Chapter 46

How to Rise to God in Thoughts

You began to pray with short prayers and then stopped. If you had not stopped, the work would have gone far; now you must start again. True prayer is what comes directly from the heart and rises to God. And no other prayer is prayer if it is not such. This should be your entire concern in the work of prayer. But usually our mind is clogged with many non-divine thoughts, our will—with many worldly cares, our heart—with earthly sympathies and pleasures; therefore, to rise directly to God for us is like struggling out of quicksand. Little short prayers are a very helpful aid to this. They train the mind to hold to one thing; gradually they draw sympathy to their side and draw it away from cares. This action appears more strongly and quickly if you look over them with attention not only during your rule but at other times. The final fruit is the formation of a feeling toward God, which is inseparable from unceasing prayer, or is the same thing as it. Here there is a living union with God—the goal of spiritual life.

“Right after waking there is often a swift flood of thoughts and cares and sympathies.” You must destroy this and acquire the habit—to dedicate your first thought to God. This is done through meditation on God. This seems to have been discussed. Namely—go through all the holy truths according to the Creed, down to the General Judgment and the decision of the fate of all.

Please observe these two approaches, and all will be well. Add to this—turn from evil and do good in word, deed, and thought. That is the whole program.

Write this on a slip of paper and read it often: upon waking—meditation on God; then short prayers with attention and feeling, and throughout the day: turn from evil and do good (Cf.: Ps. 33:15). Do every deed—even the smallest—in the best way possible, as before the eye of God.

(Letter 192, vol. 1, p. 235–236)