Short and Easy Method of Prayer — Chapters 11 - 15
CHAPTER XI.
OF REST IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD--ITS FRUITS--INWARD SILENCE--GOD COMMANDS IT--OUTWARD SILENCE.
The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for _the presence of God_ during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be _intuitive_ and _almost continual_.
The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself.
It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself.
As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer.
It is astonished at this infinite happiness; there is carried on within it a conversation which outward things cannot interrupt.
It might be said of this method of prayer, as was said of Wisdom, "All good things together come to me with her" (Wisdom of Solomon vii.
11), for virtue flows naturally into the soul, and is practised so easily, that it seems to be quite natural to it.
It has within it a germ of life and fruitfulness, which gives it a facility for all good, and an insensibility to all evil.
Let it then remain faithful, and seek no other frame of mind than that of simple rest.
It has only to suffer itself to be filled with this divine effusion.
"The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Hab.
ii.
20).
The reason why inward silence is so necessary is, that Christ, being the eternal and essential Word, in order that He may be received into the soul, there must be a disposition corresponding with what He is.
Now it is certain that in order to receive words we must listen.
Hearing is the sense given to enable us to receive the words which are communicated to us.
Hearing is rather a passive than an active sense, receiving, and not communicating.
Christ being the Word which is to be communicated, the soul must be attentive to this Word which speaks within it.
This is why we are so often exhorted to listen to God, and to be attentive to His voice.
Many passages might be quoted.
I will be content to mention a few: "Hearken unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation" (Isa.
li.
4).
"Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel" (Isa.
xlvi.
31).
"Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty" (Ps.
xlv.
10, 11).
We must _listen_ to God, and be attentive to Him, _forgetting ourselves_ and all self-interest.
These two actions, or rather passions--for this condition is essentially a passive one--arouse in God a "desire" towards the "beauty" He has Himself communicated.
Outward silence is extremely necessary for the cultivation of inward silence, and it is impossible to acquire inward silence without having a love for silence and solitude.
God tells us by the mouth of His prophet, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart" (marginal reading of Hosea ii.
14).
To be inwardly occupied with God, and outwardly occupied with countless trifles, this is impossible.
It will be a small matter to pray, and to retire within ourselves for half an hour or an hour, if we do not retain the unction and the spirit of prayer during the day.
CHAPTER XII. SELF-EXAMINATION AND CONFESSION.
Self-examination should always precede confession.
Those who arrive at this degree should expose themselves to God, who will not fail to enlighten them, and to make known to them the nature of their faults.
This examination must be conducted in peace and tranquillity, expecting more from God than from our own research the knowledge of our sins.
When we examine ourselves with an effort, we easily make mistakes.
We "call evil good, and good evil;" and self-esteem easily deceives us.
But when we remain exposed to the searching gaze of God, that Divine Sun brings to light even the smallest atoms.
We must then, for self-examination, abandon ourselves utterly to God.
When we are in this degree of prayer, God is not slow to reveal to us all the faults we commit.
We have no sooner sinned than we feel a burning reproach.
It is God Himself who conducts an examination which nothing escapes, and we have only to turn towards God, and suffer the pain and the correction which He gives.
As this examination by God is continual, we can no longer examine ourselves; and if we are faithful to our abandonment to God, we shall soon be better examined by the divine light than we could be by all our own efforts.
Experience will make this known.
One thing which often causes astonishment to the soul is, that when it is conscious of a sin, and comes to confess it to God, instead of feeling regret and contrition, such as it formerly felt, a sweet and gentle love takes possession of it.
Not having experienced this before, it supposes that it ought to draw itself out of this condition to make a definite act of contrition.
But it does not see that, by doing this, it would lose true contrition, which is this _intuitive love_, infinitely greater than anything it could create for itself.
It is a higher action, which includes the others, with greater perfection, though these are not possessed distinctly.
We should not seek to do anything for ourselves when God acts more excellently in us and for us.
It is hating sin as God hates it to hate it in this way.
This love, which is the operation of God in the soul, is the purest of all love.
All we have to do then is to remain as we are.
Another remarkable thing is, that we often forget our faults, and find it difficult to remember them; but this must not trouble us, for two reasons: The first, that this very forgetfulness is a proof that the sin has been atoned for, and it is better to forget all that concerns ourselves, that we may remember God alone.
The second reason is, that God does not fail, whenever confession is needful, to show to the soul its greatest faults, for then it is He Himself who examines it.
CHAPTER XIII. ON READING--VOCAL PRAYER--REQUESTS.
The proper manner of reading in this degree is, as soon as we feel attracted to meditation, to cease reading, and remain at rest.
The soul is no sooner called to inward silence, than it should cease to utter vocal prayers; saying but little at any time, and when it does say them, if it finds any difficulty, or feels itself drawn to silence, it should remain silent, and make no effort to pray, leaving itself to the guidance of the Spirit of God.
The soul will find that it cannot, as formerly, present definite requests to God.
This need not surprise it, for it is now that "the Spirit maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.
The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom.
viii.
26, 27).
We must second the designs of God, which are to strip the soul of its own works, to substitute His in their place.
Let Him work then, and bind yourself to nothing of your own.
However good it may appear to you, it cannot be so if it comes in the way of God's will for you.
The will of God is preferable to all other good.
Seek not your own interests, but live by abandonment and by faith.
It is here that _faith_ begins to operate wonderfully in the soul.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FAULTS COMMITTED IN THIS DEGREE--DISTRACTIONS, TEMPTATIONS--THE COURSE TO BE PURSUED RESPECTING THEM.
As soon as we fall into a fault, or have wandered, we must turn again within ourselves; because this fault having turned us from God, we should as soon as possible turn towards Him, and suffer the penitence which He Himself will give.
It is of great importance that we should not be anxious about these faults, because the anxiety only springs from a secret pride and a love of our own excellence.
We are troubled at feeling what we are.
If we become discouraged, we shall grow weaker yet; and reflection upon our faults produces a vexation which is worse than the sin itself.
A truly humble soul does not marvel at its weakness, and the more it perceives its wretchedness, the more it abandons itself to God, and seeks to remain near to Him, knowing how deeply it needs His help.
God's own word to us is, "I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Ps.
xxxii.
8).
In distractions or temptations, instead of combating them directly, which would only serve to augment them, and to wean us from God, with whom alone we ought to be occupied, we should simply turn away from them, and draw nearer to God; as a little child, seeing a fierce animal approaching it, would not stay to fight it, nor even to look at it, but would run for shelter to its mother's arms, where it would be safe.
"God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early" (Ps.
xlvi.
5).
If we adopt any other course of action, if we attempt to attack our enemies in our weakness, we shall be wounded, even if we are not entirely defeated; but remaining in the simple presence of God, we find ourselves immediately fortified.
This was what David did: he says, "I have set the Lord always before me;
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope."
It is also said by Moses, "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace" (Exod.
xiv.
14).
CHAPTER XV.
PRAYER AND SACRIFICE EXPLAINED BY THE SIMILITUDE OF A PERFUME--OUR ANNIHILATION IN THIS SACRIFICE--SOLIDITY AND FRUITFULNESS OF THIS PRAYER AS SET FORTH IN THE GOSPEL.
Prayer ought to be both petition and sacrifice.
Prayer, according to the testimony of St John, is an incense, whose perfume rises to God.
Therefore it is said in the Revelation (chap.
viii.
3), that an angel held a censer, which contained the incense of the prayers of saints.
Prayer is an outpouring of the heart in the presence of God.
"I have poured out my soul before the Lord," said the mother of Samuel (1 Sam.
i.
15).
Thus the prayers of the Magi at the feet of the infant Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem were signified by the incense which they offered.
Prayer is the heat of love, which melts and dissolves the soul, and carries it to God.
In proportion as it melts, it gives out its odour, and this odour comes from the love which burns it.
This is what the Bride meant when she said, "While the King sitteth at His table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof" (Cant.
i.
12).
The table is the heart.
When God is there, and we are kept near to Him, in His presence, this presence of God melts and dissolves the hardness of our hearts, and as they melt, they give forth their perfume.
Therefore the Bridegroom, seeing His Bride thus melted by the speech of her Beloved, says, "Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense?"
(Cant.
iii.
6).
Thus the soul rises up towards its God.
But in order to this, it must suffer itself to be destroyed and annihilated by the force of love.
This is a state of _sacrifice_ essential to the Christian religion, by which the soul suffers itself to be destroyed and annihilated to render homage to the sovereignty of God; as it is written, "The power of the Lord is great, and He is honoured of the lowly" (Ecclus.
iii.
20).
And the destruction of our own being confesses the sovereign being of God.
We must cease to be, so that the Spirit of the Word may be in us.
In order that He may come to us, we must yield our life to Him, and die to self that He may live in us, and that we being dead, our life may be hidden with Christ in God (Col. iii.
3).
"Come unto me," says God, "all ye that be desirous of me, and fill yourselves with my fruits" (Ecclus.
xxiv.
19).
But how can we be filled with God?
Only by being emptied of self, and going out of ourselves in order to be lost in Him.
Now, this can never be brought about except by our becoming nothing.
Nothingness is true prayer, which renders to God "honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever" (Rev. v.
13).
This prayer is the prayer of truth.
It is worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth.
In _spirit_, because we are by it drawn out of our human and carnal action, to enter into the purity of the Spirit, who prays in us; and in _truth_, because the soul is led into the truth of the ALL of God, and the NOTHING of the creature.
There are but these two truths, the ALL and the NOTHING.
All the rest is untruth.
We can only honour the ALL of God by our NOTHINGNESS; and we have no sooner become nothing, than God, who will not suffer us to be empty, fills us with Himself.
Oh, if all knew the blessings which come to the soul by this prayer, they would be satisfied with no others: it is the pearl of great price; it is the hidden treasure.
He who finds it gladly sells all that he has to buy it (Matt.
xiii.
44, 46).
It is the well of living water, which springs up into everlasting life (John iv.
14).
It is the practice of the pure maxims of the gospel.
Does not Christ Himself tell us that the kingdom of God is within us?
(Luke xvii.
21).
This kingdom is set up in two ways.
The first is, when God is so thoroughly master of us that nothing resists Him: then our heart is truly His kingdom.
The other way is, that by possessing God, who is the sovereign Lord, we possess the kingdom of God, which is the height of felicity, and the end for which we were created.
As it has been said, _to serve God is to reign_.
The end for which we were created is to enjoy God in this life, and men do not believe it!
