Contents
About prayer
How to pray
About prayer by agreement

About prayer

A sign of a person’s correct attitude towards God is prayer, for this is the property of a true Christian, baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher and comforter (1 John 2:20) (“…You have the anointing of the Holy Spirit and know all things” (1 John 2:20). – Ed.). Prayer is not only a conversation with God, but, even more, the exaltation of the believing heart and mind and all the strength of the soul (Ps. 18:15) (“Let the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable before You, O Lord, my rock and my Savior” (Ps. 18:15). – Ed.).

Without prayer they cannot find God; prayer is precisely the means by which they seek and find God (Matthew 7:7–8). Prayer is the pledge and bond with which Eternal Love attracts us to Itself and wants to keep us with Itself as long as possible.

Verbal prayer elevates the soul and spirit to God and is a humble, kind external exercise – a bold conversation with God; it leads a person to inner prayer, and then to grace-filled (supernatural) prayer, as the Apostle Paul speaks about it (1 Cor. 14:15) (“I will pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind” (1 Cor. 14:15). – Ed.).

Inner prayer occurs unceasingly in faith, spirit and mind, as our Lord Jesus Christ says: “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), “I talk with my heart, and my spirit is troubled” (Ps. 76:7) (“… I talk with my heart, and my spirit is troubled: has the Lord rejected me forever, and will no longer be pleased?” Ed.), “We have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry: “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15).

Through inner prayer, a person is led to grace-filled (supernatural) prayer, which is a true union with God through faith, so that our created spirit completely melts and is immersed in the uncreated Spirit of God. With such prayer, the soul is filled with love for God, so that it can only think about God, but if thoughts and feelings about something else come to the heart and mind, then this responds with sadness in the soul. With such prayer, the soul does not allow anything or very little to be said to the tongue, it always sighs for God, seeks Him, finds its only pleasure in Him, forgets the whole world and everything that exists in the world, and is increasingly filled with knowledge of God, love and joy, and that joy cannot be expressed by the tongue.

“Whoever loves Me, I will love him and will appear to him” (John 14:21), the Savior says about this (“Whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will appear to him Myself” (John 14:21). – Ed.). This is the highest reward for a person on earth for his love for God.

Thus, without verbal prayer it is impossible to achieve internal prayer, and without internal prayer it is impossible to achieve supernatural prayer, which is why God commands us to pray so fervently and so often.

But you need to pray with all your heart, otherwise your prayer will be fruitless.

From the example of our Lord Jesus we can receive instruction about these three types of prayer if we carefully consider how He prayed. The Lord often spent several days and nights in a row in prayer (Luke 6:12), He prayed with all His might (Luke 22:44), and rejoiced in prayer (Luke 10:21). Indulging himself in prayer, He taught us this both in word and in deed (Matthew 6:9-13). As He said to His disciples: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).

By encouraging us to pray, the Savior shows that for Him there is nothing more precious and pleasant than our prayer, and that for it He loves us so much that we can receive from Him every good for the soul. And so that we could not have any doubt that it is impossible to receive this high and noble fruit of prayer, He not only said: “Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be complete” (John 16:24), but even by His own example he encouraged us to pray. He prayed for us during His suffering, as the evangelist says: “And being in agony, He prayed more diligently, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground” (There are instructions about the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Gospel: Matthew 6:5-15; 7:12-17; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:32-40; Luke 6, 12; 9, 28–29; 11, 5–11; 18, 1–15; 21, 36–37; 5.22; 15.4–8; 16, 23–25. We find information about prayer in the Acts of the Apostles: Acts. 8, Acts 10, Acts 16:31–32; in the epistles of the apostles: James. 5, 13–14; Jude 1:20–21, Paul: Rom. 12, 12; Eph. 6, 8; Phil. 4, 6–7; 1 Thess. 5.18; 1 Tim. 2, 1–2. – Approx. ed.).

The whole life of Christ was nothing more than unceasing prayer and sighing to fulfill the will of God. And He ended His life on the cross with prayer (Luke 23:46).

We must imitate the Savior, but a person can pray fervently and reverently only when he has before his eyes the humble, meek life of Christ. Without true humility, all prayers are in vain.

The Savior must serve as an example here too. He taught people humility not only in words, but also in deed, humbling Himself even to the point of death on the cross (Phil. 2:3), which is why He could say: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Having washed the feet of his disciples (John 13:4–5, 12–16), the Savior wanted to instill in us the virtue of humility by his example.

True humility comes from the fact that the soul sees first of all its own poverty and insignificance. Love, combined with humility, always judges and condemns itself first, and then others. Seeing the vices, shortcomings, mistakes of her neighbor, she turns to herself and mourns herself, for in the fall of her neighbor she sees her own disastrous state. Love is merciful about the faults of a neighbor (Gal.6:1) (“Brethren, if a man falls into any sin, you who are spiritual, correct him in the spirit of meekness, taking heed to yourselves, lest you be tempted” (Gal.6:1). – Ed.), why we must help him with patience, humility and meekness, [forgive] his weaknesses and bear [his] burdens.

In order for our prayer to be heard, it is necessary that we sincerely, from the bottom of our hearts, forgive the insults, insults and evil done to us by people, so that in our heart, in its recesses, there remains no hidden bitterness and ill will towards these people.

The Lord conditions the fulfillment of our prayer by the actual manifestation of our humility and love for people, which should be expressed precisely in the forgiveness of the insults they have caused. “And when you stand in prayer, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your sins. If you do not forgive, then your Heavenly Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15) (“For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive, then your Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). – Ed.), says our Lord Jesus directly and categorically Christ.

Just as categorically, the Savior in another place indicates how highly one must value the person of man, as the image of God, without insulting him with derogatory words and reviews about him. The Savior adds: “So if you are bringing your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Are we doing as the Divine Founder of our religion commanded us? Alas! In most cases, no. If we outwardly reconcile with someone who has offended us, we do it more out of politics or out of secular decency, harboring an angry feeling against him in our souls and showing hostility towards him at every opportunity, trying to harm him at least in public opinion. And how often, putting our self-love and pride at the forefront, we take offense at our neighbor for his mistake or an unintentionally inflicted offense, and at the same time we ourselves allow ourselves to deliberately harshly treat him, malicious condemnation behind the eyes, forgiving ourselves everything, we do not forgive our neighbor even the slightest mistake, while we should be strict with ourselves and lenient with others.

It is not surprising, therefore, that very often the prayer of a person more sinful than us is fulfilled, only because, having harmed his soul and body with sins, he has peace in his heart and forgives everyone their insults, mistakes and even insults inflicted on him. And this is understandable: where there is peace, silence, harmony, love – there is the Lord.

What hypocrisy and how false the words of the Lord’s Prayer sound in the mouths of people who do not have Christian forgiveness: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

And we dare to repeat these words every day, knowing that this is not true. This is not enough; with malice in our souls against our brother, we often approach the sacrament of Holy Communion, forgetting or disregarding the words of the Apostle Paul: “Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let man examine himself, and in this way let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks condemnation for himself, without considering the Body of the Lord. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and many are dying. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:27-31). Having a hostile heart, it is impossible to partake of the Blood of Christ, shed in abundance out of love.

From the parable of the debtors (Matthew 18:24-35) it is clear that God is angry, as at a great sin, at unmercifulness: He can forget debt, but He will not forget unmercifulness: “… so also My Heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother’s sins from the heart.” The Lord commands us to love even our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to do good to those who hate us, to pray for those who oppress us and persecute us, and then, He says, we will be sons of our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:44-45). He Himself loved us when we were His enemies (Rom. 5:10), and affirms that if we do not love our enemies, we cannot be sons of our Heavenly Father. He who does not love his brother remains in death (1 John 3:14), for he does not have true life. But besides all this, it should be remembered that forgiving insults is a characteristic of a high, noble soul. He who truly loves his neighbor is not easily angry with anyone except himself. True peace does not consist in great happiness, but in humble patience with misfortune. A courageous spirit is incapable of blasphemy.

The greatest and noblest revenge is to forgive quickly. Such beautiful, wise rules of life were followed by famous, glorious men of antiquity. Pericles (Greek orator), having endured a whole day of abuse from one person, ordered him to be escorted home in the evening so that nothing would happen to him, and said: “Wisdom is not found in blaspheming virtue, but in being able to follow it.”

The Athenian military leader Phocion, who performed many exploits that glorified him, was condemned to death out of envy. When he was asked if he bequeathed anything to his son, he replied: “Nothing, except that he should not take revenge on his fatherland for this violence.”

The Roman Emperor Titus, having learned that two brothers were planning to steal imperial power and entered into a conspiracy to kill him, invited them on the evening when this was to happen, and the next day he took them with him to the circus, where he watched the games, seating them next to him. By this merciful manner of his conduct he conquered malice.

When Cato, the wise Roman senator, stabbed himself, Julius Caesar, learning about this, exclaimed: “Now I have lost my greatest victory, for I intended to forgive Cato all the insults inflicted on me.”

The Bible also gives us great examples of forgiveness of insults and insults: with what patience Moses endured blasphemies and insults from the people, being, as Scripture says, the meekest of all people on earth (Num. 11-12), and how the king and prophet David endured his scolder Shimei (2 Sam. 16:10).

And our Lord Jesus Christ, who was like a patient lamb who did not open His mouth, not only forgave His enemies and tormentors, but also prayed for them. And how quickly God is appeased and how He has all-forgiveness, Psalm 102 says: “The Lord is generous and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He is not completely angry and is not indignant forever… As a father has mercy on his sons, so the Lord has mercy on those who fear Him” (Ps. 102:8,9,13).

The Apostle Paul in the XII chapter (vv. 19-20) of the Epistle to the Romans adjures them not to avenge themselves, giving way to the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, and I will repay” (Deut. 32:35), and convinces them, if the enemy is hungry, feed him, if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. “For by doing this,” says the apostle, “you will heap burning coals on his head” (Prov. 25:21-22).

What does it mean? The fact that repaying good for evil is not only the noblest act of revenge, but also humbles the enemy. A person who does this does not elevate himself, but his noble way of action puts him so far above his opponent that he, if, of course, he has a conscience and is a decent person, he must suffer unbearably from the consciousness of how low he has fallen in comparison with the person he offended, and that he is not capable of such a high and noble act (In my life, I have not taken revenge on any of the people who have offended me or done me harm, even by speaking badly about them. I did this not because I possess the virtues of a true Christian, but due to an accident – the upbringing I received from my parents, who served me as an example of high nobility, decency and respect for the dignity of man. Thanks to this, from a young age I recognized revenge, slander, envy and ingratitude as slavish, boorish feelings. My father always instilled in me that the noblest revenge on an enemy is to do him good. When I followed the spiritual path with my weak feet, I became even more confirmed in this, finding that the rules of life I had learned corresponded to Christian principles. But it’s interesting that all the people who deliberately did harm to me suffered in one way or another. – Approx. ed.).

What prevents us from developing Christian humility in ourselves, and why is the most difficult thing for a person to firmly decide to take this path? Pride is an obstacle.

Pride is truly the mother of sins, since the beginning of evil in the world was laid by the fall of Dennitsa, who became proud and overthrown from Heaven. Once upon a time the bright Seraphim, richly endowed by creation with high qualities – beauty, wisdom, light, glory – Dennitsa began to love himself most of all and praise his virtues, giving honor not to God, who gave him high perfections, but to himself and directed his love from God to himself, corrupting with his pride the other angels over whom he was in charge.

The same thing happens in life with a proud person who develops self-love, ambition, vanity, the desire to rule or lead others and strives exclusively for his own benefit. He not only harms himself, but involuntarily evokes in others a desire to imitate him, especially if he achieves a high position in the state or in society and generally wins for himself, often without any merit, but through courage, lust for power, harshness, the ability to take revenge or to do some kind of evil and in general mercilessness, so that he is feared – commanding heights in private and public life.

The history of every nation has shown us a thousand examples when pride goes hand in hand with the successes of brave people on the path of life, helping to strengthen their selfishness and completely extinguish their love for other people.

The assimilation by some people of Nietzsche’s doctrine of the superman especially contributed to this. Every day we see great anger, terrible pride, hatred and envy in human relationships. In the opinion of an evil and proud soul, the other person must be either nothing, or, in any case, inferior to him.

The devil sowed such cruel envy and pride into the human soul and therefore, due to such envy, hatred and enmity, the appearance and image of Satan was reflected in the human soul.

That is why a person who wants to overcome pride in himself must ask God for two things: so that the image of Satan in him is destroyed and, then, so that the image of God is restored. Without prayer, you cannot receive any saving gifts from God (James 1:17).

But first, a person must himself begin the fight against pride, monitoring his thoughts, words and actions. He must understand that if the devil wants to be worshiped, then every proud and ambitious person carries in his heart such a devil, who wants everyone to worship him, why he should try to overthrow and overthrow this idol in his heart, remembering that a person’s pride exposes him to fall along with the devil.

A great help in the fight against pride and the sins it causes (ambition, love of glory, vanity, exaltation, condemnation of others, etc.) is provided by thinking about the frailty of everything earthly, in view of our inevitable death, about the insignificance of man and the fact that all the gifts that we have are given by God.

The psalmist King David, in order to point out the insignificance of man, likens him to a shadow, saying: “Man walks like a shadow” (Ps. 38:7). Then he likens it to a dream that passes by (Ps. 89:6).

In itself, the shadow has neither life nor existence, like it, and man in itself has neither life, nor strength, nor power, but, like the shadow of the body, like the radiance of the sun, it depends on God. The dream to which the psalmist likens a person is nothing more than vanity (Sir. 34:2).

When a person forgets that he is like a shadow and depends on God, Who alone is everything, and begins to think that he is something, whereas he is nothing, then he deceives himself (Gal. 4:3), for he falls away from the true Being, Who is everything, into his own nothingness; from the stable, eternal God – into vain vanity; from Truth to falsehood. Turning away from God, a person “leaves the stone of salvation” (Deut. 32:15).

If a person firmly decides to “make a good start” in the fight against pride and begins the first steps on this path on his own, he will always receive gracious help from God.

My religious experience has shown me that the Lord extends a helping hand, just as He extended it to the drowned apostle. Peter: a person must have not only will, i.e. a sincere good intention and decision to correct one’s life by ceasing to sin, but one must begin to implement this decision by independently taking the first steps along the path of salvation, starting the fight against passions and sinful habits. At the same time, aware of his weakness and remembering the words of the Savior: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:6 – Ed.) and “I am with you to the end of the age” (“…I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) – Ed.), he must cry out to God for help.

In addition to prayer, he should, of course, resort to the saving sacraments, receiving through them from the Lord grace and strength to endure temptations and to fight sins and passions.

That is why grace is called “cooperative,” because it only helps people fulfill their decision to start a new life according to Christ’s commandments, but does not force them to change their lives, leaving behind sinful habits. At Rev. John Cassian we find confirmation of this thought. The saving process, according to Cassian, is presented in the following form: “volition after the transition to a volitional act can be with the assistance of grace, understood in the sense of an internal active force. From here, the beginning of a good act of will (the desire for good and the thought of it) can be relied upon by the person himself.”

And this is quite understandable: people are not pawns, but creatures created in the image and likeness of God, possessing free will, and the Lord God, a perfect and free Being, who called us to a holy, perfect life, called us his “children” and “friends” and who, out of His infinite love, wants to be with us in constant communication, can have this communication only with a free being. Christ accomplishes the salvation of people in the area of ​​the free spirit, and the area of ​​the free spirit is revealed only through the free efforts of man.

But Christ the Savior, calling us to humility and serving as an example of true humility, at the same time invites us to be meek, as He was. Meekness and humility are undoubtedly in interaction. These high qualities of the soul complement one another: a person who, with the help of grace, has achieved humility, will always strive to be meek, and one who has developed meekness, always combined with forgiveness, becomes humble.

Jesus Christ, answering the disciples’ question about who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, said: “…Truly I tell you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven; Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3-4). And another time, when the disciples did not allow children to approach Him: “… do not hinder them, for to such is the Kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. And having embraced them, he laid his hands on them and blessed them” (Mark 10:14-16). What is the main property of a child? First of all, every child (with the exception of abnormal children who have bad heredity, as well as those living in poor conditions of home life and observing the manifestation of evil in all forms around them or suffering it themselves) is distinguished by gentleness and meekness. Therefore, the child soon forgives and forgets insults. He takes pity on people and animals, and if he sometimes does harm to them, it is unconsciously. Further, a child (with the exception of children who are abnormal or ineptly raised – spoiled – and who are hypocritical types) is distinguished by sincerity and truthfulness. He believes every word of his parents and teachers and trusts them.

Every injustice upsets and outrages the child. He is distinguished by spontaneity.

All these properties, which, it would seem, should adorn a person, since they undoubtedly relate to the elements of righteousness, are not preserved in people, with very rare exceptions. Life with its struggle and worries in a world that “lies in evil” breaks a person, and those qualities that the Savior places so highly and that a person possessed in childhood are either completely lost by him, or they manifest themselves in such a weak form and so rarely that they are not noticed and are not his characteristic feature.

Popular teachings of various rulers of the thoughts of modern people, preaching that only the strong have the right to life, that “those who fall need to be pushed,” that everything is allowed to a person, why he should only dare, and that brave, daring people, who do not take anything into account except their will and aspirations, will give in the future a “superman,” especially contributed to the negative attitude of people towards meekness. Meekness is truly not found in honor. If in our cruel age people consider kindness as stupidity, good nature as stupidity, delicacy as weakness, then a meek person is given, one might say, the last place, as a complete fool. Where revenge is called “holy” and hatred is called “sacred,” there meekness cannot be the lot of “smart people.”

And in the past, people didn’t particularly complain about meekness. It was also tolerated among women, sometimes considering meekness to be their “decoration,” just as they say that tears are a woman’s strength. In particular, in “philistine” life and in former times, meek people were treated condescendingly and ironically. About a meek person who forgives insults and is unable to “revenge” (which is sometimes understood as the ability to stand up for oneself) in society they directly said, at best, with regret: “He is not of this world,” or they called him a “Ladybug,” or, at worst, a “calf” or “sheep.”

And women, for example, cannot stand meek men. Most women believe that only then can a man be considered strong and only then can he be the support of his wife and can safely set sail with him on the sea of ​​life, if he does not possess softness, and even more so meekness, which, in their opinion, makes a person weak, incapable of fighting and giving proper resistance when necessary.

We know, for example, how low the sage and philosopher Socrates was regarded by his own wife, Xanthippe, who, not only due to her lack of education and narrow-mindedness, could not understand how great her husband was, but the humiliations to which she subjected him, even to the point of pouring slop on his head, are undoubtedly explained by the fact that Xanthippe could not stand the meekness and gentleness of Socrates, this disgusted her as a woman. The family life of Socrates is a classic example of how a woman hates meekness in a man.

The further we go into the depths of centuries, the brighter this property will be in a woman. The primitive woman already directly recognized and valued only brute strength in a man and always belonged to the stronger one.

From the history of the Jewish people, we know that the prophet-god-seer Moses was “the meekest of men” and, as a “stiff-necked” Jewish people, due to this, little valued his high moral perfections, righteous life, deep faith and closeness to God, often grumbling, refusing to carry out his commands, although they came from God, and even raising indignation.

The same should be said about the meek king, prophet and psalmist David, whom his own wife Michal allowed to sharply condemn when he… When the Ark of the Covenant was brought to Zion, he not only praised God in psalms, rattling the organ and tympanum, but danced in sacred delight, walking in front of this shrine. And how his own son Absalom and Shimei mocked and mocked him! And King David endured everything with meekness and even protected their lives.

In general, in life, a meek person has always lost and continues to lose. People usually look at him with distrust for a long time, recognizing him in advance as narrow-minded and, only; when he surprises them with some outstanding, highly moral act, they reconcile themselves with this unfavorable property of the soul. Whereas a person with a domineering, vindictive, stern character, and if he also has an impressive appearance, always immediately gains a position among people and is regarded by them more highly than a meek, peace-loving person, even if the former did not shine with either intelligence or talents. God treats meek people differently: “To whom else will I look,” says the Lord, “but to the meek and silent, who trembles at My words” (Is. 66:2). “For his (Moses’s) faithfulness and meekness, He (God) sanctified him, chose him for Himself above all people” (Sir. 45:4). “The Lord will guide the meek into judgment, He will teach the meek in His way” (Ps. 24:8).

This is what the wise King Solomon says about meekness: “A meek heart is life for the body, but envy is rottenness for the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). “A meek tongue is a tree of life, but an unbridled tongue is a crushing spirit” (Proverbs 15:4). “Meekness inclines a noble to mercy, a soft tongue breaks a bone” (Proverbs 25:5).

The Apostle Peter points out that let the adornment of women be “not the outward braiding of hair, not gold ornaments, or finery in clothing, but the hidden person of the heart in the imperishable beauty of a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 3:3-4).

Meekness is such a high quality of a person because it is a fruit of the Spirit, like love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). “Let your meekness,” writes the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, “be known to all men. The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5).

The same apostle in his Epistle to Titus (Titus 3:2) invites him to remind his flock so that believers do not slander anyone, do not be quarrelsome and show “meekness in all things to men.”

Meekness protects irritability from indignation, and humility frees the mind from arrogance and vanity,” says Maximus the Confessor (see: Philokalia, vol. III, p. 189).

The Lord Jesus Christ gives great promises to people who have achieved meekness: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

This speaks of the ultimate destinies of humanity and the Church, and therefore we should not be embarrassed by the fact that we now observe on earth the predominance everywhere and in everything of evil over good and gross violence over peacefulness and meekness. The late Bishop of Tauride Mikhail Gribanovsky (1857–1898), who left a bright memory, speaks correctly on this matter in his remarkable work “On the Gospel”: “The paths of the Church are in the hands of God. Let us surrender our ways to Him and not be afraid. He will bring forth our righteousness like the light and our justice like the noonday. We must have firm faith in the power and strength of our God. We should not even allow anger in our hearts when we see the successes of the wicked, much less be jealous to the point of doing harm to them.” And further, pointing out that everything in the universe is in the hands of God, he continues: “The evil forces, beating and overthrowing each other, and sometimes punishing the good for crimes and sins, fulfill the great law of moral retribution and inexorable justice, which is inherent in the very elements of the world and from which no one anywhere can escape. And this law of the fatal self-destruction of evil, of violence perishing from its own violence, being fulfilled here on earth, clears the place for the triumph of meekness. “Trust in the Lord and keep to His way: and He will exalt you to inherit the earth” (Ps. 36:34).

Pride prevents a person from developing humility (It was already mentioned above that pride is contagious. After I wrote this, I read in the book of the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach (13:1) the following confirmation of this thought: “Whoever touches pitch will be blackened, and whoever enters into fellowship with a proud person will become like him.” – Author’s note), but one of the manifestations of pride also prevents a person from cultivating meekness in himself – pride and fear that in our harsh age of merciless struggle for existence, people will sweep him out of the way, crush him. A person’s greatest fear is to be funny.

A meek person, as we know, is sharply different from those around him, seems like some kind of person “fell from the moon”, incomprehensible to other people, and this is sometimes shown to him, why his pride suffers, and, having stopped halfway in his improvement, he sometimes begins to do everything possible to be “like other people.”

In the second case, a weak faith in God’s help and, in connection with this, fear of people and life prevents one from finally establishing oneself in the intention to be meek.

In general, almost all people always strive to be like other people. The vast majority of people do not understand that they must protect their individuality, that each person differs sharply from another in physical characteristics, mental properties, and different talents. “Each of us has been given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph. 4:7), which is also spoken of in the Gospel parable of the talents.

The harmonious combination of humility and meekness, which all Christians should strive for, gives that simplicity to people that the Savior spoke about when sending the apostles to preach, commanding them to be wise as serpents and meek as doves (Matthew 10:16). Simplicity is not simplicity, about which folk wisdom has long said that it is “worse than theft.”

We see that the Lord Jesus Christ combines simplicity with wisdom. Simplicity is expressed in sincerity, in a direct manner of action, in the absence of falsehood and hypocrisy, in gullibility, in accessibility, affection, friendliness, in respect for the personality of another, in keeping a pure heart and in similar properties observed in children and gradually disappearing with age. Simplicity and artlessness are most characteristic of children, and therefore they sometimes say “he is as simple as a child,” and this often ironic review only shows that the person about whom they say this is the closest to the ideal given to us by the Savior.

All the virtues required for a person to become an ascetic are shades of one main one, which, in contrast to fragmentation and diversity, could be called integrity of the soul, chastity of the soul, simplicity, which allows one to be meek, gentle and pure, giving strength to perform feats without hesitation and doubt, but also without internal self-affirmation, self-exaltation and self-love. This highest and fundamental virtue is achieved through self-deepening, or repentance (Priest P. Florensky. The Pillar and Statement of Truth) – (The quoted text belongs to Isaac the Syrian and is cited by Father Pavel Florensky. See P. Florensky. The Pillar and Statement of Truth. M., 1914. pp. 341–342. – Ed.).

This is what St. Isaac of Syria says about simplicity as the highest ascetic virtue: “There is humility from the fear of God, and there is humility from love for God: some are humble out of fear of God, others out of joy. And he who is humble through the fear of God is accompanied at all times by modesty in all members, decorum of feelings and a contrite heart, and he who is humble by joy is accompanied by great simplicity, a growing and uncontrollable heart” (Homily 89) – (see P. Florensky. The Pillar and the Affirmation of Truth. M., 1914, p. 762. – Ed.).

Simplicity is the source and root of purity. “Purity is oblivion of the ways of leading through nature, borrowed from nature in the world. And in order to free oneself from them and become outside of them, this is the limit: for a person to come to the original simplicity and original gentleness of his nature and become like a baby only without infantile shortcomings” (Sermon 21) – (see Florensky P. The Pillar and the Statement of Truth. M., 1914, p. 762. – Ed.).

In the Great (Penitential) Canon of St. Andrew of Crete many times we encounter an appeal to God, worshiped in the Holy Trinity – “The Trinity is simple”, “The Trinity is simple” – which repeatedly emphasizes that God is the only simple Being, Who alone can therefore be recognized as the Spirit in the true, high sense of the word.

“The essence of God is completely simple and indivisible, by its very nature having in itself simplicity and incorporeality,” says St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. The doctrine of the separateness of the names of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, in his words, the indivisible unity of the Most Perfect” (letter to Philagry about consubstantiality. Magazine “Christian”. 1913, No. 12. P. 1491).

“In God there is one and only nature, precisely that which really exists.” In the presence of one substance, “the three Persons are co-inherent, perfect and co-eternal” (letter of Blessed Jerome of Stridon to Pope Damasus).

“God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all,” says the apostle and evangelist John (1 John 1:5). Hence the mention in antiphons and prayers: “Quiet light”, “brightness of the Divine”, “illumination”, “illumination”, “Glory to Thee, who showed us the light”, “save me by Thy illumination”, etc. The term “illumination” and others like it indicate not only the intelligent light – the light of the Triune Divinity, the “light of reason”, but also the visible, uncreated Tabor light – the energy of the Triune Divinity. The doctrine of the uncreated light of Tabor, emanating from the Source of Light, was developed by St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, and is recognized by the Church as Orthodox teaching.

On this occasion, Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Tauride, says: “The Holy Scripture calls God Light. This name, according to ordinary understanding, expresses the following property of God: His purity. But doesn’t it also express the essence of God? Isn’t God really Light? And doesn’t His Being have anything similar to light? (“About God in general, as the Founder of the moral or heavenly kingdom”) – (quote given in the book by Father Pavel Florensky “The Pillar and Ground of Truth.” M., 1914. P. 656. – Ed.).

This is affirmed by almost all mystics, especially the famous mystic John Pordage (Pordage John, 1625–1698, English philosopher and theologian, famous interpreter of J. Boehme – Ed.), expounding on the whole doctrine of God as an ineffable light. “And such Light,” he says among other things, “Which everyone should recognize as Something material and for essential perfection, cannot be denied to God, did not touch His Glory. All the less, one can doubt that in the Revelation of John it is precisely said about Eternal Life: “And the night shall not be there, and they shall not require a lamp or the light of the sun; until then God the Lord will give them light” (Rev. 22:5). And in another place: “God is Light, because Light is life. As God is an infinite Being, so He is also an infinite Light” (John 1:4-5).

But we should not forget that all our concepts about God, as Gregory of Nyssa says, are nothing more than idols and idols, prohibited by the ten words” (Homily 71) and that “the word about God is the more perfect the more incomprehensible it is” (Gregory the Theologian. See the work named by P. Florensky about this) – (the quote is given in the book of Father Pavel Florensky “The Pillar and Ground of Truth.” M., 1914. P. 691. – Ed.).

Man, although he has a spiritual essence (spirit and soul), but, according to the explanation of some theologians and righteous people, his spirit and soul, being immaterial, however, have the thinnest shell of ether, which serves as the last facet of material existence. All spirits created by God before the creation of the world have the same shell.

Consequently, as one achieves simplicity, a person draws closer and closer to God, fulfilling the Savior’s commandment: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

But no matter how humble a person is and no matter how much forgiveness he has, in order for his prayer to reach God, he must firmly believe. Without firm faith that the prayer will be fulfilled, that the “Creator of countless worlds” is listening to us, every prayer will be in vain. We know this from the Gospel, where we find many words of the Savior about the need for everyone who asks to have faith and that with faith, even if it is small – the size of a mustard seed – miracles are possible; even a mountain that is told to move and be thrown into the sea will obey these words.

Here we again encounter the need for us to establish the correct relationship with God, for the correct relationship of the human mind to the Divine Mind, or submission to Him, is faith. Believing in God firmly, without any hesitation, without further ado, is the one who has finally conquered selfish faith in himself (in his mind, in his talents, in the power of his will) and the illusion of human dignity. But whoever still loves himself, who thinks of getting along in anything without God, cannot believe in God as he should; to him, probably, in different cases of life, faith will seem unreasonable, just as love for other people seems incomprehensible to an egoist. Love and faith always go hand in hand, and the poet is right when he says: “Love is the living key of faith.”

And since each person can fall into temptation and, imitating Dennitsa, begin to think a lot about himself, “counting himself to be something, although he is nothing…” (Gal. 6:3), then constant fervent prayer to the Lord is necessary for the increase and strengthening of faith, as the apostles did, asking the Savior: “Increase faith in us,” and as the father of the demon-possessed young man did, exclaiming (after hearing the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “If “As much as you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes”): “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief” (Mark 9:23–24).

But we must not only believe in God’s mercy, in His boundless love, in the fact that He hears us, that He is “near us” and is ready to lend a helping hand to each of us, but we must believe, i.e. “trust” God. This word indicates the moral connection of those people who believe with God. There are many phrases and expressions scattered throughout the psalms with which the psalmist seems to emphasize that this trust in God rests on a solid foundation, on the full of love, providence and care of God towards a person, wanting to comfort him in sorrow, help him, support and save him.

How touchingly this is said, for example, in Psalm 62: “My soul cleaves to You, but Thy right hand accepts me (my soul cleaves to You, but Your right hand upholds me”: here the psalmist compares God’s attitude towards a person with a mother who, when she carries her baby in her arm, supports the other, hugging him, and the child, clinging to the mother, trusting her, feels safe).

No less touchingly, God’s attitude towards man, which cannot but inspire confidence in Him, is set out in Psalm 90 (“Alive in the help of the Most High”). We also find certain phrases and expressions indicating that we must trust God on the basis of all that he does and will do for us in Psalms: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 28 and many others).

If, during a prayerful appeal to God, there is ardent faith, forgiveness of insults to ill-wishers and enemies, humility, meekness and complete trust in God with the conviction that whatever the Lord does is for the better, the prayer is fulfilled, often instantly, even mental (mental), as shown by examples of the prayers of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the righteous Fr. John of Kronstadt, the Optina elders, the late Father and many other righteous people and devotees of piety.

If a person has not achieved such perfection as they, and therefore cannot hope for the instant fulfillment of prayer, he still must pray: we find in St. The Gospel contains many indications that whatever we ask with faith from God will be given to us (Matthew 21:22), so that our joy may be complete (John 16:24). By our prayer we show that we do not despise this promise of God, on the contrary, we affirm that these promises are worthy of honor, since God cannot deviate from the truth.

In St. In the Gospel we find an indication of why sometimes the Lord slows down the fulfillment of our prayer; this is done to test and strengthen our faith (the parable of the unrighteous judge). God does not need our prayer, especially verbose, warning all of His omniscience (Ps. 2:138, etc.), and if He commands us to pray, encourages and exhorts us to do so, it is not for His own sake, which would be possible if He did not know our needs, but for our own sake, so that we, excited by prayer, come to their knowledge.

Anyone who abandons prayer not only violates the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, who commanded us to pray without ceasing and not to lose heart (Matt. 7:7; Luke 18:10-14), but deprives himself of possible communication with God, despising the great promise that He adds to His command: “Call on Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you.” (Ps. 49:15). The Lord answers our prayerful appeal to Him by fulfilling the prayer, if this is useful to our soul. And if our prayer is not always fulfilled and because of this we stop turning to God, then our faith can not only decrease, but even little by little and be completely lost.

Meanwhile, faith must be a powerful force for a person, for we cannot defeat sin, death and the devil in any other way than through faith. It goes without saying that prayer not only helps to increase faith in a person, but through it we receive the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), for by lifting our hearts daily to God, we enter into fellowship with Him and draw closer to Him.

Prayer protects us from many sins and falls, from mistakes in life, from evil people and enemies and their intrigues, and also from the devil and his obsessions, from all troubles and misfortunes, which is why the Lord says: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune” (Matthew 26:41). Finally, the one who prays, and especially the one who prays unceasingly, has great hope of salvation: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).

How to pray

Prayer is a bold conversation between a creature and the Creator, and if we, when in front of the highest representatives of earthly power, behave respectfully, carefully listening to their words and orders, then how much more should we, while standing in prayer, be imbued with the thought of the greatness of God, that we stand before Him, turn to Him with love and with the greatest reverence, and pray slowly. “Do not please the lazy flesh in prayer,” says Fr. John of Kronstadt, – do not rush: the flesh, bored and burdened by the holy work, hurries more quickly towards the end in order to calm down or get busy with carnal, worldly affairs” (“My Life in Christ”, p. 164). Pronouncing the words of prayer without any carelessness, we must delve into their meaning and constantly keep in mind that only by the ineffable mercy of God we, sinful people, are allowed to turn in prayer to the Heavenly Father, when, in fact, due to our sins we should only lie in the dust and constantly cry out for mercy.

“Cursed is everyone who does the work of God with negligence,” says the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48:10), and our Lord Jesus Christ said His word about one formal prayer, performed without the participation of the soul and thought, explaining that people who make such a hypocritical prayer approach Him with their lips alone and honor Him with their tongue, but their heart is far removed from Him, and that they honor Him in vain (Matthew 15:8-9).

During prayer, we must carefully monitor ourselves, without being distracted by anything, without being entertained by anything, why prayer is most effective in solitude, as the Savior prayed, “in desert places,” and as He indicated, in a separate room.

My personal experience has shown me that the more ardent the prayer, the more you feel the need to ascend in spirit to God, the more the enemy of the human race interferes with prayer, distracting you from prayer, instilling extraneous thoughts and in every possible way preventing you from concentrating.

It turns out what we observe when the canvas is woven: the basis is the words of prayer, going upward – to heaven, and the attraction of our heart to God; ducks are extraneous thoughts, inspired to us by a dark force, distracting us and constantly reminding us of the earth. All this is intertwined, just as the warp and weft are intertwined in a fabric.

If you are not vigilant, extraneous thoughts can completely drown out the impulse to pray and change your mood; the inspired thought can be so interesting that the tongue begins to repeat the words of the prayer without any participation of the mind and heart.

Ep. Theophan (Recluse) says that there is no sin for a person if extraneous thoughts come to him during prayer, but sin undoubtedly occurs when a person becomes interested in them and prayer, as a result, becomes mechanical. By the way, he advises, in order to avoid this, to learn prayers by heart and, while praying, read them from memory. Maybe this helps some people to concentrate better, but I noticed on myself that when I read prayers from a book, extraneous thoughts come less often. Here everyone needs to apply themselves to their individuality.

Reading the prayer slowly helps to understand the meaning of each word of the prayer and helps maintain a prayerful mood and attention. If you notice that you have read any prayer without paying attention, it is better to repeat it.

You need to pray boldly, i.e. to sincerely and fearlessly ask God for what we feel we need, but cannot help ourselves, confidently, i.e. with full hope that every prayer we say with faith will be fulfilled, and persistently, remembering the words of the Savior: “Press and it will be opened to you,” and His parable about the unjust judge.

This is how Fr. prayed. John of Kronstadt. He even showed by the intonation of his voice that he was confident that his prayer would be heard, which is why sometimes it seemed that he was not asking, but demanding, although his prayer was always reverent and humble.

“When you pray, be like a babbling child, merging into one spirit with the spirit of the spoken prayer. Consider yourself as nothing, accept prayers as a great gift from God. Completely abandon your carnal mind and do not listen to it, for the carnal mind “puffs up” (1 Cor. 8:1), doubts, dreams, blasphemes,” says Father John of Kronstadt.

Then this great prayer book says: “The inner man, from under the vanity of light, from under the darkness of his flesh, not bound by the temptations of the evil one, looks out more freely in the morning, upon awakening, like a fish that sometimes jumps to the surface of the water. The rest of the time it is covered in almost impenetrable darkness; there is a painful bandage over his eyes, hiding from him the true order of spiritual and sensual things. Seize the morning hours: these are the hours of a new life, renewed by temporary sleep. They point us in part to the state when we will rise, renewed, on the common morning, not the evening day of resurrection, or when we will be separated from this mortal body” (“My Life in Christ,” pp. 20, 37).

My personal, very modest religious experience shows that early morning prayer, even if it initially consisted of just a doxology pronounced in bed, before performing the usual cell rule, provides a kind of exercise for the whole day, imparting spiritual vigor, a good, even mood, and sometimes special spiritual joy, even amidst sorrows and trials.

Here is what Father John of Kronstadt says about this: “In order to spend the day completely holy, peacefully and sinlessly, the only means for this is the most sincere, fervent prayer in the morning, after rising from sleep. It leads into the heart of Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit and thus gives strength and strength even against the attacks of evil; You just need to guard your heart.”

Sometimes for a person who is very busy, or in a hurry somewhere on business, or who is tired, it is not possible to carry out the entire cell rule, then it is better to shorten it, but do this only in exceptional cases. This is how the Monk Seraphim of Sarov and the Monk Ambrose, the Optina elder, taught.

Father John of Kronstadt said: “When praying, adhere to the rule that it is better to say five words from the heart than tens of words with the tongue.”

He explained: “Is it possible to pray in haste? It is possible for those who have learned inner prayer with a pure heart… but those who have not acquired heartfelt prayer must pray slowly, waiting for the corresponding echo in the heart of each word of prayer. And this is not always easy for a person who is not accustomed to prayerful contemplation. Therefore, the rare pronunciation of the words of prayer for such people should be made an indispensable rule” (p. 27).

I have personally experienced the truth of this proposition.

Father John says, among other things: “In prayer, it is required, firstly, that the subject of the prayer be expressed definitely, or at least that the consciousness and desire for it be clear in the heart; secondly, that this desire be expressed with feeling and living hope in the mercy of the Lord or the Mother of God; thirdly, you need a firm intention not to sin in the future and to do the will of God in everything: “Behold, you are healthy, and do not sin, lest it be worse” (John 5:14).

When praying to the Lady or to the saints, the same shepherd advises: “Imagine firmly that you are a member of the Church, in which the Lady is the main stone of the building (“Head of Mental Edification” – Akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos, Ikos 10), and know that you are closely connected internally with all the inhabitants of heaven, like the stone of the building, although soft and not hard. Understanding yourself in this way, you will understand why prayers reach the saints so easily: for all are animated by one Spirit of God” (p. 271). We must, therefore, remember that God “rests in the saints,” which is why they hear our prayers. At the end of this paragraph, I will quote the morning prayer that Fr. John: “God, Creator and Ruler of the world. Look mercifully upon Thy creation, adorned with Thy Divine Image in these morning hours: may Thy Eye live, may Thy Eye enlighten, and with darkness, the brighter rays of the sun, my soul, dark and mortified by sins, will be multiplied. Take away from me despondency and laziness, grant me joy and spiritual vigor, so that in the joy of my heart I glorify Your endless wise grace and holiness. Your boundless greatness, Your endless perfections for every hour and in every place. For You are my Creator and the Lord of my life, Lord, and You are due glory from Your rational creatures for every hour, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen”.

And to it I will add the prayer of the Optina elders, which, in my opinion, is useful to read in the morning when performing the cell rule:

“Lord, let me meet with peace of mind everything that the coming day will bring me. Let me completely surrender to Your Holy will. For every hour of this day, instruct and enlighten me in everything, reveal to me Your will for me and those around me. Whatever news I receive during the day, teach me to accept it with a calm soul and a firm conviction that everything is God’s will. In all my deeds and words, guide my thoughts and feelings. Don’t let me forget that everything was sent by You. Teach me to act correctly and wisely with each member of my family, without upsetting anyone or embarrassing anyone.

Lord, give me strength to endure the fatigue of the coming day and all the events during the day, guide my will and teach me to pray.”

It is useful to read Psalm 90 “Alive in the help of the Most High” every day.

About prayer by agreement

In the Gospel of Matthew in ch. 18, art. 19-20 we read the following words of the Savior: “Truly I also say to you that if two of you on earth agree to ask for anything, then whatever they ask will be done for them by My Father in heaven, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”

How many times have each of us read these words, and how little have we delved into them? We usually do not perceive these sayings in our spirit as unconditional truth and are inclined to equate them with moral maxims, with the rules of life, of which there are many on every page of the Gospel, although in the same sacred book we read the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33).

At least, I confess, it never occurred to me that in the above words of the Divine Founder of our religion, by His infinite mercy, people are given a direct indication that if they have suffered misfortune, illness, misfortune, a severe shock, or they have fallen into some hopeless situation when no one can help them, not everything is lost: there is a way out, there is refuge, this is a fervent prayer to God according to agreement with others.

And this is how I would continue to relate to these words of the Savior, if not for the next incident that happened to me in 1927 or 1928 (I don’t remember well).

1. I went to visit Dr. S.A., who lived not far from my apartment with his sisters, whom I also knew. I entered the living room and learned from his younger sister O.A., who was alone at home, that the doctor had not returned yet, and it struck me that O.A. has teary eyes; her face expresses great sorrow, which is why I asked her with sympathy: “What’s wrong with you? What is your grief? She didn’t answer me and cried bitterly.

A little later, having calmed down somewhat, O.A. She explained to me that she has a favorite schoolmate, a great friend of hers, whom she loves like a close relative, and she is dying. A council of doctors, with the participation of prominent professors, came to the conclusion that there was no way to save her, since the patient had general blood poisoning, a fever of over 40°, and she was covered all over with abscesses.

I felt sorry for both my friend O.A. and this young woman leaving the world, who had just delivered her first child. Suddenly a thought flashed through my mind, a thought that had never occurred to me before, undoubtedly an intuitive thought, and I exclaimed: “Don’t cry, dear O.A. All is not lost. God is not without mercy: remember the words of Christ about prayer by agreement, given in the 18th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, which is always fulfilled, unless it can harm our soul; By agreement with you, we will earnestly pray for the salvation of your friend, we will persistently, with deep faith, ask the Savior for this, and He will hear our prayer, I believe in this.” My friend started sobbing again and said through her tears:

– Don’t ask me about this: the Moscow luminaries said that my friend cannot be saved, and I cannot cherish the thought of saving her, I understand that she is dying, and I cannot pray for something that cannot happen, don’t ask me.

– How can you, such a believer, show such skepticism? After all, this is why I suggest you pray because science is powerless to help your friend, but there is a Lord of heaven and earth, a Lord of our lives. If he wants, he can save her and prolong her days,” I said, very worried.

– No, I can’t, don’t ask me for something that is beyond my strength.

All I have to do is leave. Going out onto the street. Kropotkin, I suddenly again perceived an intuitive thought that was persistently repeating in my brain: “Go to T…”.

She was a very religious, pious old woman, cheerful in spirit, but completely sick. When she was still able to walk, she always went to church, but then, having received acute rheumatism, gout and softening of the bones, she prayed at home. Whoever asked her to pray, she would write down in her synodik the names of the dead or living who needed prayers, and while the daughter who supported her was at the service, she spent whole days remembering everyone in her prayers. I had to go to dinner, but I got on the tram and went to T… I sometimes confessed to her and gave her communion at home, and the old lady loved and revered me. When I came to see her at odd hours, she was surprised, but received me cordially and affably. Having learned what request I had for her, I immediately wrote down the patient’s name in the synodikon, and we agreed that we would “by agreement” pray for her in the morning, in the middle of the day, in the evening and at night.

Six weeks have passed. Again I went to visit Dr. S.A., and again only his younger sister O.A. was at home. She greeted me joyful and animated. The door to the dining room was open, and I saw there a very good-looking young woman, reclining in a peignoir on the sofa. There was a baby stroller nearby, and a baby was lying in it.

Leaning towards O.A., I asked her in a low voice:

-Who is this pretty lady?

– And this is my friend I told you about.

– So, does that mean she has recovered?

– Imagine that, thank God, you have recovered. She was sick for a long time and unexpectedly for everyone she recovered.

“How is this so,” I said, “after all, you claimed that according to all the rules of science she should die, but I see her alive?”

Then I explained what we had been doing with T… for more than five weeks continuously, and asked the question:

– What do you say now, O.A.?

– Sorry, it’s my fault, I showed a lack of faith; “This will be a good lesson for me,” she answered me.

The described recovery of the patient after the joint prayer of mine and my friend made a strong impression on me. It was undoubtedly a miracle, but I, of course, did not attribute to myself, not to my participation in prayer, that it happened, but saw in it only the fulfillment of the Savior’s words, confirmation of the inviolability, immutability, and truth of His words.

Then the thought appeared to me that if God “makes the blind wise,” then why can’t it be that, in His infinite mercy, He chose me, unworthy of His servant, so that, having inspired in the above case to pray by agreement, not only save a young woman for the sake of her child, but in order to strengthen the faith of people in this time of unbelief and religious indifference, to show them what can be given from above through faith and through fervent prayer, and also, what power and significance does love have, for by agreeing to pray for someone, sometimes even a stranger, we thereby show love for our neighbor, thinking about him, lamenting his failure or pitying him if he is sick, and we want to help him, alleviate his situation, save him through prayer, being often powerless to do anything else. And where there is love, there is God, for God is Love.

Having come to this conclusion, I myself began, seeing grief, misfortune, or illness in someone close to me, to offer to pray by agreement, and with joy I saw that our joint prayers were being fulfilled. The result of this was that I myself began to be asked to pray by agreement in those cases when only the Lord God alone could help, and not only people close to me, but also acquaintances. The Lord sent them great consolation: their prayers were fulfilled. It goes without saying that the significance of this religious experience for me personally was that it made my faith unshakable.

I will cite several outstanding cases when, after prayer “by agreement”, miraculous phenomena took place according to the faith of those praying.

2. At M.F.Sh. Dark water appeared in her right eye, and soon she stopped seeing with it. She visited famous ophthalmologists, and they told her that it was impossible to cure her eye. Finally, she went to a homeopathic doctor, and he told her the same thing, prescribing several remedies of a completely innocent nature.

Then she turned to me with a request for a joint prayer to God to restore her vision, lost in one eye. I readily agreed, explaining to M.F. how to pray in this case and not lose heart if the prayer is not heard, since often the Lord does not fulfill our prayers regarding the well-being of our body, if the test sent to us will be useful to our soul, but [and believe] that everything is possible with the Lord, and we need to ask Him for mercy with deep faith and hope.

We then proceeded to implement our agreement. Several months have passed.

I went to the above-mentioned doctor, from whom I myself was treated for weakening of the heart muscle and arteriosclerosis, and sat in the waiting room, waiting for my turn, when suddenly I heard the following dialogue in the doctor’s room:

“But I assure you, doctor, that I have begun to see with my bad eye and can now read.” After all, you also said that his vision cannot be restored. After all, this is an undoubted miracle; agree, doctor, that this is a miracle.

“Well, if you want, this is a miracle,” came the voice of a homeopathic doctor. After which M.F.Sh left the office.

When she saw me, she happily reported that every day she could see better and better with her bad eye.

Normal vision has now been restored in that eye.

3. The brother of my friend B., a young man who had just gotten married, became dangerously ill. B., together with his parents, asked me, by agreement with them, to pray for the patient’s recovery.

After a short time he recovered.

4. The mother-in-law of brother O.A., who lived in Ordzhonikidze, an old woman of 92 years old, fell into senile insanity and became so weakened that she fell ill with a rarely observed “lice disease” (This disease consists of large numbers of lice appearing on the body. During this illness, they do not lay their testicles in the folds of linen, but lay them under the skin, gnawing it, as a result of which the number of parasites increases in a terrifying size. Weakened the body somehow especially attracts these parasites; fighting them seems quite difficult, and patients with lice suffer greatly and become despondent. The number of parasites was so great, the fight against them was persistent: the patient was wiped with denatured alcohol every day and her underwear was changed, but by the evening the parasites appeared again. Finally, the daughter-in-law was tired of caring for her mother-in-law, since she was seriously ill herself, and together with her husband she wrote to O.A. about everything, asking to send some linen for the sick woman, since they did not have time to wash the linen she had thrown off.

This request was fulfilled, but O.A. approached me with an offer to pray “by agreement” for the sufferer. We started doing this several times a day with deep faith. In two weeks O.A. received a letter from her brother in which he said: “Imagine, a miracle happened to my mother-in-law: all the parasites suddenly disappeared and no longer appear.”

The patient lived for several more months after this, and, despite the fact that she continued to weaken, the described phenomenon did not happen to her again, and she died quietly.

5. My friend V.A.P. I once met me on the street and was very upset. It turned out that a great misfortune happened to the son of her friend N.N., who lived in one of the district towns of the Ivanovo region. In the morning he left the house, heading to work. When he was walking through a large yard where some buildings were being erected, he came across a carpenter carrying a small log on his shoulder, and, turning to the side, touched N.N. with the end of the log. The blow was such that the victim fell into oblivion. When he was taken to the hospital, doctors determined that he had a severe concussion and a crack in his skull. They prescribed absolute rest and the need to lie still for a long time. Soon he stopped seeing. The doctors determined that this was the result of severe nervous shock, and found that after prolonged treatment he would have to rest for a whole year before he could return to service.

We agreed with V.A.P. pray for N.N. After some time, his vision returned, pretty soon he left the hospital, spent several months in a sanatorium and is now serving again, feeling completely healthy.

6. The girl A.R.D., who works as a letter carrier at the post office, has bear feet (flat feet). This feature makes it difficult to walk quickly, sometimes causing suffering, which is why people with flat feet are not accepted for military service. At A.R.D. her legs began to hurt so much when walking that doctors suggested she change her profession; Meanwhile, she suffered from headaches and could not serve in the office, which explains the fact that she, having completed secondary education, entered the letter carrier and, while serving in this position, recovered thanks to constant movement in the fresh air.

We agreed to pray that she would be given help to serve as a letter carrier, despite the noted defect in her feet.

After a short time, all the pain in her legs disappeared, and she carried out the duties of a letter carrier without any suffering.

There were several other cases when sick people who prayed with me or others “by agreement” recovered.

7. Another interesting case: my spiritual daughter, a teacher in Moscow, a nervous and very tired person, began to suffer from some kind of incomprehensible fear in relation to her apartment neighbor, whom she herself praised as a wonderful woman. This fear began to turn into some incomprehensible feeling of anger, caused by nothing. Upon entering the kitchen shared with her neighbor, the teacher became numb and could not speak. The neighbor, according to my spiritual daughter, “suppressed her with her strong will and energy,” and finally she began to hate her.

Meanwhile, the neighbor, who did not know how to read and write, asked the teacher to study with her, was always friendly, not at all suspecting the feelings that she had for her, and did not understand what caused the teacher’s silence and her frightened and often angry gaze.

The situation became unbearable: the teacher began to avoid coming into the kitchen when the neighbor was cooking there, and was always in an excited state. Finally, having come to me, she explained all her experiences, adding that she felt wrong, but could not help herself and remove from her heart the feeling of anger and causeless irritation against her neighbor, and asked for help.

I suggested that she pray for God’s help “by agreement” and recommended inviting her neighbor to study literacy with her.

Recently I received a letter from a teacher in which she informs me that her feeling of fear and dislike towards her neighbor has completely disappeared and that she is teaching her literacy with success.

Another similar case occurred, where common prayer also helped, and normal, good relations were established between people who were once disliked towards each other and did not get along, mainly because of pride.

I have never heard of any bishop or clergy advising the laity in difficult cases to resort to prayer “by agreement” as a last resort.

However, as I read much later than I began to practice it myself, Fr. resorted to such prayer. John of Kronstadt. In his book “My Life in Christ” we find: “Soon God hears the prayer of two or three who pray from the heart. Experience”.

Consequently, this shepherd repeatedly had to be convinced of the effective power of prayer by agreement.

In the secret prayer read by the clergy performing the liturgy, during the second antiphon, we read the following: “Who has granted us prayers in common and agreement, like two, or three who agree on Your name, promising a request for a tax, Himself and now the servant of Your petitions to fulfill usefully, has given us in the present world the knowledge of Your truth and in the future granting eternal life.”

From this we can conclude that in the first centuries of Christianity, prayer “by agreement” was quite common, and the clergyman in secret prayer asks Christ that the Lord would accept the prayers common to the entire Church as favorably as He promised to fulfill the requests of two or three who agreed on earth to ask for something.

We have many examples in the history of the Christian Church of how effective and powerful prayer is “by the whole Church,” starting with the miraculous deliverance from the bonds of the Apostle Peter.

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I am attaching a prayer that I usually read when I have to pray by agreement:

“Lord our God, Jesus Christ. You are the most pure mouth of Your rivers: whenever two on earth agree to ask for any deed, it will be given by My Heavenly Father, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them. Your words are immutable, O Lord, Your mercy is unconditional, and Your love for mankind has no end.

I pray to Thee, our God, grant to us (the name of the rivers), who agree to ask Thee for … (subject of prayer), but not in the way we want, but as You, Lord. Let Your will be done in everything. Amen”.