When to Perform the Jesus Prayer in Church and When to Pray the Common Prayer

You ask: should one force the mind to perform the Jesus Prayer in church, when the soul is at peace, calm, and when the mind in this silence attends to what is read and sung? One should stand in the presence of God and in feeling toward God, whatever you are doing… So also in church… This prayer enlivens and sustains attention to God with corresponding feelings. (8, 227)

During worship you must attend to the service, standing in attention where the Jesus Prayer is being offered. And when something is read or sung unclearly, then pray this prayer.

How should you be in church—pray silently with your own prayer, or listen to what is being read and sung? Heat up your inner prayer and listen while doing so… Prayer within is like a stove, and listening is like adding logs to the stove… But if listening breaks your inner prayer, it is better to remain with your own prayer; though on the Liturgy you must follow the service with both mind and heart. Here is something else to remember: we gather in church for common prayer, so that mind, feeling, and voice are one for all of us—otherwise we won’t receive what the Lord promised when two or three pray together.