190. Беседа о молитве с должным приготовлением

(Printed in the collections of 1844 and 1848) Before you even pray, prepare for yourself, and don’t be like a man, tempting the Lord. (Sir.18:23). How pleasant is the sight of a field covered with ears of corn, which the quiet wind sways, and the fullness of the fruit bends down: so pleasant is the sight of a Church filled with those praying, in whom the breath of the Spirit of God produces gentle movements of hearts, and whose piety, fruitful in them, bows before God and His Sacraments. I do not take this image from imagination, but from the Gospel. It, explaining itself and its action, likens the teaching of the seed, the preacher - to the sower, the listeners - to cultivated land, and those who believe - to cultivated and sown land, which “first brings forth grass, then grain, and also makes wheat into grain” (Mark 4:28). But I must admit that the same parable, which, like a clear mirror, enhances the pleasantness of what I see before me in the church, does not allow me to carelessly indulge in the pleasantness of this vision. “The earth first produces grass, then grain, and also produces wheat in grain.” So, there is not only grass without an ear because it is young; - there are souls that are still infancy in Christianity, and therefore do not bear spiritual fruit; but there is also a class without grain; - there are souls that have an external image of piety, without the inner strength of it. An ear without grain is like a full ear; the image of piety resembles true piety: how deceptive it is! The longer the ear is not filled with grain, the closer it is to the state of the final empty ear, in which nothing will be found for the granary; - the longer a person remains with one superficial image of piety, without being filled with the regenerating power of it, the closer he is to final rigidity in this state of spiritual sterility, in which nothing will be found suitable for the kingdom of heaven: how dangerous this is! And at the same time, this is what most inspires concern: the ear is not to blame if heaven and earth did not fill it with grain: but for a person to be filled with good fruits, for this Heaven is always ready with its beneficial influences; he himself is guilty if he neglects to attract them through faith, prayer, and complete surrender of himself to the influences of Heaven. “What should we do? I pray and call on the influence of Heaven. It is not in my power for my prayer to be fulfilled.” – Isn’t this what some, and perhaps many, think? In response to this, I offer Mudrago’s instruction on what is in our power so that our prayer is pleasing to God. “Before even praying, prepare for yourself, and do not become like a man, tempting the Lord.” There is nothing to be surprised if such a thing is not successfully done, which is started, as it happens, by luck. If you want to fight victoriously: prepare yourself by adequately arming yourself, and by learning to wield weapons skillfully. If you want to swim across a river, prepare to take off your clothes, which would bind you, weigh you down and plunge you into the depths. Similarly, if you want to pray with benefit and success: “before even praying, prepare for yourself.” But what might the preparation for prayer consist of? Shall we say: we must know God, not only as the One who created us in the beginning, but also as the One who cares for us daily, hourly? Shall we say: we must believe that God’s providence for us is accomplished not only through the laws given from God to the nature of all creatures, but also independently of the laws of nature, by the omnipotent and omnipotent will of God, that the will of God, out of love for mankind, bows to our will in order to fulfill it; that God not only allows, but also wants us to lift up our pure desires to Him in prayer? Shall we say: we must hope that despite our insignificance by nature, despite our unworthiness due to sin, God, in His infinite mercy, will not reject our prayer, as the immutable word of the Lord assures us: “If you are wicked and know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things, he will give the Holy Spirit, – to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13)? Shall we say: we must, according to the saying and example of David, “keep the Lord before us” (Ps. 15:8), with firm confidence imagine that God, invisibly, but really present during our prayer, sees us, hears us, tests our hearts in order to give us according to our hearts? All this should already be known to everyone who prays. These are preparatory dispositions for prayer, without which not only prayer cannot be successful, but there can hardly be prayer. There are still some preparations for prayer, the need for which may not be noticed or forgotten, without which prayer can begin and continue, but cannot have true and complete success. One of these preparations for prayer is forgiveness of enemies and reconciliation with all our neighbors, that is, with all people. For what do you say in that prayer, which cannot be alien to anyone, and in which nothing can be changed, because the image of prayer, given by the Lord Himself, without a doubt, is perfect in itself, and is appropriate for everyone who prays? – You say: “forgive us our debts, just as we forgive our debtors”; that is: forgive us our sins, just as we forgive everyone who offends us. If you say this without special attention, without first testing your heart, then it can easily happen that during your prayer, enmity or grief towards your neighbor will be hidden in it, and consequently the words of the mouth: as we forgive, so forgive us, from the state of the heart, of necessity, will receive a wrong meaning: as we do not forgive, so do not forgive us. To protect ourselves from this error, which obviously undermines the effect of prayer, we need to carefully test the peaceful disposition of our heart; one mental test of it is not reliable; Then only we can be sure that we, on our part, have completely reconciled with our neighbor, if by our deed we have done everything possible for us, so that reconciliation on his part is accomplished. This precaution, this preparation for prayer is so necessary that even a prayer begun without it, the Lord commands to stop and turn to preparation. “If,” he says, “you bring your gift to the Altar, and remember her, as if your brother had something against you: leave your gift before the Altar, and go first and reconcile yourself with your brother” (Matthew 5:23-24). Let us note how strict the commandment of reconciliation is. “Remember that your brother has something against you”: “this” sometimes happens so that you do not find any guilt in yourself against this brother. But the Lord does not exclude this case from the obligation to seek reconciliation before prayer: “When you go first, reconcile yourself with your brother.” What is the need for this severity? - another will ask. Why can’t I perform my prayer without worrying about how my brother is disposed toward me? – I can answer these questions simply: I don’t know. The commandment of the Lord will not lose any of its power. If your creditor offered you forgiveness of such a debt for which you could die in prison on the condition that you forgive an unimportant debt to your debtor: it would be crazy not to accept this easy and advantageous condition only because you do not understand why it is offered. Similarly, when God promises you forgiveness of sins for which you would be subject to eternal death, on the condition that you forgive your neighbor for some insult, reconcile with him after some misunderstanding: it would be crazy to deprive yourself of God’s great forgiveness, just because you do not understand why your small forgiveness to your neighbor, or reconciliation with him, is so urgently required. What is the need, you say, for this severity with which the feat of reconciliation is required of you? – The need is no small, just as God’s intentions are never small. This severity is mercy, and moreover, greater than you imagine. You want to be prosperous, and you want to pray about it. God wants more; He wants all His creatures to be prosperous, as long as they can accept it; Therefore, He wants you to be as prosperous as possible, but also your brother, who “has something on you”, and who is therefore restless, or, which is also not prosperous. If you, with love and humility, seek reconciliation with this unfortunate brother, then you will free his heart, into which enmity or annoyance has pierced, from this splinter; it will become calmer and purer than before; in this way you will be a servant of God's Providence in the cause of your brother's well-being. Do you see what an important and wonderful need requires from you the feat of reconciliation, and what kind of mercy lies in the severity of this demand? Why, you say, can’t I perform my prayers without worrying about how my brother is disposed towards me? - Because if you don’t care about a brother who “has something on you,” then you don’t care about the peace of his spirit, and the purity of his heart, and, consequently, about his well-being; if you don’t care about his well-being, then you don’t love him; “Do not love your brother,” according to the testimony of the beloved disciple of true love, “he remains in death” (1 John 3:14); a dead person cannot do anything; Consequently, you, being spiritually dead, because you do not love, cannot even complete the spiritual work of prayer, as you should. It is not love, which does not open your heart to your neighbor, that keeps it closed to God. Shed make peace with your brother; put a spark of pure love in your heart; this spark will help, may your prayer be corrected, like incense before God. Another important preparation for success in prayer is the perception of a sincere desire and firm intention to leave every sin to which we are subject and to live according to the will of God. “Turn to the Lord,” the Wise One teaches, “and leave your sins; pray before the face, and remove the stumbling blocks; Ascend to the Most High, and turn away from unrighteousness, and greatly hate abomination” (Sir.17:21-23). And the Apostle signifies the “foundation” of the spiritual building of God in man by this faithful distinctive and protective “seal”: that “everyone who names the name of the Lord will depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19). As if he said this: if you name the name of the Lord in confession, in invocation, in prayer, and retreat from unrighteousness; then in you there is a solid foundation, and a sure sign of a new, saved person, whom God creates by His grace from the old, perishing: and if you do not retreat with a decisive will from unrighteousness, then even though you call on the name of the Lord; your foundation is not firm, your sign is doubtful, and your prayer lacks power as much as it lacks purity. “He who turns away his ear from not listening to the law,” says Solomon in the parable, “he himself has detested his own prayer” (Proverbs 28:9). Therefore, it is not surprising if the Lord does not bow to such prayer with permission for what is asked, and even turns away from it. “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things I say” (Luke 6:46)? – The Prophet Isaiah, of course, having heard the complaints of the Jews about the failure of their prayers, this is how he admonishes them about the reason for this failure: “The hand of the Lord cannot save food?” Or have you grown so heavy that you cannot hear? But your sins separate you and God; and sin, for your sake, turn away its face from you, so as not to have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers are in sins, and your lips speak iniquity, and your tongue teaches iniquity” (Is. 59: 1-3). What hope do I have, the sinner will say, if the very prayer with which I want to ask for forgiveness of sin is not accepted by God? “I answer him: your hope is this very prayer, but combined with unchanging repentance, with a decisive abandonment of sin. – But how can I free myself from sin without the help of God’s grace, which I wish to acquire through prayer? – It is true that it is impossible to free yourself from sin without the grace of God: but it is not characteristic of God’s grace to free you from sin without your will; because grace does not want to force your will; does not want to take away from you the wonderful gift of freedom, which you used so badly, selling yourself into slavery to sin, for a fleeting and deceptive pleasure. Do your own little thing; and then pray, and grace will do its great work with you. Leave sin with a determined desire not to do it again: and then pray, and grace will in fact free you from its dominion. Leave free sin; and then pray, and grace will deliver and protect you from involuntary sin, and the involuntary sin you have committed will not hold you guilty. Leave sin in your heart - don’t love it, but hate it; leave sin in your mind - try not to think about its charms; and then pray; and grace will help you acquire a pure heart, a pure mind, a pure soul and body, a pure life. Whoever, without having previously prepared himself with such dispositions, begins to pray, who asks from God for mercies and blessings, without thinking about how not to offend Him tomorrow with the sins of which he is guilty before Him today: he in truth, as the Wise One explained, is “like a man who tempts the Lord.” For if, along with the words of the prayer, we were to turn into words what is hidden in the heart of the one praying without the desire for his own correction: what would it be? “Lord, forgive me the sins with which I have offended You, but I do not intend to stop such insults; fulfill my desire, but I do not promise to do Your will.” If someone were to address such speeches to an earthly ruler or judge: wouldn’t every sane person take this not as a request, but as a reckless attempt to drive one out of patience and irritate them? Moreover, he who stands before God with prayerful words on his lips and rebellious dispositions of his heart is a bold “tempter of the Lord,” to what extent can His long-suffering extend. It goes on for a very long time if such a prayer book is not struck by the justice of God. And from here, of course, it is still not very close to the grace-filled acceptance and fulfillment of prayer. Christian! “Do not be like a man who tempts the Lord.” Do not bring malice before the face of the All-Good, uncleanness before the face of the All-Pure. “Don’t even pray first, prepare for yourself.” Fill the lamp with oil so that it burns clearly and long. Fill your heart with peace so that your prayer is bright and constant. Quickly take care to remove from the spiritual censer the stench of an unclean and incorrigible life. Be faithful and thorough in these initial preparations for prayer, and the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of prayer, intercession for you with unutterable groanings, will guide you in the further completion of this spiritual work, so that you may bear the fruit of God, gathered into an eternal life. Amen. You might be interested in: