When praying in church or in a cell, you need to dress yourself from head to toe, as it were, with a robe of guilt before God, and impute yourself to a babbling child and then say to God: “Lord, bless me to offer prayers and supplications to Your Compassion for my unworthiness and for all my relatives, both living and deceased (name of the rivers), for whom You died on the cross”; and then read the prayers slowly, as if in the ear of the Holy Spirit. We must also pray about prayer itself. In the same way, turn to God before reading Holy Scripture. And when you approach the Holy Chalice for Communion, then do not think anything about your sins, but just say to yourself (mentally): “Lord, I am not worthy of Your sweet Communion, but I believe that You will merit me”; and then open the doors of your mouth wide, with reverent attention and living faith that Christ Himself communes you invisibly to people, but in reality it is so, although visible by a priestly or bishop's hand. Moreover, after Holy Communion one must kiss the upper edge of the Holy Chalice, as if the very rib of Christ, from which the Holy Blood flowed.
Whether you are washing linen, or anything else, or cleaning any object, say to yourself (mentally): Lord, cleanse the filth of my soul! Also, when you begin to drink or eat after the usual prayer, think about how the Lord our God tasted our bile and ocet for the sake of salvation, and offers us all good things! In this way you will humble your proud thoughts and sigh and thank the Lord who suffered for us! As you lie down on your bed or crib, say to yourself mentally: Our Lord and God did not have anywhere to lay our heads, but He gave us every comfort. When you wake up during sleep, cross yourself, and when you get up from your sleep, say to yourself: Glory to You, who showed us the light! As you begin to put on your shoes, say in your mind: Lord bless, Lord help! When putting on the clothes that are characteristic of you, say to yourself (mentally): Lord, enlighten the robe of my soul and save me! When you start to wash yourself, be sure to cross yourself to drive away the enemy’s actions through the watery nature that comes.
As you begin to remove the hair from your head, remember how the Roman soldiers tormented our Savior for His pure hair when they led Him to be crucified, and then say: Glory to Your Passion, Lord! If you see a beautiful object worthy of our Creator and Provider of His creation, glorify the Creator of all! Before leaving your room, read mentally: It is worthy to eat... until the end, and also, when you come back, read the same prayer. When leaving a room (or cell) you grab the door handle, read the prayer mentally: Doors of Mercy... to the end. So, always, with every visible object, switch (mentally) to the invisible name of God. Here, in part, only examples are given; whoever with diligence undertakes to fulfill them, the grace of the Holy Spirit will teach him how to relate to every (without exception) subject and do everything for the glory of God, with appropriate thoughts and feelings, i.e. movements of the soul: either glorifying, or grateful, or repentant, or self-deprecating; This kind of movement of the soul is already prayer, as St. Basil the Great.
Thus, by acting in this way, a person is in a state of unceasing prayer, according to the word of St. Apostle Paul, and therefore in unity with God, Who said: “He who is not with Me is against Me.”
Outward decency should be expressed approximately in the following forms: starting in the evening, for example, before lying down on your bed, you should think about how the day was spent - what you saw and what you heard, and perhaps condemned someone in absentia. If you don’t remember anything like that, it doesn’t mean that nothing like that happened, but it means that due to absent-mindedness everything was forgotten; then repent to God not only for the sins you have noticed, saying mentally: “Lord, forgive and help” (that is, forgive me for sinning so much and angering You, and help so that this does not happen), but if everything is forgotten, out of absent-mindedness, then repent to God for what is forgotten, saying either in words or mentally: “I forgot You, Lord, (three times) woe is me, woe is me.” And then tell God: “Do not forget me, Lord, who forgets You”... And this must be said slowly, in the tone of prayer, for it is in such a tone that a contrite heart and a humble spirit lie, God will not humiliate it, that is, He will not leave it without help.
Then, before lying down on your bed, say to yourself: “Our Lord and God had no place to lay our heads, but He has granted us every comfort,” and then cross your bed in three places and then yourself with the words: “Protect me, Lord, from all evil,” and then: “Lord, Thy will be done on me.” But if you are bothered by thoughts while lying on your bed, then you must constantly mentally say a short prayer: “Lord, have mercy,” until you fall asleep. If you wake up during sleep, cross yourself, surrendering yourself to the will of God. And when, upon awakening, you see the light of day, say to yourself: “Glory to You, who showed us the light.” Then, as you begin to put on your shoes and get dressed, say to yourself mentally: “Lord, bless, Lord, have mercy.” Starting to wash yourself, cross yourself and then say to yourself: “Lord, cleanse the filth of my soul.” By doing this, we will do everything according to the covenant of St. Apostle - for the glory of God. While washing dishes or laundry, say: “Lord, cleanse the filth of my soul,” and your thought or mind will always be in God.
When leaving the cell, opening the door, you must read: “Open the doors of mercy for us, blessed Mother of God...” to the end. And also, when you take on any small object, be sure to call on God for help, at least mentally: “Lord, bless, Lord, help.” This must be done in all cases of activity for two reasons: the first is that the Lord forbade any undertaking without His blessing, saying: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and the second reason that prompts us to call on the name of God is that without His grace nothing can be successful for us and the end of any such undertaking will be sad and even sinful. Whether you are walking on level ground or uneven ground, always call on God for help verbally or mentally:
"Lord, have mercy." Keep in mind the purpose for which you cry out to the Lord like this, that is, so that the path you are walking on passes safely, and so it will be.
Whether you are starting any small task, the smallest thing, be sure to call on the name of God to help you and never forget God by calling on His name, for whoever forgets God will not see Him in the future life, but will go to the enemy of God and the enemy of our salvation to the bottom of hell. And the Holy Scripture says: “let sinners return to hell and all... who forget God” (Ps. 9:18).
As you begin to read the Holy Scriptures, say mentally to God: “Lord, bless me to read the Divine words for Your glory and for the salvation of my soul and the souls of those whom I ever remember... for whom You died on the cross.” And then read slowly, with the fear of God. Do you begin to pray, first say mentally: “Lord, bless me to bring my prayers and supplications to Your Compassion for my insignificance and for all my relatives and friends, both living and deceased (reading the names), for whom You died on the cross.” And then read the prayers slowly, as if in the ear of the Holy Spirit, and if there is no time, cut the prayers by half or as much as you can. Then, if you look at fire anywhere, say to yourself mentally: “Lord, deliver me from eternal fire”...
And so, in all cases and seemingly small matters, call on the name of God to help the work you are starting.
Remember, prayer is a gift, not my property; one must earn this gift not only through prayer alone, but also through other virtues: humility, simplicity, patience, simplicity; and without these virtues, although someone prays, thinking that he has allegedly acquired prayer, he is deceived: this is not prayer, but a mask of prayer!