Tonight we continued with Letter 71 to Anastasia on “Coldness in Prayer”. St. Theophan is very direct with Anastasia about the causes of this coldness. Typically, it is because we are carrying out our prayer rule hurriedly and haphazardly. Therefore, he tells Anastasia that she must never carry out any spiritual activity as if it were perfectly established, especially prayer. She must to go about her prayer as if she is doing it for the first time; with the zeal of someone who has come to see the beauty of what God has given them. In fact, Theophan tells her that nothing offends God more than praying hurriedly. It is His gift of love and intimacy and if she treats it lightly, he tells her, she should scold herself for such carelessness. Prayer always will bear fruit within our lives. However, we cannot approach it in a utilitarian fashion, simply to accomplish a task. It is God’s greatest gift to us and so we must approach any discipline surrounding it with devotion and love. Even if we create a prayer rule for ourselves, we must understand that it is God who calls us to prayer and it is God who gives it shape and perfects the gift through his own Spirit of Love. When we begin to see prayer in this way, we will long for it and eventually we will find our greatest delight in it.
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The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVII: On Stillness of Mind and Body, Part I
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XI, Part III
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis XI, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis X, Part III and Hypothesis XI, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis X, Part II
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part X
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis IX, Part II and Hypothesis X, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part IX
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VIII, Part II and Hypothesis IX, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XIII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VIII, Part I
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XII
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis VI, Part II and Hypothesis VII
The Ladder of Divine Ascent - Chapter XXVI: On Discernment, Part XI
The Evergetinos: Book Two - Hypothesis IV, Part III
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