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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part III. Ceremonial, 33. Prayer
What is prayer, and under how many aspects does it appear?
Prayer is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God, with the object either of praising and glorifying Him for His wonderful attributes, or of imploring His help in need, or of thanking Him for benefits received at His hands. We define prayer as a lifting up of mind and heart, because this chiefly constitutes its nature and substance; and, wherever the tongue only moves, without the participation of the mind and heart, there real prayer does not take place. From the triple object which prayer seeks, it takes the name either of praise, or of supplication, or of thanksgiving, according to the circumstances. Thus, to confine ourselves solely to the Book of Psalms, which is the most marvellous anthology of prayers for the use, not only of the Hebrew Synagogue from its very foundation, but of the whole of Christianity as well, the 148th Psalm (“Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise Him in the heights. Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His host”) is a prayer of praise or a doxology. The 143rd Psalm (“Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications: in Thy faithfulness answer me and in Thy righteousness”) is a prayer of supplication. The 103rd Psalm (“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits”) is a prayer of thanksgiving. These three elements sometimes are met with separately; but very often thanksgiving, praise and supplication are intermingled in the same prayer, as, for instance, in the well known and very simple hymn of our Liturgy:—“We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we thank Thee, Lord: and we entreat Thee, O God of ours.”
Does God hear our Prayers?
Of course, He hears them. “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Ps. xciv. 9.) Both Holy Scriptures and Secular History are full of examples of men and women who prayed to God and were heard. If it seems sometimes as if God does not hasten instantly to fulfil our demands, this happens, either because He postpones their fulfilment to a more propitious time, or because He finds that the demands are disadvantageous to our salvation, or because we do not ask in a proper way. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,” explains St. James (iv. 3). Our spiritual attitude is repulsive to God. The things, for which we ask, are harmful. Hence He does not give them to us.
How, then, should we pray so as to be heard acceptably by God?
With faith, like that of the woman of Canaan, who was told by the Saviour:—“O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt.” (Matt. xv. 28.) With humbleness, like that of the Publican, who was justified above the boastful Pharisee, because he prayed with full cognisance of his own moral wretchedness. With persistence, like the persecuted Church of the Martyrs, who for three hundred years never ceased entreating God to redeem her, until He raised her to the throne of the Cæsars. With brotherly love, because the Master commanded us, that, if we go with our gift to the altar, and there remember that our brother has aught against us, we should leave our gift there before the altar, go first and be reconciled to our brother, and then come and offer our gift. (Matt. v. 23—24.) By the avoidance of unfruitful and meaningless repetitions, in which the idolaters took pleasure, moving their tongues in incomprehensible sounds, but not their minds and hearts. Finally, our prayers will be acceptable to God, if their dearest purpose is the glory of God and the triumph of His Kingdom, rather than our small material needs, as the Master instructs us again in His Sermon:—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (vi. 33.) A splendid guide at this point is the Lord’s Prayer, which we must not simply recite, but study thoroughly.