How to Learn to Pray
19th c. · Asceticism & Spirituality · English translation, 2026
Source edition: Как научиться молиться
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Contents
On church services
What hinders progress in prayer
- 27. On Idle Speech
- 28. To Progress in Prayer One Must Adorn the Heart With Virtues
- 29. Beware of Turning Toward Righteousness
- 30. One Must Establish in Oneself the Thought of One's Own Sinfulness
- 31. Do Not Measure Yourself
- 32. One Must Write Down One's Thoughts
- 33. One Must Hide One's Spiritual Labors
- 34. On the Same
What is chief in prayer
- 36. Remember That the Lord is Near
- 37. Infancy in Prayer
- 38. The Power is Not in the Form
- 39. On the Habit of Walking Before God
- 40. Remember God
- 41. Standing in the Heart With Attention Before the Lord
- 42. Above All, Care for Prayer-filled Feelings
- 43. How to Keep Your Thoughts and Feelings Turned Toward God
- 44. On the Importance of Attention to God
- 45. The Path to a Prayerful State
- 46. How to Rise to God in Thoughts
- 47. Become Accustomed to Walking in the Presence of God
- 48. Acquire the Unceasing Habit of Standing Before the Lord
- 49. The Labor of Remembering God
- 50. The Chief Thing in Prayer—feeling Toward God
- 51. On the Inner Fire
- 52. On the Burning of the Heart Toward the Lord
- 53. On Reverence and the Fear of God
- 54. Never Approach God Carelessly
- 55. The Test of All Prayer
- 56. What Should Be Sought Through Prayer
- 57. The Chief Thing in Prayer is the Arising of Reverent Feelings
- 58. On Prayer With Feeling
- 59. One Must Develop Prayer of the Heart
- 60. How to Teach the Soul to Turn Often to God
- 61. Meditation on God or the Jesus Prayer
On the labor of prayer
- 63. Force Yourself to Pray
- 64. When Prayer Does Not Go Well
- 65. Pray More Frequently and More Earnestly
- 66. Constrain Yourself by Force to Stand Before God
- 67. On Mercilessness to Oneself and Complete Surrender to God
- 68. Strive to Form a Wound in Your Heart
- 69. You Must Pray for a Long Time
- 70. If You Are Tired Toward Evening
- 71. How to Learn to Pray
- 72. You Must Pester the Lord
- 73. Unceasing Prayer—a Gift of Grace
- 74. A Pure Conscience and Labor Are Needed
- 75. On Prostrations, Attention, and Church Services
- 76. Prayer Never Goes to Waste
- 77. The Chief Thing—do Not Be Lazy and Always Pray From the Heart
On attention
- 79. For Success in Prayer You Must Attend to Yourself
- 80. On the Same Subject
- 81. Always Strive to Pray Well
- 82. The Mind Must Be Kept in the Heart
- 83. You Must Return Your Attention
- 84. Keep Your Attention on the Words of the Prayer
- 85. The Purpose of Short Prayers
- 86. On Prostrations and Distraction
- 87. Never Read Prayers Hastily
- 88. Recite Your Prayers Slowly
- 89. Make it a Law Not to Hurry
- 90. You Must Come Down With Your Attention Into the Heart
- 91. On the Fruits of Prayer
How to pray amidst many tasks
- 93. Establish Yourself in Attention Before God in the Morning
- 94. On Unceasing Prayer in Spirit
- 95. You Must Always Maintain Prayer
- 96. Prayer Through Deeds
- 97. On Prayer Without Words
- 98. Do Not Part With Prayer Amidst All Your Tasks
- 99. Do Not Be Weighed Down by Worldly Cares
- 100. How to Establish Home Prayer
- 101. When Weary From Conversation
How to perform your prayer rule
- 103. The First Way of Ascent in the Heart to God
- 104. On Prayer for Beginners
- 105. Beginners Should Pray From the Prayer Book
- 106. Without a Prayer Rule, Prayer is Not Complete
- 107. Preparation for Prayer
- 108. The Actual Performance of Prayer
- 109. Reading From a Book Greatly Scatters Attention
- 110. Read Less From Prayer Books
- 111. When to Perform the Evening Rule
- 112. What to Do in the Intervals Between Sleep
- 113. Do Not Count the End of Prayer as the End of Prayer
- 114. What to Do After Prayer
- 115. Can the Prayer Rule Be Shortened?
- 116. When it is Impossible to Read All the Rule
- 117. If We Cannot Sustain the Rule Due to Weakness
- 118. Never Bind Yourself to the Rule
- 119. The Rule Can Be Changed by Whoever Established It
How to compose your own rule
- 135. Beginning to Pray in Your Own Words
- 136. Example of a Prayer Rule
- 137. How to Compose Your Own Rule
- 138. How to Compose Your Prayer to the Lord
- 139. Another Example of a Prayer Rule
- 140. On Brief Prayers Instead of Reading From a Prayer Book
- 141. On the Prayers of Saint John Chrysostom
- 142. On Brief Prayers
- 143. On the Same Subject
- 144. On the Same Subject (144)
- 145. On the Same Subject (145)
- 146. On the Same Subject (146)
- 147. On the Same Subject (147)
- 148. On the Same Subject (148)
- 149. On the Same Subject (149)
- 150. On the Same Subject (150)
On spiritual indolence and coldness toward prayer
Counsels on the Jesus Prayer
- 161. Beginners Have No Need for a Jesus Prayer Rule
- 162. Endeavor to Acquire the Habit of Brief Prayer
- 163. The Jesus Prayer—flower and Fruit
- 164. The Vestibule to Prayer
- 165. The Straight Path in Prayer
- 166. The Jesus Prayer is Mighty Through the Name of the Lord
- 167. The Essence of the Jesus Prayer is in Meditation on God
- 168. The Essence of Prayer-work
- 169. The Goal of Prayer – to Warm the Heart With Love for God
- 170. On Zealous Prayer
- 171. Stand With Attention in Your Heart
- 172. The Words of Prayer – Not the Main Thing, but an Instrument
- 173. The Power of Prayer Lies Not at All in Words
- 174. On the Same Topic
- 175. A Good End – From God's Grace
- 176. How to Fulfill the Prayer Lesson
- 177. How to Learn the Jesus Prayer
- 178. The Jesus Prayer in Full and in Parts
- 179. On the Number of Prayers
- 180. On the Number of Bows
- 181. On Impulses Toward Prayer
- 182. Should You Pray the Jesus Prayer in the Church?
- 183. On the Prayer Rope
- 184. On the Impulse Toward Solitude and Silence
- 185. One Must Cast Out All Images
- 186. God Cannot Be Represented in Images
- 187. One Must Pray Without Images
- 188. In Prayer One Must Not Construct Images
- 189. Drive Away All Images
- 190. What Images You Must Fear
- 191. On Spiritual Delusion
- 192. On Bodily Weakness From Prayer
- 193. On Heaviness Appearing in the Head
- 194. On Irritability
- 195. On Physical Sensations During Prayer
- 196. On Artificial Methods of Prayer
- 197. On External Methods of Prayer
- 198. On Mechanical Methods of Performing Prayer
- 199. On Methods in Prayer and the Gift of Grace
- 200. On the Artistic Form of Practicing Prayer
- 201. On External Methods of Performing the Jesus Prayer
- 202. Prayer is Salvation; Artistry is Harm
- 203. The Danger is Not the Jesus Prayer, but the Artistry
- 204. On the Quirks of Practitioners of the Jesus Prayer
- 205. On the Same
- 206. On Spiritual Warmth and Physical Warmth
- 207. Degrees of Prayer
- 208. More on the Degrees of Prayer
- 209. The Jesus Prayer, Spoken, Noetic, and Prayer of the Heart
- 210. The Jesus Prayer, Noetic Prayer, and Noetic Practice
- The Author: Saint Theophan the Recluse