40) "The prophet said, 'Incline your ear' (Psalm 114:2), not so that you form some sensual conception of God, as if He has ears and inclines them because of a small voice, as we do, bringing our ears closer to those who speak weakly, so that you may better hear what is being said. He said: "Bow down" in order to show your own weakness, i.e. Descend in love with humanity to the valley that lies in me, like a humane physician, inclining his ears to the sick, who, because of great exhaustion, cannot speak intelligibly, in order to know more clearly the needs of the sufferer. God's ear has no need of the sound of the voice to hear. God knows what is asked even by the movements of the heart. Or do you not hear how Moses, who says nothing, but in wordless sighs prays to the Lord, was heard by the Lord, Who said to him: "Why do you cry out to Me" (Exodus 14:15)? [1, 399].

Chapter 2: ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM'S INSTRUCTIONS ON PRAYER AND SOBRIETY[2]

1) The Lord not only commands to forgive him who kidnaps you and covets you, but also says: love him with a strong and sincere love. For it is precisely this, wishing to inspire, that He said: "Pray for those who do you wrong" (Luke 6:28), which is usually done only in relation to those who are loved deeply. Thus Christ commanded us to pray for those who offend us, and we sew our snares against them, and, having received the command to bless those who curse us, we heap upon them a thousand curses [1, 400].

2) You say, I can pray at home, but I cannot hear conversations and teachings at home (those who leave the church are denounced, having listened to the discourse of Chrysostom, after reading the Gospel). You are deceiving yourself, human. Of course, it is possible to pray at home; but it is impossible to pray as in church, where there are so many fathers, and where such a unanimous cry is invoked to God. You will not be so heard when you pray to the Lord for yourself alone, as when you pray to Him with your brethren. For there is something more here, such as: unanimity, concord, the union of love and prayer of the priests. The priests are appointed to stand in the assemblies for this reason, so that the prayers of the people, which are the weakest in themselves, may ascend to heaven together with them. "Besides, what is the use of preaching when prayer is not combined with it?" Prayer comes first, and then the word. Thus the Apostles say: "But we shall abide in prayer and in the service of the word" (Acts 6:4). Paul does the same, always beginning his epistles with prayer, so that both the light of the lamp and the light of prayer precede the word. If you accustom yourself to pray with diligence, then you will have no need of instruction from your equal slaves; for then God Himself, without any intermediary, will enlighten your mind. If the prayer of one has such power, then how much more so is prayer in union with many. This one has more strength and more boldness than the one who is at home, alone. Where does this come from? Listen to how St. Paul says about this: "Who has delivered us from a bit of death, and delivers, trusting in us, that he will deliver us again, to those who help you also through prayer, and from many persons, who are gifted in us, thanks for us with many" (2 Corinthians 1:10, 11). In the same way, Peter was freed from prison, because "the prayer of the Church to God for him would be diligent" (Acts 12:5). But if Peter benefited from the prayer of the Church, then tell me, how do you despise her power, and what excuse can you have for this? Listen again, and God Himself says that He cannot but bow down when a multitude of people prudently pester Him in prayer. For, justifying before Jonah the speedy pardon of the Ninevites, He says: "Thou hast been offended by the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, nor hast thou nurtured it, which thou wast born in the night, and perished in the night. Will I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than twenty men" (Jonah 4:10, 11)? He does not simply display a multitude of people, but in order to make you understand that the great prayer that agrees with many has power with Him [1, 725, 726].

3) The object of my constant admonitions is that we should be diligent in fervent prayer with sober thought and cheerful soul (this is in church, at the Liturgy). "The devil, seeing how ardent and excited your soul is in prayer, will understand that the path to your thoughts is impassable for him. When he sees that you yawn and do not pay attention to yourself, he will immediately jump up into you, as into an empty dwelling left by the tenant. But if he sees that you are collected in yourself, watchful, and as if hung to the very heavens, then he will not even dare to look at you. Have pity on yourself, and bar the entrance to your soul to the evil demon. Nothing blocks the way to it so much as diligent and warm prayer [1, 734].

4) What, do you think, is commanded when the deacon exclaims: "Forgive" (oρθοι, straightening up), "let us become good"? That we may raise up our creeping thoughts, and shake away the spiritual disintegration engendered in us by the cares of worldly affairs, and place our souls right before the face of God. And that this is true, that this word does not refer to the body, but to the soul, commanding it to be raised up directly, let us listen to Paul, who used this saying in this very sense. For stretching out his word to people who were ready to lose heart under the burden of troubles, he says: "Set ye right the weak hands and the weakened knees" (Heb. 12:12). Do you say what he says here about the hands and feet of the body? Nohow; for he does not address his speech to those who compete in running and wrestling, but he exhorts with these words to restore the strength of inner thoughts broken by temptations [Ibid.].

5) Think, near whom are you standing? With whom do you begin to call upon God? — With the cherubim. Take heed to this, standing in the same choir with you, and this will be enough for you to maintain sobriety, when you remember that you, clothed with body and intertwined with flesh, are vouchsafed to sing the praises of the Lord common to all together with the bodiless. Thus, taking part in these sacred and mysterious songs, no one stands here with loose attention and relaxed zeal, no one at this time hold worldly thoughts, but having expelled all earthly things from his mind, and having been wholly transferred to heaven, so lift up the all-holy hymn to the God of glory and majesty, as if you were standing near the very throne of glory, hand in hand with the Seraphim. For this reason we are commanded to stand good at this time. For to stand good is nothing else than to stand as it behooves a man to stand before the face of God, with fear and trembling, with a sober and alert soul [Ibid.].

6) That this saying ("let us stand"; before this he spoke of oρθoi — having straightened up) refers to the soul, was again shown by the same St. Paul, saying: "Thus stand in the Lord, beloved" (Phil. 4:1). For just as a sagittarius, wishing to shoot arrows directly at the target, first of all takes care to set himself, and, having already established himself correctly against the target, begins to shoot; so you, wishing to shoot the devil in his evil head, first take care to establish your thoughts, so that, having established yourself in a right and unhindered position, you will faithfully throw arrows at him [Ibid.].

7) Prayer is a great weapon, an inexhaustible treasure, a wealth never dependent, a haven without agitation, an imperturbable silence — and prayer is the root and source of innumerable blessings, and the mother of innumerable blessings: it is more powerful than the royal power itself. "As for prayer, I mean not some kind of prayer, not negligent and distracted, but ardent and difficult, proceeding from a sick soul and a deeply collected mind. Only such a prayer is heavenly [1, 743-4].

(8) As water, when it flows on a level place and spreads widely, does not rise upward: but when the hands of craftsmen oppress it with all-round fences, then it rushes upwards faster than an arrow from its own pressure: so the human heart, enjoying all peace, is scattered and overflowed; but when circumstances oppress it, then it sends pure and fervent prayers to grief. And in order to convince you that these prayers, which are offered out of sorrow, are the most powerful in heaven, listen to what the Prophet says: "To the Lord I am in sorrow, I have cried and heard me" (Psalm 119:1). Let us inflame our hearts, and crush our souls with the remembrance of sins, let us crush it, not only to oppress it, but to prepare and hear its prayer, making it sober, alert, and touching the very heavens [1, 744].

9) "God be merciful to me a sinner," cried the publican, and he left the temple justified more than the Pharisee (Luke 8:13). And it came to pass that words appeared above deeds, and utterances surpassed deeds. He exhibited his righteousness, fasting, tithes; but this one spoke words (without works), and obtained forgiveness of all sins. Why is that? Because God did not listen only to the words, but rather to the feeling with which they were uttered, and, finding him contrite and humble, He had mercy on him and loved mankind. This I say, let us not sin, but let us be humble. For if the publican, a man of the utmost wickedness, did not humble himself (for what humility does one have in whom all things are bad?), but only when he became wise, and expressed his sins, and confessed himself to be what he was, attracted God's favor to himself, then how much greater will God's help be attracted to themselves by those who, having done many good deeds, do not think highly of themselves! For this reason I always ask, and pray, and adjure each of you, to confess your sins before God as often as possible. I do not bring you out before the public, as to a spectacle, and I do not force you to reveal your sins before people. Open your conscience before God. Show Him your wounds and ask Him for healing. Show Him not to him that reproaches, but to him that gives, (James 1:5). He already sees everything, even though you are silent. Speak out, then, and you will benefit. Speak out, so that having laid down all the burden of sins here, you will go there clean without any sinful wounds, and you will be delivered from the unbearable publication of them (at the Last Judgment). Three youths gave up their souls for confessing the one true Lord of all and God, and were cast into the fiery furnace; yet, after so many and so many valors, they say: "We shall not open our mouths, nor shall we be reproached by thy servant, nor by them that worship Thee" (Dan. 3:33). "Then why do you open your mouth?" "For this alone, they say, to say that 'we cannot open our mouths, and by this alone propitiate the Lord' [1, 745-6].

10) The power of prayer quenched the fiery power, tamed the fury of lions, stopped fighting, opened the gates of heaven, broke the bonds of death, drove away illnesses, repelled attacks, saved hails from earthquakes, averted blows from above, and slanders prepared by men, and all kinds of disasters in general. Again, I do not mean prayer that which only revolves in the mouth, but that which proceeds from the depths of the heart. For just as trees that have taken root deep into the earth do not fall down and are not uprooted, no matter how strong the winds attack them; for the roots hold them firmly in the ground: so also the prayers sent from the depths of the heart, being rooted there, safely stretch out to the mountain, not being deviated from this direction by any addition of thoughts. That is why the Prophet also says: "From the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord" (Psalm 129:1).

11) Although we have had occasion to speak about prayer many times, it is necessary to speak about it now. For as it happens with our garments, that if the cloth of which they are sewn is only once dyed, the dye quickly and easily comes off, but if the dyer covers it several times with paint, its colour remains the same forever: so it is with our souls, that if we often hear any instruction, we accept it as a deep-going dyeing, we do not easily forget it. Therefore, do not listen in passing to the words about prayer. For there is nothing more powerful than prayer, there is nothing equal to it. Not so much a king clothed in purple is brilliant as he who prays, adorned with conversation with God. For just as if someone, in the presence of all the army, commanders and various rulers, approached the Tsar and began to converse with him alone, then he would turn the eyes of all to himself, and at the same time appear in their eyes especially worthy of distinction and honor: so it happens with those who pray. Imagine what it is like for a man, as a man, in the presence of Angels, in the presence of Archangels, Seraphim, and Cherubim, and all other bodiless Powers, to approach and converse with the King of these Powers with great boldness? What does this not clothe him with honor? "But it is not only honor, but also a very great benefit for us from prayer, even before we receive what we ask for. For at the same time as a man lifts up his hands to heaven and calls upon God, he immediately falls behind all human affairs and is carried by his thought into the future life, and then he contemplates only the heavenly things, nothing pertaining to the present life, not heeding during prayer, if he prays fervently. As a result of this, whether he had anger before him was in motion, he easily subsides; if lust burns, it is extinguished; whether envy is a winepress, it is driven away with great ease. In the soul, too, what happens in nature at sunrise, as the Prophet says. Do you remember what he says? "Thou hast put darkness, and there was a night, in which all the beasts of the oak grove shall pass: they shall take up the roaring scumbags, and seek from God their food. The sun has risen, and they are gathered, and they will lie down in their beds" (Psalm 103:20-22), And so, as at the appearance of sunlight all the beasts flee and hide themselves in their beds: so when prayer, like a ray, appears from our lips and our tongue, then the mind is enlightened, all the irrational and bestial passions retreat, scatter and hide in their holes,  — if only we pray properly, with a cheerful and sober soul. Then, if the devil is near, he is driven away, if he is a demon, he runs away [1, 766-7].

(12) The Lord did many things to set an example for us. With the same intention, He performed many prayers. When the disciples approached Him and asked Him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1); What was he to do, tell me? "Not to teach them how to pray?" But then He came to raise them up to all wisdom. But if it was necessary to teach prayer, then it was necessary to pray Himself. You will say that this could have been done with a single word? But learning by words does not have such a strong effect on the students as teaching by deeds. That is why He teaches them to pray not only in words, but He Himself does the same, prays all night long in solitary places, teaching us and inspiring, when we intend to converse with God, to avoid the noise and rumors of life, and to withdraw into an empty place, adapting to prayer not only the place, but also the time. A desert is not only a mountain, but also a dwelling that is inaccessible to noise. Likewise, when He blessed the loaves, He looked up to heaven and prayed (Mark 6:41), that He might teach us not to partake of the table first, as after thanksgiving to God, Who had created fruits [1:187],