Chapter 39

On the Habit of Walking Before God

Prayer is an inward work. Everything that is done externally in prayer does not belong to the substance of the matter but is only external setting. Everything that appears good from this outwardness only seems good and is not truly so. Therefore you should not pay any attention to it.

What you are doing is better left alone. The chief thing in which you must exercise yourself is the remembrance of God, or walking in the presence of God. Strive to acquire the habit of always being in the consciousness and feeling that you are under the eye of God, which penetrates all the depths of your heart and sees all your inward movements.

The Jesus Prayer stands among the means for succeeding in the habit of walking before God.

Everything that needs to be known about practicing this prayer is found in the book on invisible warfare. Look there. The chief thing here is to stand with attention in your heart and cry out to the omnipresent Lord. It is better to stand than to sit. About breathing, the position of your head, and other such things, it is better not to think at all; turn all your attention instead to the inward state.

The root of good inner state is the fear of God. You must make it constant. It will keep everything in tension and will not allow your body or thoughts to become slack, creating a vigorous heart and watchful mind.

But you must always remember and feel that success in spiritual life and in all its manifestations is the fruit of God’s grace. Spiritual life entirely comes from the Most Holy Spirit of God. We have our own spirit, but it is powerless. It comes into operation when grace overshadows it.

(Letter 895, vol. 5, p. 162–163)