We ought to pray, not according to any bodily habit nor with a habit of loud noise nor out of a custom of silence or on bended knees. But we ought soberly to have an attentive mind, waiting expectantly on God until He comes and visits the soul by means of all its openings, paths, and senses.
And so, we should be silent when we ought … For as when the body does any task, it is completely occupied with the work and all its members help one another, so also the soul should be totally concentrated on asking and on a loving movement toward the Lord, not wandering and dispersed by its thoughts but with concentration waiting expectantly for Christ.
And thus, He will enlighten, teaching one how to ask, giving pure prayer that is spiritual and worthy of God and bestowing the gift of worship “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24). Let us develop in our soul versatility and expertise in order to obtain the genuine and great gain, namely, God, Who teaches us how truly to pray. In this way the Lord finds rest in the well-intended soul, making it a throne of glory, and He sits on it and takes His rest. In a similar way with the Prophet Ezekiel, we heard about the spiritual animals tied to the chariot of the Lord. He presents them to us as eyes all over. In a similar way also is the soul that carries God, or rather that is carried by God: it becomes all eyes.
And just as a house that has its master at home shows forth an abundance of orderliness, and beauty and harmony, so too is the person who has his Lord abiding with him. He is full of every beauty and uprightness. He has the Lord with his spiritual treasures inhabiting within and as his charioteer.
But woe to the house whose master is absent, whose lord is not there. It is desolate, run down, full of dirt and disorder. There, as the Prophet says, “sirens and demons” dwell (Is 3 4:13 – 14). For in the deserted house cats and dogs and all sorts of dirt take over. Woe to the person that does not get up after he has seriously fallen and that has within himself those who convince him and compel him to live as an enemy to his very own Spouse. They eagerly seek to corrupt his thoughts away from Christ.
But when the Lord sees that to the best of his power a person recollects himself, always seeking the Lord night and day as he cries out to him, just as he commanded “to pray incessantly in everything” (I Thes 5:17), He will “avenge” him, as He promised (Lk 18:7), cleansing him from the evil within himself. And He will “present him unto Himself,” a bride “without blemish and without spot” (Eph 5:27).
If then, you believe these things to be true, as indeed they are, look to yourself to see whether your soul has found its guiding light and the genuine meat and drink which is the Lord. If you have not, seek night and day in order to receive.
areudirty
janainaart
2087
jacobvanloon
snowghoul
turnnoffyourmind
