Chapter 7 - “On the Will of God and on Freedom”

“When the soul is entirely given over to the will of God the Lord Himself takes her in hand and the soul learns directly from God.”

1. What prevents us from living according to God’s will?

a. Pride – I am my own master, relying upon myself

2. How do I know I am living in the Holy Spirit?

a. I accept every affliction, illness, poverty, persecution – the ‘Lord looks down upon me, what am I to fear…Such is God’s pleasure, I must endure because of my sins. (pg. 68)’

b. We come to see that some afflictions remain for a reason and become a catalyst of repentance, humility which all lead to a co-working with God.

c. The absence of cares, whether or not God grants what we think we might need. (pg. 70)

d. Live in an absence of fear – illness, loss, catastrophes, political upheavals (pg. 70)

e. Nothing causes the loss of inner peace (pg. 70)

f. Having no care for one’s own welfare (pg. 70)

g. When the Holy Spirit lives in us we feel we are carrying paradise within us (pg. 72)

3. How do I know if I am NOT living in the Grace of the Holy Spirit?

a. If you are distressed over anything, it means you have not yet fully surrendered to God’s will. (pg. 70)

b. I am discontent – murmuring against my fate and against those who may have caused me offense, I am living in pride and have loss gratitude towards God. (pg. 71)

c. WITH ME OR WITHOUT ME - When we imagine that our afflictions are beyond our strength and we feel crushed by them it is a sign we have not yet humbled ourselves and submitted to the will of God. (pg. 72)

Q. How are we to understand the following? “If we seem to ourselves to be greatly afflicted it means that we have not surrendered to the Will God. (pg. 70)”

4. Things that assist us in living according to the Will of God

a. Cultivating the ‘fear of God’ – live in fear of grieving God by our thoughts and actions, “hurting the heart that love you “(Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos)

b. ASK SOMEONE- for understanding during times of bewilderment and calamity and seek the advice of your Spiritual Father.

Q. How do I usually cope with calamities and during times of bewilderment?

c. ASK GOD - Always pray to the Lord FOR ENLIGHTENMENT to tell us what to do (pg. 74)

d. BE GRATEFUL- God gives the gift of understanding that we must suffer all afflictions with grateful hearts (pg. 72)

On Freedom

Q. How do I understand what freedom looks like to me?

a. The Lord gives His peace and the freedom to love Him and one’s fellow-man (pg. 75)

b. The soul finds rest and joy when it is filled with Divine Love. (pg. 75)

c. Where there is forgiveness of sins there is freedom of conscience and love (pg. 76)

d. Repentance give the soul freedom of the mind and heart to dwell in God; freedom to pray to God with an undistracted mind; we can think on God and live serene and joyous in Him (pg. 76)

e. Freedom to Grow in the Stages of Love: (pg. 77)

Chapter 8 - “On Prayer”

1. On the Remembrance of God:

“Everywhere and always God is with us, near to us and in us. But we are not always with Him, since we do not remember Him; and because we do not remember Him we allow ourselves many things which we would not permit if we did remember. Take upon yourself this task – to make a habit of such a recollection.” (Theophan the Recluse)

“If you are forgetful of the Lord you will not pray, and without prayer the soul will not dwell in the love of God, for the grace of the Holy Spirit comes through prayer. (pg. 79)”

2. Learning Prayer

a. Everyone needs guidance in prayer from someone

b. If you have judged your father-confessor as inexperienced, turn to him and humble yourself seeking guidance from God through that person.

c. The Holy Spirit is at work in the sacrament of Holy Confession.

d. “Prayer comes with praying…but prayer which is only a habit, prayer without contrition for our sins, is not pleasing to the Lord.” (pg. 80).

“When you pray, do not end your prayer without having aroused in your heart some feeling toward God, whether it be reverence, or devotion, or thanksgiving, or glorification, or humility and contrition, or hope and trust…If you pay attention to yourself, (these feelings) will keep you under its influence during the whole day.” (Theophan the Recluse)

“…the prayer of him who prays fervently sees many vicissitudes: now he is engaged in struggle with the enemy, now with himself and his passions, now with other people and in all this he needs resilience. (pg. 82)

We cannot learn to pray from following ‘recipes’ from books, you have to learn by praying and seeking guidance from those who pray. It is like making pizza dough.

e. Prayer is given to those who humble themselves: “Let us humble ourselves, and the Lord will give us to know the power of the Jesus Prayer…the Spirit of God Himself will instruct the soul. (pg. 81)

f. Be humble, temperate, confess yourself thoroughly, be obedient, submit with a good conscience to those in authority, be content with all things and your mind will be cleansed from vain thoughts. (pg. 81)

g. Prayer is given to those who pray for their enemies: Love those who offend you, pray for them until your soul is reconciled with them and then the Lord will give you unceasing prayer. (pg. 81)

3. Praying is right when: a.) The peace of God is present within us b.) We have compassionate feelings towards all living beings, the Holy Spirit teaches us love (pg. 81)

4. Distractions to Prayer: Put away reading un-edifying materials, news, books, Facebook delving into the lives of others, self-indulgence, fault-finding (pg.83-84)

5. Unable to Pray: “repeat the words of your prayer with your lips and keep your mind on the words you are saying” (pg. 83)

6. Prayer is a gift: “God bestows His gifts upon the simple, lowly obedient soul... (it) receives the gift of prayer form the Lord…the Grace of God makes prayer easy.(pg. 84)”

Q. What things do we find interest us and occupy our thoughts? What desire is being ‘fed’?