Kallistos Ware, “The Power of the Name,” in Elizabeth Behr-Sigel, The Place of the Heart: An Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality. Torrance, CA: Oakwood Publications, 1992, p. 138.
To pray is to pass from the state where grace is present in our hearts secretly and unconsciously, to the point of full inner perception and conscious awareness when we experience and feel the activity of the Spirit directly and immediately.
The purpose of prayer can be summarized in the phrase, “Become what you are.”
2 comments:
This quotation, from the great Eastern Orthodox writer Kallistos Ware, describes the movement of prayer from the unconscious to the conscious as it helps us to bring forth what we are. The modern world emphasizes the rational, and we may sometimes feel like we are not praying properly if we are not intellectually engaged. Ware encourages us to pray with our feelings, intuitively, bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit through a mysterious process.
Loving God, help me to feel my way into the prayer that will help me to become all that I am. Help me to experience the secret grace that is in my heart and bring it forth into the world.
I need to take much more time to pray, to become aware of the feelings that Spirit showers on me with abandon, generosity and love. I want to take the time, yet I resist, and succumb to the temptations of outside distraction, noise, requests from others to tend their needs or wants, while my own soul sings so quietly, too quietly, "Come and sit with the divine presence. Get to a lonely place and be lonely no more."
Godess dear, thank You for creating me and calling to me. Please help me listen and respond with actions, sensations, and time spent with You consciously sharing what You have given me already, which we can build together into a newness of life.
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