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:

"In the course of the day, one must often call upon God from the heart in brief words, judging by the need of the soul and current affairs. You start by saying, for example, "Bless, Lord." When you finish the work, say: "Glory to Thee, O Lord," and not only with the tongue, but also with the feeling of the heart. Whatever passion rises, say: "Save, Lord, I am perishing." The darkness of doubtful thoughts finds - cry out: "Bring my soul out of prison." Unjust deeds are before you, and sin draws you to them - pray: "Tread me, O Lord, on the path"; sins oppress and lead to despair - cry out with the publican's voice: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And so it is in any case.

Or simply often say: "Lord, have mercy", "Lady Mother of God, have mercy on me!", "Angel of God, my holy guardian, protect me", or whatever other word you call out. Only, as often as possible, make these invocations, always trying to make them come from the heart."

Here, as we see, Bishop. St. Theophan suggests that throughout the day we unceasingly offer up short prayers, depending on our deeds and condition, with requests for help, protection and strengthening.

Here it is appropriate to recall how the habit of remembrance of God and unceasing prayer saved Elder Silouan from mortal danger three times.

A rabid dog was running straight at him - it was no longer possible to run from it. Silouan only had time to pray: "Lord, have mercy." And some force threw the dog aside, and it ran past. Another time, a large log rolled down a high mountain at him. Again he cried out to the Lord for help, and the log stopped, catching on something.

For the third time, a fish bone got into his windpipe. Immediately he turned in prayer to the Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon, and he was inspired to cough violently - and the bone came out of the larynx with a large amount of blood.

We also heard a story about a certain Caucasian hermit elder, who incessantly prayed. Once, by chance, when he was walking through the mountains, his prayer was interrupted. Suddenly, he slipped and went downhill into the abyss. Falling, he resumed his prayer, and immediately his fall stopped, and he found himself standing firmly on his feet.