pRayER
Gallarus Oratory (or: Gallerus), on the Dingle Peninsula, western coast of Ireland. The oldest un-restored Church building in the world (1,400 years old), never needing restoration. (Photo © Irish Tourist Board).
"LiVE in PRayER / LiVe in PEAcE / LiVE in PuRity: LiVE in CHRiSt"
(Above) An Oratory is a Chapel where monks heard the Gospel read.
Lay Monk Preston and Lay Monk Linda were here in February of 1999. The view out the doorway is of the Atlantic Ocean.
Monk Brendan the Navigator’s mountain is partially seen behind the Oratory in the photo.
The amazingly spectacular monastery island of Skellig Michael (At Right), shown in several of the Star Wars movies, is seven miles off the coast to the southwest.
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“But as for me, I will enter into Your House in the multitude of Your mercy; in reverence and awe, I will worship toward your holy Temple.”
-Psalm 5:7
pRayER : tHE ESSENcE Of tHE cHRiStiAN LifE
“The Practice of the Presence of God”
“Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? -Psalm 139:7
We are “walking in the Spirit” when we are manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
God’s Perfect Will for our Our Lives is Amazingly Simple
Knowing Christ as Lord and Savior is the essence of Christianity.
The Bible’s List of the Fruit of the Spirit is our Model:
“Love, Joy, Peace; Patience, Kindness, Goodness; Faithfulness, Humility, Self-control.”
To Live in Joy, Prayer, and Gratitude: in Purity and Holiness.
“Be Holy, for I am Holy.”
-1 Peter 1:16 ________________________________________
Practice the Presence of God, fulfilling God’s instruction to:
“Pray without ceasing.”
Prayer, Communion with God, is the Essence of the Christian Life.
This is God’s Will for Our Lives. We are to Live in a State of Prayer.
“The LORD is Near to All Those That Call Upon Him; to All That Call Upon Him in Truth.”
-Psalm 145:18
“I Sought the LORD and He Heard Me, and Delivered Me From All My Fears.”
-Psalm 34:4
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“This then ought to be the destination of the Monk, this should be all his aim…
…to possess even in the body an image of future bliss,
and that he may begin in this world to have a foretaste of…that celestial life and glory.
This, I say, is the end of all perfection, that the mind purged from all carnal desires may daily be lifted towards spiritual things,
until the whole life and all the thoughts of the heart become one continuous prayer.”
-St. John Cassian (360-435 A.D.) “On Prayer”
"PRay witHOut CeAsing"
“We should not seek so much to pray, but to become prayer.”
-St. Francis of Assisi (1181/82-1226 A.D.)
“Thus will thought pray without ceasing;
if thought prays not only in words, but unite yourself to God through all the course of life
and so your life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”
-St. Basil the Great (329-379 A.D.)
“I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn.
I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.”
-St. Patrick (c. 386-461 A.D.)
"cLAODHiDH fOgHiDinn MhAtH Na cLacHAN" -- "PAtiiENcE wiLL wEAr Out StONES." -OLd gAELic SAyiNg
“It is not enough to begin to pray,
nor to pray aright; nor is it enough
to continue for a time to pray;
but we must pray patiently, believing,
continue in prayer
until we obtain an answer.”
-George Müller
“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.”
-Psalm 40:1
“If our religion does not set us on fire,
it is because we have frozen hearts.“
-E.M. Bounds,
The Necessity of Prayer
“I never prayed sincerely and earnestly for anything
but it came at some time;
no matter at how distant a day,
somehow, in some shape,
probably the least I would have devised, it came.”
-Adoniram Judson,
the First Missionary to Burma
JOHN cHRySOStOM wRitiNg AbOut PRayER :
“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.”
-St. John Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.)
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