But nevertheless, prolonged prayer is necessary; is needed first of all, as Fr. John of Kronstadt says, "in order to warm up our cold hearts, tempered in prolonged vanity, by the duration of fervent prayer. For it is strange to think, much less to demand, that a heart hardened in the vanity of life could soon be imbued with the warmth of faith and love for God during prayer. No, it takes work and work, time and time. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away (Matt. 11:12). The kingdom of God does not come soon to the heart, when people run away from it so zealously. The Lord Himself declares His will, that we should not pray briefly, when He presents as an example the widow who went to the judge and troubled him with her requests. The Lord, our Heavenly Father, knows before our petition what we require, what we need, but we do not know Him, as we should, we are very devoted to the vanity of the world, and not to the Heavenly Father; behold, in His wisdom and mercy, He turns our needs into a pretext for turning us to Him. "Turn, ye my erring children, though now unto me your Father, with all your heart, if you were formerly far from me, though now warm your hearts to me, which were formerly cold, with faith and love."

"Prolonged prayer," writes one of our theologians, Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), "is needed not for God, but for ourselves, scattered and inert – it warms the heart of a person and influences the gradual emergence of a religious mood in him. It is not suddenly that a religious feeling is kindled in a person who is busy with worldly affairs, but this requires a prolonged concentration on prayerful thoughts and some other means. Whoever is ready for prayerful heartfelt sighs and the shedding of tender tears, there is no need to pray for a long time for the warming of the heart, but only for greater and greater spiritual Perfection. The unrighteous judge and the miserly friend yielded only to prolonged supplications, but the Heavenly Father will hear "those who cry to Him day and night." — "Watch and pray, that ye may not enter into the attack." The Lord Himself "prayed again." The Apostle Paul also commanded us to pray without ceasing, and said of ourselves: "Pray with all earnestness, day and night" (1 Thess. III, 10). Cornelius pleased God by giving alms and "praying continually."

Prolonged prayer is useful even in that it accustoms us to constant remembrance of God. The center of our inner life, as we know, must be God, and psychologically this is expressed in the fact that the thought of God is constantly and inseparably linked with our consciousness. This is achieved by first forcing man to dwell on the thought of God as long as possible. Continuous; prayer, during which the thought is constantly raised to God and to Heaven, is one of these spiritual exercises. Little by little it turns into constant prayer, and in the hearts of experienced and hard-working ascetics it becomes an inexhaustible and unceasing spring of prayerful feelings and sighs, beating involuntarily even in the hours of sleep. The heart itself begins to exude prayer, according to the testimony of ascetic writers.

Finally, there is no better means for strengthening the will in spiritual work than prolonged prayer. Never does Satan attack a person so fiercely as during prayer. "When we pray," testifies St. John Chrysostom, "then the evil devil attacks us most of all. He sees the greatest benefit for us from prayer, which is why he contrives in every possible way to make us depart from prayer empty-handed. He knows, knows well, that if those who come to church approach God with sober prayer, express their sins and grieve warmly in their souls, then they will depart from here, having received complete forgiveness: for God is a lover of mankind. Why does He warn them to lead them away from prayer in some way, so that they do not receive anything? And this he does, not by force, but by pleasant dreams entertaining the mind and thereby leading laziness to prayer. It is our own fault that we willingly give ourselves over to its snares, that we deprive ourselves of the blessings of prayer, and we have no excuse for this. Fervent prayer is the light of the mind and heart, an unquenchable, unceasing light. Why does the enemy whip innumerable thoughts, like clouds of dust, into our minds, and even of such things as we are talking about! We have never thought that it gathers and pours into our souls during prayer. Just as sometimes a gust of wind, attacking the light of a lamp that is kindled, extinguishes it, so the devil, seeing the flame of prayer kindled in the soul, hastens to blow from here and there innumerable caring thoughts, and does not leave behind this until he has time to extinguish the light that has been engaged. In this case, let us act as those who light lamps do. Those who do? Noticing that a strong breath of wind is approaching, they block the opening of the lamp with their finger, and thus do not allow the wind to enter, because if it bursts inside, it will immediately extinguish the fire. It is the same in us. As long as thoughts are attached, we can still resist them; the enemy, having extinguished in us all good memory and holy thought, makes of us a smoking lamp: then in prayer only the lips utter empty words."

What the great saint so figuratively describes was undoubtedly experienced by each of the Christians who follow the spiritual path. The fiercest struggle with thoughts has to be endured precisely during prayer, much work is required in order to drive away obsessive unnecessary thoughts and concentrate prayerfully in God. But it is this struggle with thoughts, like any struggle, that strengthens the will, if it is conducted seriously, persistently, and therefore successfully. The ability to fix or concentrate attention on one object, which is developed by this struggle in prolonged prayer, is a sign of a spiritually strong will, and the longer the duration of such concentration can be achieved, the stronger is the person spiritually. In the language of mystical concepts, the more often and resolutely a Christian defeats the spirits of darkness that seek to distract him from prayer, the more he is strengthened.

In prolonged prayer, a religious feeling also develops, especially a feeling of gratitude to God. We usually do not appreciate much what we receive too easily, and for what we have from the Lord without any effort on our part, we rarely give thanks. But what has been achieved through hard, hard work, we keep and cherish as the greatest value. That is why we especially value all the gifts and blessings of God, which we ask for in persistent long prayer, and do not treat them with the usual disdainful frivolity, as things received for free. And such a reverent and attentive attitude to the gifts of God, especially to spiritual gifts, is necessary for their fruitful use in life. On the other hand, the more vividly we realize the great value of what the Lord gives us, the more grateful our heart is filled with.

But speaking of the benefits and even the necessity of prolonged prayer, three extremely important reservations should be made here. There are certain obligatory conditions that make such a prayer fruitful, and if violated, it does more harm than good.

First of all, prayer, its thoughts, its words should attract all the attention of the person praying, and this is possible only if the intensity and duration of the prayer are commensurate with his strength. "Be moderate in all religious matters," says Fr. John of Kronstadt, "for virtue in moderation, in accordance with one's strength, in accordance with the circumstances of the time, place, and previous labors, is prudence. It is good, for example, to pray from a pure heart, but if the prayer does not correspond to the forces (energy), various circumstances, place and time, with the previous work, then it will no longer be a virtue. That is why the Apostle Peter says: "Show in virtue understanding (that is, do not be carried away by one heart), but in understanding temperance, in temperance patience" (2 Pet. 1:5-6).

The spiritual powers of man develop and grow gradually. Therefore, one who is just beginning to live a spiritual life cannot immediately take upon himself too large a prayer rule. Only boredom or overwork can be born from this. The advice of an experienced spiritual leader who would indicate the appropriate size of the rule is very important in this case. But, starting with a relatively small rule, one should strive to learn to pray for a long time and gradually lengthen the prayer as spiritual forces develop.

If, not conforming to his own strength, a Christian takes on; excessive prayerful labor, then the usual consequence; this can be either despondency and complete relaxation, and even the easiest rule seems incredibly difficult and is not fulfilled, or, on the contrary, fanaticism, spiritual pride and its worst expression – the so-called demonic charm, that is, spiritual self-deception, which subdues it; to the measure of a zealous ascetic to the spirit of frenzied self-conceit and the power of the enemy.

How, however, is it possible to distinguish "demonic charm" from the spirit of sincere, ardent zeal for God? By these signs one can notice its origin in the soul, but by what means is it to be combated?

The question is very important, for there is always a great danger for zealous beginners. Many have perished in this temptation, which the devil skillfully uses, trapping in this snare mainly talented, ardent, enthusiastic natures.

The holy ascetic writers in their ascetic works indicate the following manifestations of "prelest."

1). An ascetic who is in delusion, after fervent prayer, or an enthusiastic reading of the word of God, or a sermon, or a good deed, instead of the expected rest and inner peace, feels an incomprehensible restlessness and unclear doubts, or irritation, or condemnation of others, in general, an internal disorder, which is not accompanied, however, by a spirit of self-reproach and repentance.