Chapter 130

On the Prayer Rule and Prostrations

Take a prayer rule for yourself—whichever you wish: for morning, for evening, sometimes for day. Put it all in prostrations, with your personal prayer, that is, in your own simple words lay out before God the needs of your heart. And it is better not to set a number of prostrations or a time. Pray, doing prostrations, as long as your heart requires, and don’t contradict it; for the enemy will come, saying: “That’s enough, you’ve already prayed a lot.”

Bodily labor humbles, fills the intervals, and doesn’t let thoughts wander. It is good to replace it with prostrations—this is the best labor. But can you always do this?

(Letter 291. Vol. 2, p. 146–147)