Chapter 168

The Essence of Prayer-work

Labor! Do well, do well! Toil earnestly and with humility. And the Lord will not abandon your labor. Do not forget that you must not confine yourself to the mechanical repetition of the words of the Jesus Prayer. This leads nowhere except to the mechanical habit of repeating this prayer with your tongue while not even thinking about it. And this is not bad, of course. But it constitutes the very outermost edge of this work.

The essence of the matter is a conscious standing in the presence of the Lord with fear, faith, and love. This disposition is possible even without words. It is this that must first be restored in your heart. Then the words will follow, to hold your attention on this one thing and to deepen those feelings and affections.

(Letter 321, vol. 2, pp. 194–195)