How to pray correctly in your own words? The Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountain writes: “In your prayer you must combine those four actions that St. Basil the Great writes about: first glorify God, then thank Him for the blessings shown to you, then confess to Him your sins and the transgressions of His commandments and finally ask Him what you need, especially in the matter of your salvation” (Invisible Warfare. Part 1. Chapter 46: About prayer). Prayer (any prayer, not just prayer in your own words) is not only a conversation with God, but also a special work in which the mind, feelings, will and body participate. For prayer to be gracious and bear fruit, one needs purity of heart, depth of faith, and experience of spiritual life. Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) writes: “The soul that begins the path of God is immersed in deep ignorance of everything divine and spiritual, even if it were rich in the wisdom of this world. Because of this ignorance, she does not know how and how much she should pray. To help the infant soul, the Holy Church established prayer rules. A prayer rule is a collection of several prayers composed by the divinely inspired holy fathers, adapted to a certain circumstance and time” (A Word on the Cell Prayer Rule). Even the apostles asked the Lord: “Teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). The Savior gave the disciples, and through them, all Christians, the most perfect example of prayer - the Lord’s Prayer. In addition to the Lord's Prayer, the psalms (Greek psallo - “I sing”) of the prophet David and the chants of other inspired hymnographers were generally accepted in the apostolic age. In the psalms they praised and thanked the Lord. They were comforted and offered petitions to God in all life circumstances. The Apostle Paul calls believers to psalmody (see: Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). However, prayer life in the primal Church was not limited to this. The words of the Apostle Paul: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) contain a call to acquire constant inner prayer, which is most often done in one’s own words. The Apostle also speaks about prayer in his own words, pronounced with his lips: “In church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in an [unfamiliar] tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). In subsequent centuries, the holy fathers also taught us to turn to God and the saints not only with established prayers, but also commanded us to have prayer in our own words: “For this you need not so much a word as a thought, not so much stretching out your hands as straining your soul , not so much a certain position of the body, but rather a disposition of the spirit” (St. John Chrysostom). The Monk John of the Climacus gives instructions to the one praying with his own prayers: “Do not use wise expressions in your prayer, for often the simple and unsophisticated babble of children was pleasing to their Heavenly Father” (Ladder. 28:9); “Do not try to be verbose when talking with God, so that your mind is not wasted in finding words. One word of the publican appeased God, and one saying, filled with faith, saved the thief. Verbosity during prayer often entertains the mind and fills it with dreams, but unity of words usually collects it” (Ladder. 28: 10). The most important thing is that prayer (any prayer, not just prayer in your own words) be lively, sincere and warm: “It’s good to say a few of your own words in prayer, breathing with ardent faith and love for the Lord... And how pleasing to the Lord is this our own babble, coming directly from from a believer, a loving and grateful heart, it is impossible to retell: it is only necessary to say that the soul trembles with joy at its words to God... You say a few words, but you taste so much bliss that you will not receive it to the same extent from the longest and most touching prayers - those of others prayers, out of habit and sincerely pronounced” (Righteous Saint John of Kronstadt). Saint Theophan the Recluse also speaks about this: “If the soul is lethargic and is not strong enough to rise to God on its own, read a prayer from memory, repeating each word several times in order to break the soul as if with a hammer. When the soul goes to the Lord on its own, do not read any memorized prayers, but lead your speech directly to the Lord, starting with thanksgiving for the mercies to yourself, then saying other things that need to be said. The Lord is near! He listens to the word from the heart” (Letters. Issue 7. Letter 1083). Father Job Gumerov
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Prayer and meditation are the best way to help in any situation
Hello dear reader. Welcome to the reality of yoga.
When talking about the spiritual path, it is impossible to ignore the topic of prayer.
The entire Christian world attaches paramount importance to it, but the path of sincere spiritual seekers of other directions is also not possible
without prayer: because prayer is the most natural and effective means of “reaching Heaven, reaching God.” Prayer is a call of the heart, clothed in words and addressed to the highest! And God always hears our prayers. But why do the prayers of saints always work, but the prayers of ordinary people often remain unanswered? What does it take to pray effectively? How can we get an answer from the Superconscious, God, to our prayers and thereby increase our happiness?
From this article, you will learn all this.
What is prayer?
Prayer is an appeal to the Highest. God has many names, many definitions, and countless ideas about Him. About what should be understood by God. I described it in sufficient detail in the article - What is yoga? The Place of God in Yoga.
I'll just say it here. You can call Your Higher Nature whatever you like: God, Superconsciousness, Higher Self, Light, Love... as long as it inspires you to strive to become better.
Prayer is always an appeal to something Higher. In yoga, our true nature is called - Sat - Chit - Ananda - Eternal Consciousness, Eternal Existence, Eternally New Bliss.
In order to more effectively tune into this level of Yourself, it is very healthy to turn to this Higher Nature in your thoughts and feelings as often as possible. There are several ways to do this.
Types of prayers.
Canonical prayers.
In every religion or even spiritual movement, there are already established forms of appeal to the Highest.
Such prayers can be called canonical.
In Christianity, the first canonical prayer was the prayer uttered by Jesus Christ: the Lord's Prayer - Our Father.
A wonderful prayer, just like all other canonical prayers officially approved by the Christian Church. The enormous power of canonical , ready-made prayers is that hundreds of saints prayed for them! And the power of each time a prayer is said energetically remains with this prayer.
Even if a person has never read a prayer and sees this prayer for the first time, even if he is not particularly focused and does not particularly believe in something, then still such a prayer, already read for centuries, helps, cleanses, as if connects a person to the energies of its purity, accumulated by all those who previously prayed to it.
In a very strong and wise Orthodox book - “Frank stories of a wanderer to his spiritual father”, there is a story when one nobleman could not get rid of drunkenness. The priest gave him the Gospel and told him to read it every time he felt the urge to drink. The nobleman objected: “But I don’t understand anything that was written!” “Nothing,” answered the priest: “The main thing is to read, the demons understand everything.” Soon this man got rid of drunkenness.
Demons are low-frequency energies that, like bad habits formed in the subconscious, prevent a person from becoming better, cleaner, closer to his True Nature. These energies are conscious, they are fueled by the energies of those who “sheltered” them. They don't want to leave their homes. But if a person prays, then for subtle energy bodies it is like washing in clean water, which washes away everything less pure. Then the mind becomes enlightened, the feelings calm down and the body recovers.
I say this from my experience. My favorite canonical prayers and psalms are here: The Strongest Prayers.
These prayers, and simply reading canonical akathists and psalms, very often cleanse me. The world of average esotericism today is much darker than official Orthodoxy. Unfortunately, people often only get to real yoga after having already picked up “knowledge” from isothermal books. And the strongly materialistically oriented masses of the urban population do not at all strengthen cleanliness.
For me, the main goal of canonical prayers is precisely the cleansing of energies that interfere with striving for the Highest. It happens that I read akathists to the saints (I really love St. Nicholas the Wonderworker) so that some wish of mine can be fulfilled in the best possible way. Again, such akathists cleanse my consciousness and help me tune in to God. When I feel that there is not enough purity, or I just need to invest more energy in the right thing - canonical prayers and akathists are ideal!
Also, all canonical prayers touch on one or another Yama Niyama, which of course helps to work through them. Two prayers are very relevant here: the prayer of the Optina elders (I give an example of the complete prayer of the Optina elders), and the so-called “Ancient prayer from the cell book of Fr. John the Peasant" (in fact, this is the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi) - here they are: Two prayers.
And of course, after the canonical prayers, since at this moment the attunement with the Highest is maximum, it is very cool to turn upward in your own words, and this is also a prayer.
Prayer in your own words.
The main conditions for effective prayer are a concentrated mind (as in any other matter, you need to be able to concentrate) and calm feelings
(so that the energies of feelings are again concentrated). In the language of yoga, real, effective prayer requires good Pranoyama, Pratyahara and Dharana.
If the energies are collected into one stream, then any appeal to the top will be heard and taken into account.
I also use canonical prayers specifically to strengthen concentration - Dharana.
And then, if I have any other tasks, besides cleansing myself and feeling the grace of the Superconscious, I turn to God in my own words (in general, I often turn to Him in my own words:). My favorite thing to do is address God as Father, as Mother, and as Beloved. Also, in a purified state and with good concentration, I like to turn to the saints of both the Christian world and the Hindu world.
For those who have a teacher, a guru, they don’t have to turn to anyone other than him. As Paramahansa Yogananda said: “The Guru is the window to the Supreme.”
Of course, I often turn to my guru. But the Christian saints are also very close to me, and as if having many friends, and not yet feeling the need to abandon them, I want to maintain relationships with all of them.
One way or another, if you feel that you want to address God and the saints in your own words, if gratitude, a request for help and love sincerely flow from your heart, such an appeal will always be heard. The more sincere and concentrated a person is, the more effective his prayer will be. And contact with Superconsciousness always purifies and brings positive consequences.
A life of prayer is the best life.
1. Prayer clarifies the consciousness and cleanses the subconscious, and everything external is a reflection of the internal, therefore, the deeper and more sincerely a person prays, the faster the world around him will change for the better.
2. When we really need help, the reality is that we need to bring more energy to the situation. Boundless expanses of energy in our own Superconsciousness, in God. And through prayers, tuning in with Him, we receive the right amount of energy (whether it be health problems, financial difficulties or a difficult exam).
3. If you need to help someone, then prayer is also the best way. After all, especially while a person’s intuition is not working, with his help he can harm the soul of the person asking. And if you pray to God, with the wish that everything will turn out in the best way for the unfortunate person (not to decide for yourself how everything should turn out, but to leave it to God to decide), then everything will turn out that way - in the best possible way.
Conditions for effective prayer.
Time of day and locations are not particularly important. Yes, in well-prayed churches, next to shrines and relics, the likelihood of effective prayer increases, but this happens due to the fact that there is already a lot of good energy in these places. After all, they prayed there... these places are already, to one degree or another, channels of Divine energies.
God initially often sent those same saints to places with bad energy - swamps, wilds, so that by praying there they would neutralize the negative.
They had such strength and this strength, the same concentration aimed at God.
The higher a person’s ability to concentrate, the potentially more effective his prayer can be. Therefore, it is very healthy to pray after meditation, because it calms the mind and feelings, redirecting energies to the Superconscious. Ideal conditions!
In the right state of consciousness, with a calm, God-directed mind and calm, God-directed feelings. The prayer will certainly be successful.
As an example of a prayer after meditation given by Paramahansa Yogananda, you can pray as follows (in this video, from the point of view of the science of yoga, it is incredibly interesting to explain how this prayer works and why it helps):
The answer is from God.
Another important condition for effective prayer is receiving an answer after turning to God, the Superconscious.
If we really need something, if we want to resolve a difficult issue for ourselves, then it would be good not only to tell God about our problems, but also to listen to His answer.
Very often people just pray, as if they are having a monologue with themselves, God is very delicate, He will never speak while we are talking. For Him to speak, you need to calm your restless mind, agitated feelings and listen.
This again is best achieved through meditation. And the answer will not necessarily be thunder from heaven. Rather, it may be a quiet whisper in the heart, or just a feeling. In general, God speaks to us through our intuition. Intuition is a channel of communication with the soul, God. The cleaner the channel. the easier it is for us to hear Him and the more opportunities we have to live with Him. Therefore, it is very important to develop intuition.
For those people for whom it is well developed, the above is easily achievable.
When you feel the Divine response in your heart. Then you are filled with joy and confidence that everything will work out in the best way. Living with such confidence is very pleasant.
Continuous prayer.
In Orthodoxy there is such an incredible tool for achieving Unity with God as the unceasing Jesus Prayer, I also call it mental prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”
It is written about in great detail in the book “Frank Stories of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father.”
I advise everyone to read this book. Here I will say that for those who really want to find Unity with God, with their Higher Nature, this technique of unceasing prayer is simply necessary.
It is impossible to imagine the world of yoga without such a form of prayer as Mantra; I will talk about them separately in another article. Many of the mantras are also used for continuous repetition so that the connection with God is constantly strengthened, day and night.
What is the best thing to pray for? Prayer for yourself and for others.
The most common case when people pray is a desire to receive something. Some people want health, some want to improve their personal lives, others want to improve their living conditions and material level.
I can’t say that this approach is very wise. The goal in itself is to create favorable conditions for your body, feelings and mind - this is generally a futile endeavor. God, of course, can fulfill everything, but other needs will appear, and still others... in general, in the long term, such prayers for one’s own benefit are ineffective and even harmful. Very often God does not answer such prayers because for the soul the fulfillment of this desire will be disastrous.
When praying, we must always keep in mind that God, the Superconscious, knows best what is good for us. Therefore, after each such prayer it is very cool to add the phrase:
For everything, the love of God or Thy will be done.
I love prayer so much:
Lord, strengthen and guide, Thy will be done.
It is much better to pray not for perishable things (that you cannot take with you into the subtle worlds after leaving your body), but to become closer to God, it is good to pray for cleansing from those qualities that prevent you from always being with God or for the gift to us those qualities that help you be with Him. This is the purpose of life and the guarantee of unbreakable happiness. Everything else is not so important. These qualities are wonderfully described in the Yamas Niyama.
Praying for others gives a lot of strength and energy . If we sincerely wish goodness and prosperity to someone, then enormous beneficial energy goes through us to this person, at the same time filling us. Moreover, in this case it comes to us much more than in the case when we simply pray for ourselves.
But the prayer must be sincere. If a person prays for others with the desire to benefit himself, then the flow of energy will sharply decrease, which means the effectiveness of his prayers will be low.
Another condition for effective prayer is the state of consciousness not of a beggar, but a firm, confident awareness that we are the children of our Heavenly Father, who have the right to all of his inheritance. At the same time, of course, you cannot blatantly demand something, but it is important to be worthy. Humility is necessary, but it is humility that is important, not self-abasement. True humility is the understanding that the Divine Consciousness is much wiser and more loving than all our own opinions and judgments. Willingness to accept with trust and gratitude any situation as the best for us is humility. But you must always pray with dignity, as if saying:
“Father, you know better what to do, I will accept any of your decisions. Know what I want (for example, to be free from worrying about the child). I am Your child, and I know that You love me. Please do it. And let Your will be done for everything.”
If you are not at all sure that the fulfillment of your prayer will bring good (in relation to external things, such as cars, the return of husbands and even health, it may very well be that the fulfillment of your desire will not be for good - you can separately clarify - if what I am asking for really will bring benefit, then do it. In any case, it is better to end your non-canonical prayers to God with the words: May Your Will be done for everything or
and let the Love of God be in everything.
God is always happy to help his children become better people and make the world a better place. And the more often we turn to Him, opening ourselves to His beneficial energies, the better it will be for us and the whole world. After all, every attunement to His pure energies brings us closer to a state of holiness. And who else but the saints, being the purest channels of God, bring the greatest good to the world and themselves arrive in indescribable bliss, their true nature of Sat Chit Ananda.
It is quite easy to experience this bliss through prayer. So pray – for yourself, for others and be happy!
Write comments and see you in the reality of yoga!
And this is the full version of the prayer of the Optina elders, so as not to program myself into the fact that I am a sinner (Yogananda said - the greatest sin is to call oneself a sinner), I gloss over the word thy sinful servant. I try to read this prayer every day. Optina Pustyn generally played an important role in my life. I write more about this in the book - Help of Christianity on the path of yoga, or why I go to church again.
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- Natalia:
05/17/2018 at 08:14Thank you for the article!
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05/17/2018 at 08:16
Thanks to the author for the article!
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12/31/2019 at 1:32 pm
Thanks a lot
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What words to pray?
home → PRAYER → What words to pray?
When praying, do not say too much, like the pagans, for they think that for their many words they will be heard.
(Matt. 6, 7).
Make your desires known to God.
(Phil. 4, 6).
When the prayer words are convincing for you, then they will be convincing for God. Try to achieve childlike simplicity in dealing with people and in prayer to God. Simplicity is the greatest good and dignity of man. God is completely simple, because he is completely spiritual, completely good. And let your soul not be divided into good and evil. Have the same respect for every word that you have for a living person, and firmly believe that the word of God is alive and active, like a living being, like an Angel... It is sometimes good to say a few words of your own in prayer, breathing with ardent faith and love for the Lord. Yes, it’s not all about talking to God in other people’s words, it’s not all about being children in faith and hope, but you have to show your mind, say your good word from the heart; We somehow get used to other people’s words and grow cold. The Lord God is so true and holy that He demands from us holiness and truth similar to Him. For example, in prayer, He clearly always demands from us internally that our thoughts and hearts certainly turn within the limits that the words or content, the essence of prayers, require, so that every word is as if from our being, as if it were actually ours, and so that Our thoughts and hearts did not in any way deviate during prayer to foreign objects, even if they were not reprehensible, and even holy; that is, he wants us to be completely sincere, simple, true. When you pray to the Lord, or the Most Holy Theotokos, or the Angels and Saints for something - asking for their intercession for yourself or for other people before God, then consider the words expressing your request, your needs, as the very things, for the very deed that you ask the Lord, and believe that you already have a sure guarantee of receiving the subject of your petitions in the very words by which this subject is signified. For example, you ask for health for yourself or someone else: take your word for health; believe that you already have it by the mercy and omnipotence of God, for the very word, the name, in an instant can be deeded by the Lord, and you will certainly receive what you ask for for your unshakable faith. In every word there is God the Word, a simple Being. How carefully should one pronounce words, with what humility and prudence, so as not to anger God the Word with his father and spirit?
Righteous John of Kronstadt. (1829-1908) .
Do not use wise expressions in your prayer; for often the simple and unsophisticated babble of children pleased their Heavenly Father. Do not try to be verbose when talking with God, so that your mind is not wasted on finding words. If you feel particularly sweet or tender in any word of the prayer, then dwell on it; for then our Guardian Angel prays with us. He who has acquired the Lord will no longer say his word in prayer; for the Holy Spirit then prays for him, and in him.
Venerable John Climacus (VI-VII century).
From himself, without the Holy Spirit, no person can call on the Lord Jesus purely and completely, unless he prays in the Holy Spirit, babbling more than a baby, unable to utter words separately.
Venerable Gregory of Sinaite (XIV century).
May you not be tempted by the desire to compose your own prayers without the said inner urge and need... You cannot do without vanity and conceit, and these creations drown out real prayer and suppress it. Complete and real prayer exists when a prayerful feeling is combined with the prayerful word and prayerful thought.
Venerable Nicodemus the Holy Mountain (1749-1809).
Do not dare to bring to God multi-verbal and eloquent prayers composed by you, no matter how strong and touching they may seem to you: they are the product of a fallen mind and, being a desecrated victim, cannot be accepted on the spiritual altar of God. And you, admiring the elegant expressions of the prayers you have composed and recognizing the refined effect of vanity and voluptuousness as a consolation of conscience and even grace, will be carried away far from prayer.
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867).
Reading from a book dispels a lot of things. Try to do this: memorize the morning and evening prayers, understanding them and feeling what they say. Read them then as if they came from the heart. From the psalter, also choose which psalms are closest to your heart and memorize them. Read them too in prayer, as a keepsake. Read them this way - going where or doing what. The less you need prayer books, the better. Have you tried praying short prayers? The main one is the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner! You can choose others to match it, depending on your spiritual needs. For example, take the four prayers of St. Chrysostom that are found in prayers for sleep. They make up the seventh chapter on sleep, twelve daytime, twelve nighttime. Learn them with understanding and feeling, and pronounce them often. They embrace all the needs of our spiritual life. You can replace the entire prayer rule with them, repeating each prayer five, ten or more times. Praying in short prayers gathers attention and sorts out all spiritual needs. Don’t read all the ready-made prayers, but in your own words tell God what’s on your soul and ask for help: “You see, Lord, what I have! Both this and that. I can't help myself. Help, All-Merciful!” Infancy in prayer, as in general in the entire spiritual structure, is the best mood and take care of it. Children come up to their father or mother and, without saying anything, just hover around them because it is sweet for them to be with them. Conduct yourself in such a way that in a simple heart you always hover around the Lord.
Saint Theophan, Recluse of Vyshensky (1815-1894).
If you carefully read the Psalter a lot (if you have free time), then a person will be in conversation with God all the time and will feel the presence of God in his heart, from this the prayer and psalmody itself will be warmer, more attentive, will touch the heart more deeply, greater reverence, fear of God and other.
Hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev) (1894-1963).
About praying the prayers of others (proudly opposed to one’s own prayer): Christ is our example. His prayer cries on the cross - quotes from the psalms - My God, you have forsaken me
(Ps. 21:2), I
commit my spirit into Your hands
(Ps. 30:6).
Priest Alexander Elchaninov (1881-1934).
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