Chapter 50

On the Imagelessness of Noetic Prayer

^50.2.1 In your last letter you mentioned the action of the Jesus Prayer in everything. May the Lord bless this good beginning! In the practice of this prayer there should be no image mediating between the intellect and the Lord, and the words that are spoken are not the main thing but rather the means. The main thing is noetic standing before the Lord in the heart. That is noetic prayer, not words. The words here are the same as the words of any other prayer. The essence of noetic prayer lies in walking before God; And walking before God is an unwavering conviction that God, being everywhere, is also within you, and sees all that is within you—indeed, sees it even more clearly than you see it yourself. This awareness of God’s eye looking within you should likewise have no form; rather, it should consist entirely in a simple conviction or feeling. When someone is in a warm room, he feels how the warmth envelops him and penetrates him. The same thing should happen in our spiritual inner man from the omnipresent and all-encompassing God, who is fire. The words: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me,” are indeed an instrument, not the essence of the work itself, but an instrument of great power and manifold efficacy; For the name of the Lord Jesus is terrible to the enemies of our salvation and a blessing to those who seek Him. Do not forget that this work is simple and has no peculiarities, and should have none. Pray to the Lord about everything, to the Most Pure Sovereign Lady and to your Guardian Angel, and they will teach you all things—either directly or through others.