Catechetical Teaching 6: WHAT IS PRAYER
Dear brothers and sisters!
In our previous teachings, we began to talk about home and church prayer. We discussed the importance of entering the House of God, which is a “house of prayer” (Mattew 21:13), with faith, reverence, and fear of God. We also emphasized the need to observe certain rules so as not to become thieves and plunderers of prayer.
To fully understand these rules, it is essential to grasp their spirit, not just their letter. Above all, we must understand what prayer is in general. Suppose you have heard our previous words, and the seed fell on good soil, bringing forth fruit, and you now approach God and everything spiritual much more seriously. You began to come to the church on time, which is before the divine service begins. But why did you come? Of course, for prayer. So, what is prayer, and how should we approach it?
We live simultaneously in two worlds: the visible and the invisible. Physically, we exist in this visible, material world, but spiritually, our soul exists in the invisible, spiritual world. Prayer takes place in both these worlds. Although the body also participates in prayer (for example, coming to the church for prayer, making prostrations, etc.), the main part of prayer occurs in the invisible world. It is there that the soul meets with God. “God is Spirit”, Christ said to the Samaritan woman, “and they that worship him must worship him in spirit” (John 4:24). If the human spirit is the organ of the soul capable of communicating with the spiritual world and the God who dwells there, the organs of the body through which man interacts with the visible world, are the senses. Therefore, we also call this visible world the sensual world.
Thus, to meet God, we need to enter the spiritual world. Consequently, as much as possible, we should withdraw from the sensual world or, at least, limit our contact with it temporarily, to enter into contact with the invisible. The Church joyfully calls us to do this on Pascha: “Let us purify our senses and we shall behold Christ, radiant with the inaccessible light of the Resurrection” (Paschal Canon, Ode 1). In other words, to see Christ, to meet God, we must first purify our senses. It is this purification that is connected with prayer and the fundamental rules of behavior in the church so that prayer does not become wasted. We will discuss these rules and our senses in more detail next time.
May God bless you all!