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And so that you know that when we ourselves are negligent, then, even if the righteous or the prophets were our intercessors, there is no benefit to us (their virtue is revealed, of course, in this case, but it will not be of any benefit to us because of our own bad life), here - listen to how the God of all speaks to the prophet Jeremiah, sanctified from the womb [mother]: do not pray for this people, for I will not hear you ( Jer. 7:16). Notice the Lord’s love for mankind: He warns the prophet about this so that he, not being heard in his prayers, would not think that this happened because of his own guilt. That is why he reveals to him in advance the wickedness of the people and forbids him to pray [for them], so that the prophet himself would know their [the Jews’] extreme wickedness, and they would learn that the prophet will not help them at all if they themselves do not want to do their job. Knowing this, beloved, we will, of course, resort to the intercession of the saints and ask them to pray for us, but we will not rely only on their intercession, but we ourselves will properly fulfill our duties and take care of our correction, so that the intercessions [of the saints] for us do not lose their power. (1) The Scripture will tell you about the barrenness of Rebekah and that only through the prayer of the righteous man did she begin to give birth to children, so it wants to depict to you all the strength of Isaac’s patience and accurately indicate the time during which he was childless, so that we, imitating the righteous man, would also be persistent in prayers to God when we ask him for something. This righteous man, so virtuous and so favored by God, showed such great zeal and fortitude in constantly begging God to resolve Rebekah's barrenness. What will we say, burdened with many sins and not revealing in ourselves the slightest share (of the virtues) of the righteous? And when some zeal appears in us for a short time, then we become embarrassed and retreat from the feat if we are not heard immediately. Therefore, I convince you: learning from the events in the life of this righteous man, we will never stop begging God for mercy on our sins; let us show fiery zeal and not be impatient, we will not become lazy if we are not immediately heard. Perhaps the Lord hesitates, thereby teaching us unremitting diligence [in prayer], and wants us to receive a reward for our patience. He also knows the time when it is useful for us to get what we want. But we ourselves do not know what is good for us, as He, who guides the most secret thoughts of everyone, knows. Therefore, we should not experience much, speculate much about what comes from God, but express our gratitude to Him for everything and be amazed at the virtues of the righteous (1). Let us learn that, when we undertake something, whether we undertake any business or go on a journey, first of all we offer a prayer sacrifice to the Lord and, only after asking for His help, begin the undertaking and, thus, imitate the piety of the ancient righteous. He brought, it is said, sacrifices to God of his father Isaac, so that it could be seen that he was following in the footsteps of his father, and he showed this in serving God, like Isaac. And as he himself previously showed his gratitude to God with a prayer of gratitude, signs of the Divine favor immediately followed. Considering the distance of the journey and looking at his old age, he was afraid that sudden death would deprive him of the joy of seeing his son, and therefore he prayed to the Lord to continue his life so that he could enjoy perfect joy. And look how good God encourages the righteous. “God said to Israel in a vision at night: Jacob! Jacob! He said: here I am. God said: I am God, the God of your father; Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation; I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring you back. Joseph will cover your eyes with his hand” (Gen. 46:2, 4). This is how the Lord promises the righteous what he desired, and even more. His generosity often exceeds our desires due to His characteristic love for mankind. “Do not be afraid,” he says, “to go to Egypt.” Since [Israel] was afraid of the distance of the journey, God says to him: do not look at the weakness of old age: “there I will make you a great nation; I will go with you to Egypt.” I myself will accompany you and arrange everything for you. Notice the [Divine] condescension in the words: “I will go with you to Egypt.” What could be more blessed? in order to have God himself as a companion? And then came the consolation that the elder especially needed: “Joseph will close your eyes with his hand.” He, your beloved, will prepare your body for burial and lay his hands on your eyes. Now imagine with what complacency the righteous man made the journey, having received such a certificate from the Divine promise. “Jacob and all his family went with him,” it says, “and they took... all their property... and came to Egypt” (Gen. 46:5, 6). Jacob went down into Egypt with sixty-six souls; and Joseph and his sons who were with him were the ninth, so that together with Joseph there were seventy-five souls (see Gen. 46:26, 27). Why did Divine Scripture show us the number of persons with such accuracy? So that we can see how God’s prophecy to Jacob was fulfilled: there I will make of you a great nation. From these seventy-five souls the descendants of Israel expanded to six thousand. You see how it was not in vain and not without purpose that Scripture showed us the number of those who migrated to Egypt, but so that we could see from what small number what great number [of souls] came, and so that, looking at this, we would always believe the divine promises. When you think how, after the death of Jacob and Joseph, the king of Egypt used all his efforts to reduce their offspring and prevent them from multiplying, but he did not succeed in this, and [the family of Jacob] increased and increased more and more, then be surprised and amazed at the Providence of God and [know] that what He has determined cannot fail to be fulfilled, even if someone comes up with thousands of obstacles (1). This is how Christ commanded to pray in the Gospel: telling his disciples not to pray like the pagans and not to say unnecessary things (see Matt. 6:7), He also gave us a model of prayer, teaching that to be heard [by God] does not depend on a multitude of words, but on the vigilance of the soul. But, someone will say, if you need to pray in a few words, then how did He, as proof of the need to pray unceasingly, tell a parable about how there was one widow who, through the persistence of her request and her frequent coming, softened a cruel and inhuman judge who had neither the fear of God nor shame before people? (see Luke 18:3 et seq.). Just as Paul exhorts, saying: “Be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12) and again: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). After all, saying a few words and praying unceasingly contradicts one another. It does not contradict at all - yes, it will not - on the contrary, one thing is very consistent with the other. Both Christ and Paul commanded short and frequent prayers with short intervals. If you pronounce words for a long time, often doing it without paying attention, you will give the devil great freedom to approach you, create feats and distract your thoughts from the words you are saying. And if you say constant and frequent prayers, spending all your time repeating [them] frequently, then you can easily maintain your attention and you will perform the very prayers with great vigilance. She did the same, uttering few words, but constantly and repeatedly falling to God. And when the priest stopped her mouth (this is the meaning of the words: “her lips only moved, and her voice was not heard” (1 Samuel 1:13)), she was forced to submit to the priest and stop praying. Thus her voice was blocked, but her desire was not blocked; on the contrary, her heart cried out the more powerfully within. This is especially prayer when cries are heard from within; This is especially characteristic of a suffering soul - to say a prayer not with the strain of the voice, but with the aspiration of the mind. This is how Moses prayed. When he said nothing, God said to him, “Why are you crying out to Me?” (Ex. 14:15). People hear only the sound of the voice, but God first hears the inner cry. This way you can be heard without saying words; and walking around the square, you can pray mentally with great zeal; and sitting with friends, and doing whatever it is, call on God with a great cry - I mean an internal cry - without making it known to anyone present (1). It is impossible for a person who prays with due diligence and constantly calls on God to ever fall into sin. And I’ll tell you why this is so. Whoever inflamed his mind, aroused his soul, moved to heaven and thus called the Lord his own; whoever, remembering his sins, talks with Him about their forgiveness and prays to Him to be merciful and meek, he, indulging in such a conversation, puts aside all worldly cares, takes inspiration and becomes above human passions. If he sees an enemy after prayer, he will no longer look at him as an enemy; whether a beautiful woman, he will not be tempted at the sight of her, because the flame kindled by prayer still remains inside him and drives away every unprofitable thought. But since it is common for us as people to fall into carelessness, when an hour, two, three passes after prayer, and you see that the heat aroused in you is ready to cool little by little, rush immediately to prayer again and warm your cooled soul. And if you do this throughout the whole day, with frequent repetition of prayers warming the very spaces between them, then you will not give the devil access and entry into your thoughts. When, starting dinner, we see that the water heated for drinking has cooled down, we again put it on the fire so that it heats up as quickly as possible; Let us do the same here: let us lay our lips on prayer, as if on hot coals, and thus again inflame our souls to reverence. Let us also imitate the house builders. When they build [a building] from brick, without relying on the strength of this material, they connect the building with long logs, and they place them not at a large, but at a small distance from each other, so that by frequently laying these logs, the connection between the bricks becomes stronger. Do the same: transform all your everyday affairs into frequent prayers, like ties made of logs, and thus protect your life from all sides. If you do this, then, even if countless winds blow, even if temptations, sorrows, any bitter thoughts or any kind of misfortune come, they cannot overthrow this house, held together by such frequent prayers. But, you say, is it possible for a secular person, busy with services, to pray for three hours a day and come to church? Perhaps, and quite easily. And when you can’t come to church, then you can pray without leaving your service, standing there, in front of the doors. After all, prayer requires not so much a word as a thought, not so much a movement of the hands as a tension of the soul, not so much a certain position of the body as a disposition of the spirit (1). Arise bitterly, remember your sins, look up to heaven, say with your mind: have mercy on me, God, and your prayer is over. Whoever said: have mercy, confessed and acknowledged his sins, because it is common for those who have sinned to desire mercy. Whoever said: have mercy on me received remission of sins, because he who has mercy is not punished. Whoever said: have mercy on me has received the Kingdom of Heaven, because God, whoever has mercy, not only frees him from punishment, but also rewards him with future blessings. Let us not say in our defense that the house of prayer is not near: the grace of the Spirit has made us ourselves churches of God, if only we are vigilant; therefore [to pray] is very easy for us everywhere. Our worship is not the same as the previous one among the Jews, which had a lot of sensual elements and was surrounded by many rituals. There, the worshiper had to: come to the church, and buy a turtledove, and bring wood and fire, and take a knife, and stand before the altar, and fulfill many other orders. Here [you don’t need] anything like that, but wherever you are, there is an altar, a knife, and a sacrifice with you, because you yourself are a priest, an altar, and a sacrifice. Wherever you are, you can build an altar, just show a vigorous will, and neither place nor time will hinder you; no, even though you do not bend your knees, do not beat your chest, and do not stretch out your hands to the sky, but only show your ardent soul, you will thereby fulfill everything [necessary for] prayer. It is also possible for a wife, sitting at a spinning wheel or engaged in weaving, to turn her mind to heaven and fervently call on God. It is also possible for a husband to perform fervent prayers when going out to the square or while going about his business. For another, sitting in a workshop and sewing leather, [one can] lift up the soul to the Lord. A servant can, while shopping, going up and down, and working in the kitchen, perform sincere and fervent prayer. God does not disdain space; He requires only a fiery heart and a humble soul. And in order to convince you that [for prayer] what is required is not a [known] position of the body, place or time, but a good and cheerful thought, [listen to how] Paul, lying prostrate in prison, and not standing upright, as he prayed with zeal, lying down, shook the prison and shook its foundation, frightened the prison guard and then led him to the Holy Sacrament. Also, Hezekiah, not standing upright and not bending his knee, but lying on the bed due to illness and turning to the wall, with fervor and a humble soul called on God and thereby canceled the sentence that had already been pronounced and attracted great favor [of God], and restored himself to his former health. And this happened not only to saints and great men, but also to wicked ones. Thus, the thief, not standing in the house of prayer, not bending the knee, but being prostrate on the cross, acquired the Kingdom of Heaven with a few words. One in the mud and in a ditch, another in a ditch and with animals, the third even in the belly of a whale, calling on God, they stopped all disastrous circumstances and attracted the highest favor to themselves. I say this to convince you to come to church more often, and at home to pray in silence in your free time, and, kneeling and raising your hands, if at any time or in any place you find yourself among many other people, then you do not need to abandon ordinary prayers, but in the same way as I told your love, pray and call on God, in the hope of receiving no less benefit from such prayer (1). Just as a strong tree, which has taken very deep roots into the earth and clasped its bowels, resists every gust of wind, and a tree that stays on the surface shakes with a small breath of wind, is uprooted and falls to the ground, so similarly prayers, emanating from the depths of the soul and having a root in its depths, remain strong and unflagging and do not waver, even if countless thoughts and an ever-increasing horde of the devil; and prayers that come from the mouth and tongue, but do not originate from the depths of the soul, cannot even ascend to God due to the carelessness of the person praying, because the slightest knock disturbs him and any noise distracts him from prayer, his lips make a sound, but his heart is empty and his mind is not occupied. The saints did not pray this way, but with such zeal that the whole body bowed. Blessed Elijah, preparing to pray, firstly, sought solitude; then, placing his head between his knees and igniting great ardor within himself, he thus performed prayers (see 1 Kings 18:42). If you want to see him standing upright in prayer, then look again at him, when he turned to heaven and prayed with such intensity that he brought down fire from above (see 1 Kings 18:36). Also, when he wanted to resurrect the widow’s son, he prostrated himself and accomplished this resurrection, without scattering or yawning, like us, but inflamed with zealous prayer (2). The power of prayer is always great; but if prayer is combined with fasting, it makes the soul even stronger. Nowadays we have a special purity of thoughts; Now the mind is excited and the soul contemplates everything above. That is why Scripture always connects prayer with fasting. How and when? “Do not deviate,” it says, “from one another, except by consent, for a time, to practice fasting and prayer” (1 Cor. 7:5); and in another place: “this generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21); and in another place: “having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them” (Acts 13:3) (3). Prayer, beloved, has great power, making the impossible possible for people. Moses prayed and dried up the sea, and led the Jews through a flowering meadow. Joshua prayed and turned back the streams of the Jordan, and what was written was fulfilled: What is the matter with you, O sea, that you fled? and what is the matter with you, Jordan, that you have turned back? (Ps. 113:5). Elijah, who ascended in the chariot, prayed and closed the clouds that brought rain, and then again released them with his prayer. The same Elijah prayed and gave the poor widow flour and oil every day according to the measure of her faith. His disciple Elisha prayed - and the Somanite woman, who was previously barren, contrary to hopes, gave birth to a son. Daniel prayed and overthrew Bel, killed the serpent and taught the lions to look at the sky. The three youths prayed in the oven - and the burning flame of the oven was extinguished. Hezekiah prayed and, having healed his illness, averted death and increased his life span by fifteen years. Jonah prayed - and the whale became meek and accepted him in its belly for three days to show that there was refuge for saints even in the abysses of the sea. Pious Tobit prayed and received light from the hand of an Angel. Sarah, daughter of Raguil, prayed in Ecbatana - and put to flight the demon, the destroyer of husbands. Silas and Paul prayed while in prison, and the earth shook, the doors of the prison opened and the iron chains of the shackles fell apart, and all those held in bondage were free. Peter prayed and raised Tabitha from the dead. The same Peter prayed in Rome - and threw down Simon, who was flying through the air, and at the same time did not allow the Romans to beat him. Prayer raises the dead, drives away demons, heals diseases, resolves death. O prayer, giver of life, treasury of health, flower of hope (3). Do not put off prayer until Sunday or a holiday, do not choose a place for it. Deity is not limited to place: “In His hand are the depths of the earth” (Ps. 94:4). Therefore, the prophet David, praying every day and every night, did not distinguish either the day or the place, but with tears he said and urged himself: “in all the places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, my soul!” (Ps. 103:22). So you, beloved, do not wait for a certain hour or day, do not be embarrassed by the place, but, as has already been said, in every place - pray at home, and when you come to church, pray, and wherever you have to pray, in every place of His dominion. “Listen to this, all you who live in the world” (Ps. 48:2), “the rich as well as the poor” (Ps. 48:3), men and women, crowds of people, young men and maidens, old and young, kings of the earth and all the judges of the earth, listen to what is written: “the time is short, so that those who have wives must be as those who have not” (1 Cor. 7:29). “Having renounced ungodliness and worldly lusts, live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age, awaiting the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12, 13) (9). Kneel, sigh, pray to your Lord to be merciful to you; He especially bows [to mercy] with night prayers, when you make the time of rest a time of weeping. Remember the king, as he said: I am weary because of my groanings, every night I wash my bed, I water my bed with my tears (Ps. 6:7). Whatever pleasures you have, you will have no more; no matter how rich you are, you will not be richer than David. But he says in another place: “At midnight I rose to praise You for Your righteous judgments” (Ps. 119:62). Then vanity does not bother you; and how (can it bother you) when everyone is sleeping and does not see? Then laziness and carelessness do not attack; and how [can they attack] when so much excites the soul? After such all-night vigils, there are pleasant dreams and wonderful visions. This do it also, husband, and not just the wife. Let the house become a Church, composed of husbands and wives. Do not consider the fact that you are only one husband and that she is only one wife to be an obstacle. “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). And where Christ is present, there is a great multitude; Where Christ is, there are necessarily Angels, Archangels, and other powers. Therefore, you are not alone when the Lord of all is with you. And also listen to what the prophet says: “Better is one righteous man than a thousand sinners” (Sir. 16:3). There is nothing more powerless than many sinners, and nothing stronger than one living according to the law of God. If you have children, then raise the children too, and let the whole house become a Church during the night; if they are young and cannot bear being awake, then [let them listen to] at least one prayer or two, and they will calm down; only you get up, only you make it a habit. There is nothing more beautiful than a dwelling in which such prayers are performed. Listen to what the prophet says: I remembered You on my bed, in the morning hours I thought about You (Ps. 63:7). This is an excuse and a pretext; no matter how much you work, you will not work harder than a coppersmith, who lowers such a heavy hammer from a great height, splashes sparks, is saturated with smoke all over his body and, however, spends most of the night doing this. And you wives know, when you need to go to the field or come to a night meeting, that they spend the whole night there without sleep. So let you also have a spiritual forge, to build not cauldrons and frying pans, but your soul, which is much better than any work made of copper and gold. Throw her, outdated from sins, into the furnace of repentance; strike it from a great height with a hammer, that is, confession of sins; ignite the fire of the Spirit. Your art is much better. You are not fashioning golden vessels, but a soul more precious than all gold, just as a forger of copper makes his work. You are not preparing a material vessel, but you are freeing the soul from all worldly cares. Let a lamp stand before you, not this burning one, but the one that the prophet had with him when he said: “Your law is a lamp for my feet” (Ps. 119:105). Inflame your soul with prayer; if you see that she has enough [fire], then take her out [from this crucible] and arrange her as you want. Believe me, it is not so much fire that destroys the rust [of metal], as night prayer that destroys the rust of our sins. Let us be ashamed, if not of anyone else, then of the night guards. They, in obedience to human law, go around during the cold, shouting loudly and walking through the streets, often in the rain and numb [from the cold], for you, for your safety and for the protection of your property. He provides such care for your property, but you do not [provide] even for your soul. And besides, I do not force you to walk, like him, in the open air, nor to scream loudly and strain yourself; but, being in the same dwelling, in the same bedroom, kneel down and turn to the Lord in prayer. Why did Christ himself stay on the mountain all night (see Luke 6:12)? Is it not in order to set an example for us? Then the plants regain their strength, that is, during the night; then especially the soul absorbs the dew even more. What is caught in the sun during the day is refreshed at night. Night tears, better than any dew, descend on wishes and on any ardent kindling, and do not allow anything harmful to be tolerated. If she does not feed on this dew, she will be burned during the day (10). You might be interested in: