation awakened by the Holy Spirit makes up the patristic Tradition on prayer and worship.


1. Have a rule of prayer

Begin with a short rule for morning and evening.

Where do we begin?


What is a Rule of Prayer?Personal and individual - depends on your spiritual growth and living conditions.Determined by you, and confirmed (the rule, as well as any changes) — by your Spiritual Father.Once determined, the rule becomes a commandmentPurpose — To dispose the soul towards active association with God, to awaken repentant thoughts, and purify the heart of sinful corruption.We learn, by the words of the Apostle, "praying always with a! prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with a! perseverance and supplication for a! the saints" (Eph. 6:18).


Rule of Prayer

Should be recited at the same time each day. Be specific.


Daily CycleThe Evening Service of VespersIn the Orthodox Church the liturgical day begins in the evening with the setting of the sun. This practice follows the biblical account of creation, "And there was evening and there was morning, one day" (Genesis 1:5).

The Morning Service of Matins (Orthros)The Orthros Service is centered in thanksgiving for the coming of the true light of Christ and calls all to repentance by uniting the elements of morning psalmody and prayer with mediation on Biblical canticles, the Gospel reading, and the particular theme of the day in the given verses and hymns.

The Four Services of the Hours: the coming of the true light (First Sunrise) the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Third 9:00) the crucifixion and passion of the Lord (Sixth 12:00noon) and the death and burial of our Lord (Ninth 3:00)

The Compline ServiceIt is a service of psalms and prayers to read following the evening meal before one retires to sleep. It focuses on three things: thanksgiving for the day that has passed; protection for the ensuing night; and forgiveness of wrongs committed during the day.

The Midnight serviceThis service consists of psalms and prayers that are said in the middle of the night. This service focuses on the significant "middle" of the night events that are found in Scripture, the resurrection of our Lord and His Second Coming.


Rule of Prayer

Should not be excessive in length.

Should fit your schedule and able to be said in difficult times, when traveling or in deep distress.

I wi! repeat once again that the essence of prayer is the li'ing of the mind and heart to God; these little rules are an aid. We cannot get by without them because of our weakness. Theophan: From

The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It (Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1996), Ch. 47, pp. 204-209.


Time of Prayer

Begin with morning and evening. Then add times during the day.

How can you make time for this?


Place of PrayerWhere to you pray?

Rule should specify a private space for your prayer.Set up a small home icon stand.

Icons of Christ, Theotokos, and your patron SaintOil lamp or candleIncense burner CrossPrayer book and Bible


2. Incorporate standing, making the sign of the cross, prostrations, kneeling, reading and at times, singing, silence.

Where do we begin?


Sign of the Cross

put together the first three fingers of the right hand, which symbolizes Trinity. The other two fingers should be bent towards the palm signifying the descent of the Son of God to earth from Heaven - two fingers being the image of two natures of Christ.

First touch the forehead , then the belly near the solar plexus, then to the right and finally to the left shoulder .


Sign of the CrossSignifies Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection for our salvation.Forehead symbolizes Heaven; the stomach, the earth; the shoulders, the place and sign of power. The hand to the forehead may be seen as a prayer to the Father for wisdom; the hand to the stomach as a prayer to the Son who became incarnate; and the hand to the shoulders as a prayer to the Holy Spirit.Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on us.Marking the four points of the Cross on Calvary over one's body. Represents loving God with all one's heart, soul, mind and strength.


Sign of the CrossWhy right to left?

right hand signifies strength, skill, and dexterityright hand represents God’s almighty power, His omnipotence, particularly in bestowing salvation, deliverance, victory, and preservationalso signifies the position of honor, blessing, and preeminence - Jesus seated at the right hand of God.The Lord separated the sheep from the goats, putting the faithful sheep on His right side, and the goats on the left. The Church treats the right side as the preferred side.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the faithful crossed themselves from right to left until the 15th or 16th century. Catholic Encyclopedia


Sign of the Cross

Us as short prayer any time.

Most often made at the name of the Holy Trinity, to show reverence for Theotokos or a saint, holy object, or person, at the beginning or end of a prayer, to show humility or agreement.


http://orthodoxwiki.org/Holy_Trinity

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Holy_Trinity

Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Let the Cross be our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are sti!. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor's sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is (om God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a show of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are a(aid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the (eeness of the Gi'; but for this rather honor thy Benefactor. 4th Century "Catechetical Lectures: On Crucifixion and Burial of Christ," A Library of Fathers of the holy Catholic Church (Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1845), Vol. 34, Lecture XIII: 36, pp. 161-162.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem


Prostrations


3. Use the prayer books and read the prayers.

Where do we begin?


Beginning Prayer RulePlace: In the icon stand in the spare bed roomTime: 6:30am and 11:00pm for ~20 minutes each timeBegin by lighting a candle, and making three prostrations and then stand quietly to collect yourself in your heart

Trisagion PrayerOne of six Morning or Evening PsalmsIntercessions for the living and the deadPsalm 51 and confession of our sinfulnessCreedDoxology and the morning or evening prayerOccasional prayers from prayer book or private prayer.Jesus prayer - repeat 100 times.

Reflect quietly on the tasks of the day and prepare yourself for the difficulties you might face, asking God to help you.Dismissal prayerRemember to stop mid morning, noon and mid afternoon to say a simple prayer.Repeat the Jesus Prayer in your mind whenever you can throughout the day.Offer a prayer before and after each meal thanking God and asking for His blessing.


1. Begin with a short rule for morning and evening.

2. Incorporate standing, prostrations, kneeling , making the sign of the cross, reading and at times singing.

3. Use the prayer books and read the prayers.

4. Keep your awareness in the heart.

5. Once you establish a rule always fulfill it.

6. Work with your spiritual father.

Where do we begin?


HOW DO WE PRAY?

1st - Do not start to pray without brief preparation.

2nd - Do not perform your prayer carelessly.

3rd - Do not return to your usual occupations immediately.


1ST - PREPARATION

Stand, sit or walk for a while.Quiet your body and Steady your mind.Turn your mind away from all your worldly activities.Think about who God is - on who you will be addressing.Waken a feeling of humility and reverent awe.Prostrate yourself a few times.


2ND - DO NOT PRAY CARELESSLY

Have a rule of prayerMake sure you understand every word of the prayers. Learn them by heart.Concentrate the attention on words of prayer. Still the brain. When your mind wanders, recite again what you said while your mind was elsewhere.Enter into every word.Bring meaning down into your heart.


3RD - DO NOT GO ONTO SOMETHING ELSE IMMEDIATELY

Stand for a while.Consider to what this commits you.Hold in your heart what has been given to you to feel.“He who tastes sweetness does not then wish to taste something bitter.”


Based on the Book, The Path to Prayer: Four Sermons on Prayer by Saint Theophan the Recluse.

Whoever fulfi!s these rules wi! see the (uits of their efforts.


Intercessory PrayerPray for one another

pray for one another, that you may be healed. (James 5:16)

Family, friends and enemiesPray for the dead. Why?

In God all are alive.They are not to be deprived of spiritual nearness to those of us on earth.

Neither death nor life... sha! be able to separate us (om the love of God, which is in Christ our Lord (Rom 8:38-3)

All ancient liturgies attest to this in both the East and West.


Why Do We Pray to the Dead?

In praying for the deadWe pray for the forgiveness of sins for all who have died for no one is sinless.Prayer helps the seeds of a new life which our departed ones have taken up.Nothing can revive rotten seeds.Powerless are prayers for those who have died in impiety and without repentance.On earth we don’t know what lot one has been subjected to. A prayer of Love can never be profitless.

Those who are in heaven respond to our prayers with prayers for us.


Prayer with SaintsWho are the Saints?Based on the common conviction of the sanctity of the reposed confirmed by special testimonies.

MartyrdomFearless confession of faithSelf-sacrificing serviceGift of healingMiracles after death when person is remembered in prayer.


Prayer with SaintsThese the Lord call His friends

You are My (iends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I ca! you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have ca!ed you (iends, for a! things that I heard (om My Father I have made known to you.(John 15:14-15)

Those He has received in His heavenly mansions in fulfillment of His words: where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:3)

Instead of praying for forgiveness of their sin, we praise them for their struggles in ChristAsk them to pray for the remission of our sins and our spiritual growth, seeking help in our spiritual needs.


Prayer with Saints

They are near the Throne of GodThen I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, who praised the Lord. (Rev 5:11)

Communion in prayer with the saints is the realization of the bond between Christians on earth and the Heavenly Church. (Heb 12:22-23)


Prayers to the Theotokos

First and foremost among the saints Title "Theotokos," "God-bearer," to safeguard the identity of her Son as fully God and fully Man. She made our salvation possible. Why?She was chosen by God to bear His Son, but had to give her consent to this choice. She is called the "New Eve" (as Christ is the "New Adam") because, by her obedience, she lifted the curse that was laid on mankind through the disobedience of Eve.


Theotokos

Mary is greatly honored in the Orthodox Church, but in common with the other saints, she is not worshipped. Nor is she regarded as a mediator between God and man. She leads the Church in its intercession before God.


Theotokos

What do mean when we sing in the Liturgy, "Most Holy Theotokos, save us," ?We are not suggesting that Mary saves like Christ saves - salvation from death and damnation. We are asking Mary to protect us from the dangers of this earthly life through her prayers, just as we ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for us.


Theotokos

In icons, Mary is almost always depicted with Christ; in the most common pose, she holds the infant Christ in one arm and gestures toward him with the other hand, directing the believer's attention to Christ.


TheotokosBlessed Queen of the universe, you know that we sinners have no intimacy with God whom you have borne. But, putting our trust in you, through your intercessions we your servants prostrate ourselves before the Lord: for you can (eely approach Him since He is your son and our God. Thus I, too, unworthy believer that I am, entreat you, holy Queen, that I may be a!owed to perceive the gi's of grace bestowed on you and on the other saints, and to understand how you do display so many virtues. Simply your giving birth to the Son of God shows that you excel above a! other beings. For He Who, as creator of a!, knows a! things before they come into existence, found your womb worthy of His indwe!ing.From St. Peter of Damascus (Book 1 : A Treasury of Divine Knowledge, The Philokalia Vol. 3 edited by Palmer, Sherrard and Ware; Faber and Faber pgs. 129-130)


Orthodox Life

Baptism

Incarnation

Ascetic DisciplinesCommunion

Repentance

Final Judgment

Awaken

PrayerFastingStudy

Meditation

Grace

Will

Synergy

Theosis

Love GodLove neighbor

Fall

Paradise



Documents

8 prayer