“Mark the wisdom of blessed Paul. There he armed the Ephesians, teaching them every precaution. Here, at the conclusion of all, he teaches how one must approach the king and ask Him to send His help.
“For when he said, ‘Pray with all prayer and supplication,’ he showed that, if they need God’s help in anything, they need it especially in this matter. It is as though he said: you will attain this, and you can accomplish everything, only if you pray.”
Having pointed out the necessity of prayer, the Apostle immediately shows what prayer must be like if it is to be heard. First, he says, pray “with all prayer and supplication.” That is, pray with all earnestness, with pain of heart, and with a fiery movement toward God.
Saint Chrysostom points to Hannah, the mother of Samuel, as an image of such prayer. “She shed many tears,” he says. “Let us be ashamed before such a woman. She prayed for the gift of a son and wept.
“But we ask for the Kingdom of Heaven, and we do this with a certain negligence. ‘And she stood,’ it says, ‘before the Lord and prayed: O Lord God of hosts’ (1 Sam 1:11).
“Yet tears flowed before she could utter anything. By them she hoped to incline God’s mercy toward herself. Where there are tears, there is complete contrition. Where there is contrition, there is much love of wisdom and watchfulness.
“Then see what reverence appears in this also: ‘her lips moved, but her voice was not heard’ (1 Sam 1:13). With such a disposition a man approaches God when he sincerely desires to receive what he asks.
“Sloth, inattention, distraction, negligence, and carelessness have no place in him.”
Second, he says, pray “at all times.” By this he commands persistence and wakefulness in prayer. Prayer must not be an occupation for a certain time only, but the constant state of the spirit.
“See that you do not limit yourself to one fixed time of day. Do you hear what he says? Approach prayer at every time, as he said elsewhere: ‘Pray without ceasing’ (1 Thess 5:17).
“Have you not heard of the widow, and how she overcame the judge by her persistence? Have you not heard how one friend urgently asked at midnight and persuaded his friend?
“Have you not heard of the Canaanite woman, and how by her persistent request she stirred the Lord to compassion for her? These people received what they desired, each because he was persistent in his request” (Saint Chrysostom).
Third, he says, pray “in the Spirit.” That is, prayer must not be only outward, but also inward, performed by the mind in the heart. This is the essence of prayer, which is the lifting up of the mind and heart to God.
The holy fathers distinguish noetic prayer of the heart from spiritual prayer. The first is performed by the conscious activity of the one who prays. The second comes upon him, and although it is conscious, it moves by itself, apart from the effort of the one praying.
This prayer is moved by the Spirit. The latter cannot be prescribed, for it is not in our power. One may desire it, seek it, and receive it with thanksgiving, but not perform it whenever one wishes.
Nevertheless, in those who have been purified, prayer is for the most part moved by the Spirit. We must therefore suppose that the Apostle prescribes noetic prayer of the heart when he says, “Pray in the Spirit.”
One may add: pray noetically in the heart, with the desire to attain prayer moved by the Spirit. Such prayer consciously keeps the soul before the face of the omnipresent God.
By drawing the divine ray to itself and reflecting it from itself, it scatters the enemies. One may confidently hold that the soul in such a state is inaccessible to demons. Only in this way can one pray at all times and in every place.
Fourth: “and for this very purpose keeping watch with all perseverance.” By this he commands the laboriousness of prayer, or the exertion of oneself in prayer.
Experiences of prayers being heard, whether public or private, show that Christians who hoped to obtain what was needful by prayer did not approach prayer lightly. They did not approach it as an easy matter.
Rather, they appointed fasting and vigils, long prayer services, and many prostrations. Such painful labor in prayer drew God’s help swiftly. Saint Paul here prescribes precisely this kind of exertion in prayer.
“For this very purpose,” that is, in order to receive help from above, keep watch in prayer with perseverance. In Greek, “perseverance” is expressed by a word that indicates patient abiding in labor, staying with one and the same task, or steadfast application.
Theodoret writes: “The divine Paul commands us to watch and pray unceasingly, and not to relax bodily labor, but to remain in it with great perseverance.”
How fitting, then, are the long prayer services conducted in our Holy Church, in accordance with the apostolic commandment. Since we are always surrounded by enemies, we always need prayer that is quickly heard.
Therefore we also need prayer rites that make us exert ourselves. Such rites are indeed what we have. The ascetic fathers often mention this exertion of oneself in prayer.
Among them are such sayings as these: prayer in which a man has not suffered in body and spirit is not good prayer. Or again: let ease be driven out of your rules of prayer.
Labor in prayer is an outward work. Yet it is not introduced in order to replace inward prayer. Likewise, inward prayer was not introduced so that the outward work of prayer might be abolished. Both are necessary.
Saint Chrysostom says: “‘Keeping watch for this very purpose,’ it is said. Whatever Saint Paul means here, whether all-night vigils or sobriety of soul, I accept both.”
Then Saint Chrysostom again points to the Canaanite woman, the widow, and others as examples of the labor of prayer. He shows how much toil they bore before they attained what they desired.
“And in prayer for all the saints.” This may be the fifth quality of prayer needed for it to be heard.
The Apostle writes to the whole Church and commands it to pray not for itself alone, but also for all the saints. That is, it must pray for every other Church of believers, and for the good estate of the holy churches of God.
He commands that no one isolate himself in prayer, whether he prays alone or in a whole assembly of believers. Since our spiritual needs are the same for all, and the enemies warring against us are the same, we must always pray for all.
What followed from this? If the Ephesians pray for all, then all also pray for them. Through this their prayer becomes powerful, as the prayer of the whole body of the Church. Let us call this the catholicity of prayer.
Let us also set it down as a condition for prayer to be quickly heard.
The Savior commanded us to enter our chamber and there pray to our God and Father in secret. This chamber, as Saint Dimitry of Rostov explains, signifies the heart.
Consequently, the Lord’s commandment obliges us to pray secretly to God, in the heart, with the mind. This commandment extends to all Christians.
What, then, does the Apostle Paul command when he says that one must “pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication” (Eph 6:18)? He commands noetic prayer, spiritual prayer, and he commands it to all Christians without distinction.
He also commands all Christians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). But it is impossible to pray without ceasing except by noetic prayer in the heart.
Thus one cannot dispute that noetic prayer is obligatory for all Christians. If it is obligatory, then one can no longer say that it is scarcely possible, for God does not oblige us to what is impossible.
That it is difficult is true. That it is impossible is false. Yet in general every good thing is difficult. Prayer must be especially so, since it is for us the source of every good thing and its sure support.
THEOSIS