Prayer has a central significance
and place in a Christian’s life. This is evident through the centrality of the
Divine Liturgy and the Sacraments in general. Without the practice of prayer we
a spiritually hungry, not being able to achieve our full potential in life,
i.e. our communion with God and our theosis, our sanctification. Vladimir
Lossky explains the fact that prayer is a personal relationship with God,
claiming:
‘Union with God cannot take place
outside of prayer, for prayer is a personal relationship with God. Now this
union must be fulfilled in human person; it must be personal, conscious and
voluntary. ‘The power of prayer . . . fulfils the sacrament of our union with
God’, says St Gregory Palamas, ‘because it is a bond connecting rational creatures
with their Creator.’ It is more perfect than the practice of the virtues, for
it is ‘the leader of the choir of the virtues’. All the virtues together
subserve perfection in prayer; while the virtues cannot possibly be assured if
the spirit is not constantly turned towards prayer. Moreover, the greatest of
the virtues, charity, that love of God in which the mystical union is
accomplished is itself the fruit of prayer – η αγάπη εκ της ευχής, as St
Isaac the Syrian says. For in prayer man meets with God personally – he knows Him and he loves Him. Knowledge (gnosis) and love are closely
inter-connected in Eastern asceticism.’[1]
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