Have a Keepable Rule of Prayer Done by Discipline
In this series, I meditate on one maxim at a time for a few weeks, and then share my reflections. You can read all the maxims here.
Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline.
This has been one of the most difficult things for me to establish as an Orthodox Christian. Naturally, I am not a disciplined person, and there are so many days that I fail to keep my rule of prayer, particularly morning prayer. Upon reflection, this is an indicator that my rule of prayer is not keepable, and that my focus needs to be more on establishing consistency.
In fact, I am realizing that I have received the same advice from both my home parish confessor and my seminary confessor: Simply focus on saying the Lord’s Prayer a few times a day. It is humbling to realize 1) how often I do not fulfill this foundational thing and 2) that I have not taken the advice of my confessors.
Why have I not taken their advice? I suppose I thought that I could do more. The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t seem like enough, I thought, so I will do more. But of course, I am not really ready to do more, and therefore ended up doing nothing--Pray as you can, not as you think you must. How closely each of Fr. Hopko’s maxims are tied together!
Writing on this maxim has been difficult for me. Seeing my failings in keeping my prayer rule, and recognizing that I have not humbly taken the advice of my confessors has tempted me to fall into despair, but I know that this is not what God calls us to. In collection of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica’s writings, Our Thoughts Determine our Lives, he reminds us:
All of us sin constantly. We slip and fall. In reality, we fall into a trap set by the demons. The Holy Fathers and the Saints always tell us, ‘“It is important to get up immediately after a fall and to keep on walking toward God.” Even if we fall a hundred times a day, it does not matter; we must get up and go on walking toward God without looking back. What has happened has happened – it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God.
It is not easy. We are always having to readjust. Just when we have established consistency in prayer, our daily schedule or season in life changes. This year, I went from a busy full-time teaching job to traveling, to a less structured summer schedule, to soon having an infant for the first time! We have the challenge of praying consistently when our lives are not consistent. We can only ask for help from God, and ask for Him to teach us to pray and pray Himself in us.
