In this case, prayer seems to be isolated and does not penetrate into life. From this, the life of a Christian in such cases is not much different from the life of those who live outside of God: a person easily succumbs to the action of passions, he is disturbed by spiritual storms, and he feels defenseless and abandoned in the face of life's misfortunes.

This happens because a person does not know how to constantly wield the powerful weapon of a Christian – unceasing prayer. It is as if he tries on weapons in the morning and evening, and during the day he takes them off and goes out to the daily battle with the enemy without weapons.

"Except for unceasing prayer, we cannot draw near to God," says St. Isaac the Syrian.

And St. Gregory the Theologian writes: "We must not only pray always, but we must always teach others the same, all in general: monks, laymen, wise and simple, husbands, wives, and children - and urge them to pray without ceasing."

St. Symeon the New Theologian teaches: "He who prays without ceasing, in this alone unites all that is good."

St. The Fathers also say that "if you pray only when you have risen to pray, then you never pray."

It must also be understood that we are exposed to an incessant stream of temptations: in thoughts and feelings, at work, at rest, in bed, etc. Therefore, the main means of combating temptations - prayer - must also be unceasing. Hence, the habit of unceasing prayer is the most important, the most necessary of all habits, and a Christian should spare no effort to acquire it.

There are several forms of unceasing prayer. One of them is taught by St. Basil the Great:

"One must always pray, in any case... As you eat bread, give thanks to Him who gave it. If you put on your clothes, thank Him who gave us coverings... If the day has come, give thanks to Him who gave us the sun... When you look up at the sky and see the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible and worship the best Artist, God, Who "created all things in Wisdom" (Psalm 103:24).

When you see that all nature is enveloped in sleep, again worship Him Who by means of sleep frees us from the continuity of labor... In this way, you will pray without ceasing, not concluding the prayer in words, but drawing near to God throughout the entire course of your life, so that your life may be uninterrupted and unceasing prayer."

As can be seen from the above excerpt, St. Basil the Great understands unceasing prayer as an unceasing state of contemplation of God, i.e. the constant remembrance of God and the dependence of us and all our deeds and all nature on our Creator and Provider.

As Fr. St. John Climacus: "We need to return our mind to God not only by standing at prayer, but also by

to prepare for it all day, all life - and this in itself will already be a prayer." The great man of prayer Fr. John S. writes about the same form of unceasing prayer in his works: "Everywhere and always, whether I am walking, eating, sitting or lying down, the thought of God never leaves me. I pray to Him in spirit, mentally stand before Him and contemplate Him before me."

A slightly different form of unceasing prayer is set forth in the teachings of Bishop Theophan the Recluse: