Categories: prayer, spiritual-writings
Date: 27 March 2012 02:46:25
Some more quotes on prayer from my patron saint's (John Climacus) work, The Ladder of Divine Ascent.
After a long spell of prayer, do not say that nothing has been gained ... For, after all, what higher good is there than to cling to the Lord and to persevere in unceasing union with Him?Do not refuse a request to pray for the soul of another, even when you yourself lack the gift of prayer. For often the very faith of the person making the request will evoke the saving contrition of the one who is to offer the prayer ... Do not become conceited when you have prayed for others and have been heard, for it is their faith which has been active and efficacious.
We may note that our all-good King, like some earthly monarch, sometimes distributes His gifts to His soldiers Himself, sometimes through a friend or slave, and sometimes in a hidden way. But certainly it will be in accordance with the garment of humility worn by each of us.
Ask with tears, seek with obedience, knock with patience. For so it goes that he "who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:8).
And, lastly, a challenge to my love of reading 'for knowledge'; not that knowledge is bad in itself, but a practical expression of faith shown in works, as St James writes, is of importance:
You cannot learn to see just because someone tells you to do so. For that, you require your own natural power of sight. In the same way, you cannot discover from the teaching of others the beauty of prayer. Prayer has its own special teacher in God, who "teaches man knowledge" (Ps. 93:10)[*]. He grants the prayer of him who prays. And He blessed the years of the just.[*] 94:10 in most English Bibles