“When a thought oppresses you, do not be downhearted, but put up with it in courage, saying, ‘They swarmed around me closer and closer, but I drove them back in the name of the Lord’ (Ps. 118:11). Divine help will arrive at your side immediately, and you will drive them away from you, and courage will compass you round about, and the glory of God will walk with you; and ‘you will be filled to your soul’s desire’ (Isa. 58:11).”

The Congregation responds: Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord of Savaoth, Heaven and earth are full of Your glory! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

THE PRAYER CONTINUES:
With these blessed powers, O Master who loves mankind, we sinners also cry aloud and say: You are Holy — truly most holy — and there are no bounds to the magnificence of Your holiness. You are gracious in all Your deeds, for with righteousness and true judgment You have ordered all things for us.
When You created man by taking dust from the earth, and honoured him with Your own image, O God, You placed him in a paradise of delight, promising him everlasting life and the enjoyment of everlasting blessings in the observance of Your commandments. But, when man disobeyed You, the true God who had created him, and was deceived by the guile of the serpent, becoming subject to death through his own transgressions, in Your righteous judgment, O God, You sent him forth from paradise into this world, returning him to the earth from which he was taken, yet providing for him the salvation of regeneration in Your Christ Himself. For You did not turn Yourself away from Your creature, whom You had made, O Good One, nor did You forget the work of Your hands.
Through the tender compassion of Your mercy, You visited him in various ways: You sent Your prophets; You performed mighty works by Your saints, who in every generation have been well-pleasing to You; You spoke to us by the mouth of Your servants the prophets, foretelling to us the salvation which was to come; You gave us the law as a help; You appointed angels as guardians. And when the fullness of time had come, You spoke to us through Your Son Himself, by whom You also made the ages; Who, being the Radiance of Your glory and the Image of Your person, upholding all things by the word of His power, thought it not improper to be equal to Thee, the God and Father.
He was God before the ages, yet He appeared on earth and lived among men, becoming incarnate of a holy Virgin; He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being likened to the body of our lowliness, that He might liken us to the image of His glory. For as by man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, so it pleased Thine only-begotten Son, who was in the bosom of Thee, the God and Father, who was born of a woman, the holy Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, who was born under the law, to condemn sin in His flesh, so that those who were dead in Adam might be made alive in Your Christ Himself. He lived in this world and gave us commandments of salvation; releasing us from the delusions of idolatry, He brought us to knowledge of You, the true God and Father.
He obtained us for His own chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Having cleansed us in water, and sanctified us with the Holy Spirit, He gave Himself as a ransom to death, in which we were held captive, sold under sin.
Descending through the Cross into hades, that He might fill all things with Himself, He loosed the pangs of death. He arose on the third day, having made for all flesh a path to the resurrection from the dead, since it was not possible for the Author of Life to be a victim of corruption. So He became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep, the first-born of the dead, that He might be truly the first in all things. Ascending into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of Your majesty on high, and He will come to render to every man according to his works. And as memorials of His saving Passion, He has left us these things which we have set forth according to His command.
For when He was about to go forth to His voluntary and ever-memorable and life-creating death __ in the night in which He gave Himself up for the life of the world __ He took bread into His holy and pure hands; and having shown it to Thee, the God and Father, having given thanks, blessed and hallowed it, and broken it, He gave it to His holy disciples and apostles, saying: Take, eat; this is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins….

Our soul should be directed in God, not merely when we suddenly think of prayer, but even when we are concerned with something else. If we are looking after the poor, if we are busy in some other way, or if we are doing any type of good work, we should season our actions with the desire and the remembrance of God. Through this salt of the love of God we can all become a sweet dish for the Lord. If we are generous in giving time to prayer, we will experience its benefits throughout our life.

Prayer is the light of the soul, giving us true knowledge of God. It is a link mediating between God and man. By prayer the soul is borne up to heaven and in a marvelous way embraces the Lord. This meeting is like that of an infant crying on its mother, and seeking the best of milk. The soul longs for its own needs and what it receives is better than anything to be seen in the world.

Prayer is a precious way of communicating with God, it gladdens the soul and gives repose to its affections. You should not think of prayer as being a matter of words. It is a desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not of human origin, but the gift of God’s grace. As Saint Paul says: we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.

Anyone who receives from the Lord the gift of this type of prayer possesses a richness that is not to be taken from him, a heavenly food filling up the soul. Once he has tasted this food, he is set alight by an eternal desire for the Lord, the fiercest of fires lighting up his soul.

To set about this prayer, paint the house of your soul with modesty and lowliness and make it splendid with the light of justice. Adorn it with the beaten gold of good works and, for walls and stones, embellish it assiduously with faith and generosity. Above all, place prayer on top of this house as its roof so that the complete building may be ready for the Lord. Thus he will be received in a splendid royal house and by grace his image will already be settled in your soul.

A reading from the homilies of St John Chrysostom (Hom 6 on Prayer)

There was a time that I thought that Facebook would be a good place to connect with fellow Christians from all over the world. Sharing thoughts on fellowship, doctrine, serving the Lord, our mutual love for the precious gift of God that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be a wonderful experience. Sure, there would be some conflicts, as not everyone who names the name of Jesus would be like minded or even talking about the same Jesus.

You would think that with Christ’s command to love one another would preclude true disciples of Christ from attacking, ridiculing, berating, name calling, belittling, condemning, judging (without hearing the matter); but it is not so.

The heretics and Christ deniers on Facebook are in full throat. Disagree with them on any point of teaching and you are condemned to the infernal flames. Attempt to start a dialogue to discuss a point in a reasonable manner and you are soon insulted and ridiculed. Attempt any sort of reconciliation with a brother and you are not sincere enough. Psa 85:10 KJV – Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed [each other]. But, not apparently, on Facebook. I have seen so little mercy and willingness to forgive; so much thin skinned offense taking followed by return fire that my heart was truly grieved.

I’ve recently purged my Facebook friends list of anyone I have not personally met or who is not a spouse or child of a known acquaintance. This was not the easiest thing to do, there are some that I enjoyed interacting with. But for my own spiritual well being, I decided it was best, for a while at least.

So, if you don’t see me around FB, now you know why. I am considering setting up a page that will not be linked to my personal page, so that fruitful discussions can be had. FB can be a great teaching/learning resource. However, when 99 out of 100 posts are about how the most recent headline is a “fulfillment of Bible prophecy”, Rick Warren is the Anti-Christ,  every event is a portent of the second coming, “I saw it on Youtube, so it must be true” type posts; it degrades the truth of Christ and the message of redemption that He purchased for us.

I am willing to engage in reasonable, Scriptural discussion, done in a spirit of mutual respect and conciliation with anyone at anytime. But I will not indulge or endure the ad hominem attacks, name calling, degrading comments.

http://journeytoorthodoxy.com/2010/06/03/bob-marley-orthodox-christian/#axzz1DWs2IfKX