The Primary Occupation of One Who Has Entered the True Path—Prayer. Guidance on Undistracted Prayer

How accurate is your conclusion: “So it turns out that everything depends on prayer!” Yes, on prayer. Prayer is the spiritual barometer of self-observation. A barometer determines how heavy or light the air is, and prayer shows how high or low our spirit moves in its turning toward God. And do pray, as you have begun. Stand before your icons more frequently throughout the day and make several bows each time—from the waist and to the ground. To fall on your knees and prostrate yourself is even better. After all, no one sees you but the Lord. Morning and evening prayers proceed in their proper order. At those appointed hours more is needed—as much as you have set for yourself; but in these frequent turnings to the Lord, a little at a time—yet not in the way one ordinarily greets an acquaintance: a nod of the head, and that’s enough. Zeal, however, will teach everything, and do keep it kindled by every means.

But never forget that the essence of prayer is the lifting of the mind and heart to God, for God is everywhere. And the holy Prophet taught his soul: ”In every place of His dominion, bless the Lord, O my soul!” (Ps. 102:22). What is most capable of disposing one toward this, as I have already written, is the remembrance of God—and you added something even better: love for God. May the Lord bless you to this—to exclusive love for the Lord. But the path even to the love of the Lord is the remembrance of Him, with deepening meditation upon His divine attributes and works. One must accustom oneself to the remembrance of God, and the means to this, as I have written, is the brief prayer repeated ceaselessly in the mind: “Lord, have mercy! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” You have already begun it—continue; while sitting, walking, doing something or speaking, at every occasion and at every moment keep in mind that the Lord is near, and cry to Him from your heart: “Lord, have mercy!”

You say that your thoughts wander. It cannot happen all at once; you must labor until the habit of abiding steadfastly within the heart before the Lord is established. I think I have already told you: whenever you notice that your thoughts have scattered, bring them back, and never allow them to wander deliberately and consciously. This is not to be done only during prayer, but at all times. Make it a rule for yourself: always to be with the Lord in mind and heart, not to let your thoughts wander, and as soon as they stray, to bring them back again and make them sit at home, in the chamber of the heart, conversing with the most sweet Lord. Having established such a rule, compel yourself to fulfill it faithfully, rebuke yourself for violations, impose penalties upon yourself, and ask the Lord to help you in this most necessary work. If you labor zealously, you will soon succeed. The conditions of success are as follows: 1) uninterrupted and constant practice of this work—not beginning and stopping, beginning and stopping, but rather: once begun, keep going until success comes. In every endeavor, success depends on the constancy of the labor; 2) for this to happen, one must arm oneself with patience and self-compulsion. Laziness will come, the desire to relax, even doubt as to whether it is necessary to do this—drive all of this away, and compel yourself to the task as you have determined; 3) for this also to happen, animate yourself with hope and trust that the Lord, seeing your labor in prayer and the zeal with which you seek to acquire the habit of it, will in the end grant you prayer—and it, having become established in the heart, will spring forth from there of itself like a living stream. This most blessed fruit is the fruit of prayerful labor! The expectation of it has animated all who pray, and its attainment has been for them the source of unceasing spiritual blessedness, rejoicing, and peace of heart in God. Oh, may the Lord grant you this fruit! But He will not grant it without labor—constant, self-compelled, patient, and hopeful labor. Take courage!

I am sending you on this subject the booklet “Letters on the Spiritual Life”[1], which is entirely directed toward helping to establish the mind in the heart through attentiveness to the Lord and a prayerful disposition. For to prayerful labor one must also match the reading of such books or articles as speak entirely of prayer and prayerful states.

The more you become established in the remembrance of God—that is, in the mind’s standing before God in the heart—the more your thoughts will settle and wander less. Inner ordering and progress in prayer go together.

Recall what was said from the very beginning of these letters about our spirit.[2] This is precisely its restoration to its proper rights. When this is restored, then the active, vital re-fashioning of soul, body, and outward relations—toward purification—will begin. And you will become a genuine human being.