Asking God for various blessings, believe that God is everything for everyone. If you ask Him for health, believe that He is your health; if you ask for faith, He is your faith; if you love – He is your love; whether there is peace and joy, He is your peace and joy; whether He helps you in difficult circumstances, He is your help and protection. Whatever good you ask of Him, He is precisely that good. If He finds it timely, He will give you whatever you ask for.

If you want to ask God for something, then before you pray, prepare yourself for undoubted, strong faith and take in advance the means against doubt. It will be bad if, during prayer, your heart fails in faith. Then do not think that you will receive what you asked for, because by your doubt you have offended God. The Lord said that "whatsoever ye ask in prayer with faith, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:22). So, if you ask in doubt, you will not receive it. "If you have faith, and do not doubt," He still says, "then you can move mountains." "But let him who doubts not think to receive anything from the Lord," teaches the Apostle James, "because a man with double-minded thoughts is not firm in all his ways" (James 1:7, 8). The heart of a person who doubts that God can give what he asks for is punished for doubt: it is painfully tormented and embarrassed by doubt. Do not anger the Almighty God with a shadow of doubt, especially you, who have repeatedly experienced God's omnipotence. Doubt is the lie of the spirit of falsehood nestling in the heart... Remember that when you ask, God expects an affirmative answer to His question that is offered to you inwardly: "Do you believe that I can do this?" (Matt. 9:28) And then it will be according to your faith. The following thoughts can help you not to give in to doubt. 1) I ask for what exists, and not for dreamy or fantastic good, and everything that exists has come into being from God, and "without Him nothing was made that was made" (John 1:3). In addition, He calls what does not exist as existing (Romans 4:17). So, if I asked Him for something that didn't exist, He could create it and give it to me. 2) I ask for what is possible, and for God our impossible is possible. This means that there is no obstacle from this side either. Our trouble is that our faith is mixed with a short-sighted mind, this spider that catches the truth with nets of all kinds of judgments and analogies. Faith embraces and sees everything at once, and reason reaches the truth in a roundabout way. Faith is a means of communication between the spirit and the Spirit, and the intellect is a means of communication between the sensual and the sensual. This one is spirit, and this one is flesh.

Living as a Christian

Take the trouble to spend at least one day according to the commandments of God, and you will see for yourself how good it is to fulfill the will of God. Further, love every man, that is, do not desire anything for him that you do not desire for yourself; think, feel for him as you think and feel for yourself; do not wish to see in him anything that you do not want to see in yourself; let your memory not retain the evil done to you by others, just as you wish that the evil you have done by others should be forgotten; Do not suspect anything criminal or impure in others, imagine others as well-intentioned, as well as yourself. At least do not do to others what you do not do to yourself, and you will see what will be in your heart – what silence, what bliss! "The Kingdom of God," says the Saviour, "is within you" (Luke 17:21).

Begin to fulfill the commandments concerning the small, and you will fulfill the commandments concerning the great: the small everywhere leads to the great. Begin to fulfill at least the commandment about fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, or the tenth commandment concerning evil thoughts and desires, and you will fulfill all the commandments.

About life

Life is a great science that is not easy to learn. It is the strait way and the narrow gate. Whoever has not begun to study the science of life under the guidance of the Gospel from childhood, has not learned to believe in God, is not accustomed to reverence Him, does not clearly distinguish evil from good – it will be difficult for him to learn in the subsequent years of life. Although other people will consider him intelligent, will recognize his knowledge and abilities, he may turn out to be a complete ignoramus in the school of life. He may be incapable of either family life or social activities – for example, because of his unaccommodating character or bad habits. It can be wrecked in life, like a ship loaded with goods that has been launched into the open sea without a rudder, tackle and sails.