وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



The spiritual prayer is also one of reverence before God.
We have spoken before about prayer with love, for love does not hinder reverence at all,. Our love for God could not make us forget His solemnity, dignity and veneration. So our talk to Him is mingled with reverence and respect, and thereby we attain the manner of speaking with God. Our reverence is not the fear of slaves but the respect of children to their father and what a Father! He is not a Father on earth but He is our Father who is in Heaven. The One before whom stands the angels in reverence, “...each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet...” (Is 6:2). Therefore Mar Isaac said:
“When you stand up to pray, be like one standing before flames of fire.”
Abraham, the father of fathers and prophets, also said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord” (Gen 18:27). Therefore if you stand before God say to Him: Who am I Lord, to stand before You... You, before whom stand the angels, the archangels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim and all the countless gathering of the heavenly powers. How could I place myself among these luminous hosts?!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Your reverence before God is the reverence of the spirit and also the reverence of the body.

As for the reverence of the body, it includes standing, kneeling and prostration; it would not surrender to standing in a lazy way, or to the devil who tries, during prayer time, to make your body feel tired, sick, exhausted or in need of sleep...!
There are those who, if they stand to pray, they feel tired, while they stand with friends for hours without feeling tired! Therefore, beware of this illusionary tiredness which is of the combats of the devil. Saint Bassilious the Great said:
“Do not use sickness as an excuse for not praying because prayer is a means of recovery from sickness.”
And as it was said by Mar Isaac, “If you start the pure prayer, be prepared for what will come on you”, which means be prepared for the wars of the devil as he tries to hinder you from prayer.
Reverence of the body is essential because the body shares in the feelings of the spirit and expresses them. So reverence of the spirit is expressed by reverence of the body. Slackness and carelessness of the spirit show also in the movements of the body such as having the senses busy with something else during prayer either the sight, the hearing... etc.!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



As for the reverence of the spirit, one must pray with a contrite heart.
Remember that God is near those who have a contrite heart... Do not forget that you are from dust and you are talking to your Creator who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16). Do not also forget your sins by which you grieved God’s Holy Spirit, betrayed His love and met His loving kindness with ingratitude. Therefore stand in contrition before Him as the Prophet Daniel prayed and said, “O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face,... because we have sinned against You... we have rebelled against You” (Dan 9:7-9).
Say to Him: I don’t deserve anything. But in spite of my many sins and ingratitude, Your longsuffering encourages me and Your big heart comforts me. You are the kind God who does not wish for the death of the wicked but that he should turn from his ways and live (Ezek 18:23,32). The greatness of Your mercies are revealed in me who has fallen..!

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III




Let your prayer be with faith...
Believe that God hears you and loves you and will answer you in whatever He finds good for you. The Lord said, “And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Mt 21:22). And if you don’t have this faith, ask for it in your prayer, as it was said to the Lord by the father of the boy who had a mute spirit, “ Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24), or as the Apostle said to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5) . Remember this beautiful promise, “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mk 9:23).
Be confident that faith gives strength to prayer. Prayer also strengthens faith... But if you ask for something, do not be in a hurry to get it. Wait for the Lord. Believe that He will answer your request, no matter how it seems to you that He is slow in responding. Listen to David the Prophet, when he says, “Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait I say on the Lord!” (Ps 27:14).

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III




Let your prayer be also with depth and understanding.
The more your prayer is with understanding, where you mean each word you say, the deeper the prayer. The Psalmist cries out in the psalm: “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!” (Ps 130:1), and “With my whole heart I have sought You” (Ps 119:10). Pray then from the depth of your heart, the depth of your faith and the depth of your needs... The depth of prayer gives it warmth...

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Exercises in prayer


1. Train yourself to extend the time you spend in the presence of God.
How beautiful is the saying of David the Psalmist in Psalm 119:97, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Ask yourself then, how much time do you spend with God? There is no doubt that you spend much time in conversation and entertainment that you benefit nothing from... It is a wasted time. Would that you dedicate more time to talking with God. Do not make this time at the end of your busy schedule but on the top of it.

2. Train yourself to get up early and start the day with prayer.
This is when the heart is clear, not crowded by thoughts about work and other responsibilities. The house would be still quiet as the rest of the family is still asleep and no noise is heard. You will be alone with God, with no obstacles and God will be the first one you will talk to in your day and you will take a blessing for the whole day...

3. Give more care to the “Hours Prayers” from the Agpia:
If you can’t pray each hour completely during the day, at least pray the parts and the absolution of each. You can be sure that it would not take more than a few minutes from you, during which you lift up your heart to God during the day’s struggles and anxieties.
What would help you here is memorizing, so the more you memorize parts and psalms from the Agpia, the more you will be able to pray without a book and without anyone noticing...

4. Try to practise praying in all places.
Follow what the Bible says, “...Men always ought to pray” (Lk 18:1) , and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17)... Practise praying while on the road so you would not be occupied by its scenery. Practise praying while with other
people, especially if their talk is a stumbling block or it does not concern you. Practise praying when you enter your house and when you leave it, and also when you get to work and when you leave it... Pray also in each meeting, so God will give you grace and success.



5. Train yourself to pray the repetitive short prayers:
For example, the prayer: “My Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me”, or “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me,” or “I love the Lord Jesus Christ, and I bless His name”, or “I thank you Lord on every occasion”... or any short verse that you make up for yourself as a prayer and that suits your condition and expresses your feelings... By repeating a prayer, it makes it register in your subconscious so it will be in your thoughts automatically and may stay with you, even in your sleep. The saying of the Psalmist, “...I remember You on my bed” (Ps 63:6), refers to this.




6. Train yourself to pray for others.
Practise praying for all those who are in need,. For your relatives, friends and colleagues... for the church in general and for your local parish, and especially for the service... Another prayer could be for the sick and for those who have departed and for those who are in need of repentance. A prayer for the world and the nations... And by this way you will progress gradually in praying for others, until you even pray for your enemies and those who resist you.




7. Train yourself to bring God into each topic and each problem.
Do not face problems on your own, or depend only on your intelligence, or on your friends to solve your problems. But have the feeling that you can not do without God in whatever faces you. Be sure that prayer will give you a feeling of security, comfort and inner peace. Be confident that your problems are in honest, strong hands, capable of guiding all your affairs.
When you pray for a problem, either God will solve it and so it comes to an end, or if it remains, God will give your heart peace concerning it.
This is another way of solving the problem.
Although the problem is still there, you are not upset about it or disturbed; it is almost as if it does not exist. You don’t consider it a problem any more... This is the effectiveness of prayer.




8. Train yourself on personal prayers, beside the ritual ones.
The prayer in which you talk openly to God and reveal all that is in your heart. There is nothing wrong in saying to Him, ‘Lord, I love You but I feel that I love other matters in the world which hinder me from You. Whenever I try to remove them from my heart, I find myself weak before You. I know that, “Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4:4). Therefore, grant me Lord to love You with the perfect love and with Your strength, save me from any love that is against Your love.’


Don’t let your prayer be just mere chosen and well selected phrases. Let it be in plain words that spring from your heart, without artificiality... Let your prayer express your condition and feelings with an open heart... Beware that you do not make your prayer just a routine.




9. Pray with understanding. Train yourself to contemplate on the psalms, the Agpia prayers and all the memorized prayers.
The deeper you go in the meaning of these prayers, the more you will find this depth accompanying you at the time of prayer. You will also learn the manner of talking to God; as the Disciples said to the Lord, “Teach us to pray” (Lk 11:2).




10. If you haven’t reached yet the pure prayer, do not stop praying for this reason.
Prayer, like any virtue, is one in which progress is made gradually in order to reach its perfection. And as it was said by Mar Isaac, “If you are going to wait until you reach the level of perfect prayer before you even start praying, you will never pray, because it is through constant prayer that we reach the perfected and pure prayer...”




11. Train yourself to continue praying, whenever you want to end it...
It is a sign of success in praying that you feel you cannot live without it or leave it; it is as if you are communicating direct with God, saying, “Stay with me, my Lord.” And you say with the Shulamite in the Book of Songs, “I held Him and would not let Him go” (Song 3:4).. You will even feel the sweetness of each petition or word and you would not like to leave it. Or, as one of the fathers said about the prayers of the saints, “Because of the sweetness of the word in their mouth, they were unable to leave it for another word...”
...

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Train yourself to extend the time you spend in the presence of God.
How beautiful is the saying of David the Psalmist in Psalm 119:97, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Ask yourself then, how much time do you spend with God? There is no doubt that you spend much time in conversation and entertainment that you benefit nothing from... It is a wasted time. Would that you dedicate more time to talking with God. Do not make this time at the end of your busy schedule but on the top of it.

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Train yourself to get up early and start the day with prayer.
This is when the heart is clear, not crowded by thoughts about work and other responsibilities. The house would be still quiet as the rest of the family is still asleep and no noise is heard. You will be alone with God, with no obstacles and God will be the first one you will talk to in your day and you will take a blessing for the whole day...

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Give more care to the “Hours Prayers” from the Agpia:
If you can’t pray each hour completely during the day, at least pray the parts and the absolution of each. You can be sure that it would not take more than a few minutes from you, during which you lift up your heart to God during the day’s struggles and anxieties.
What would help you here is memorizing, so the more you memorize parts and psalms from the Agpia, the more you will be able to pray without a book and without anyone noticing...

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III



Try to practise praying in all places.
Follow what the Bible says, “...Men always ought to pray” (Lk 18:1) , and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17)... Practise praying while on the road so you would not be occupied by its scenery. Practise praying while with other
people, especially if their talk is a stumbling block or it does not concern you. Practise praying when you enter your house and when you leave it, and also when you get to work and when you leave it... Pray also in each meeting, so God will give you grace and success.