Baptized pagans (“Christians”) write and say (in their heretical catechisms, scholastic, heretical “theologies”), that prayer is a conversation with God, to pray is to talk to God. And the Christian definition of prayer is as follows: prayer is communion with God! We are now talking not about words, but about the essence. Conversation and communion (to talk and to communicate) are different things. A conversation can be without communion, one can talk and have nothing in common with the interlocutors. One can talk for hours (even live a whole life in “marriage” and have nothing in common with one’s husband or wife! Never hear each other, understand each other, know each other) and not hear the interlocutor, have nothing in common (communion) with him, never meet, never start to communicate. (“Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord – is pleasing to Me, but only the one who does My will, My commandments”, “They honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; they labor in vain, hypocritically, deceitfully praying to be seen, for human praise or shameful monetary, silver-loving gain – I never knew you, had nothing in common with you; depart from Me, all who do iniquity”, “Your Eucharists (“I thank You, God…”), your sacrifices, your prayers – your hands are full of blood, hatred, murder, deceit, malice, pride, condemnation, disdain” are detestable to Me). So, one can talk (e.g., a husband with his wife) and have nothing in common! You ask: where are the examples? Thousands around us and within us! Therefore, not every prayer (formal rites of worship, Sacraments, prayers…) is prayer, that is, communion (communion of the Holy Spirit), or a movement towards prayer-communion in the Holy Spirit! Be vigilant, how you pray, how you learn to pray, that is, how you are catechized by the Church!
A conversation becomes communion only when the interlocutors hear (understand) each other – then there is at least theoretical commonality; if they feel those thoughts in the same way – then there is already a heartfelt commonality; and if they act according to the thought and feeling of it – then it is already complete commonality. Therefore, in prayer-conversation with God, for it to become prayer-communion, there must be attention (obedience to God), reverence and repentance. At the very least, attention – to hear (understand) what you are saying, reading, listening; then reverence: who you are and to Whom you are speaking, to Whom you are addressing, before Whom you stand; and finally repentance: what God wants from you (what God tells you to do, how to be). A conversation (a monologue with a prayer book, a service book, a ritual book, a request book… in hand) – is only a possibility of communion with God, the possibility of prayer, but not the prayer-communion itself. Prayer speech is made prayer by attention, listening, understanding, commonality… in mind, heart-feeling, will-action! The main thing is to hear… yourself… to comprehend the will of God and reverently fulfill it!
We have said that every commandment of God the Orthodox catechumen fulfills (must fulfill) in obedience, poverty and chastity. Catechesis is learning to pray, mastering the art of proper prayer, the art of repentance – movement towards the Goal, integrity, towards Resurrection – acquiring the Body of Christ, in which everything is whole, healed and united (mind, will and feeling are one!). Therefore, the main components of proper, purposeful prayer are attention-obedience (to hear and understand the words of the prayer that are being spoken), reverence-poverty (humility, awareness of before Whom you stand, walk, exist, in Whom you dwell, to Whom you address, speak, with Whom you want to have communion…) and repentance-chastity (thanksgiving, service, doing good – fervently fulfilling the will of God, all God’s commandments). Therefore, the words of prayer – are the heard and accepted will of God (what God wants, how I can serve Him, please Him, express gratitude for all the gifts and blessings that God-Love bestows on me every moment of my existence, which is also a gift of the Eros-Love of God the Father!), which immediately, reverently (with awareness of who you are (an unpayable debtor, a sinner, a nothingness…) and before Whom you stand, serve (more precisely: from Whom you accept service, Who washes your feet), for Whom you do good – for the One Who so loved you (whom there is nothing to love for, who is worthy only to suffer eternally in hell…) that He endured the cross sufferings and descent into the hell of God-forsakenness, Who gave His Beloved Son to the cross sufferings and death… Reverence is humility, gratitude, trembling, fear of God… so as not to offend such a to me sinner, insignificant, nothingness the Trihypostatic Love) is fulfilled (before God, for God, for Love)!!!
Prayer is love for God, and loves God the one who fulfills His will. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. Then those who love Me will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (see John 14). “Not everyone who says to me: Lord, Lord! – will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, acquire the Holy Spirit, enter into communion with God, but only the one who fulfills all the commandments of God, all the will of God!” “People draw near to Me with their mouths, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” and so on. All Scripture testifies that prayer is fulfilling the commandments of God, the will of God, walking before God, living in the name of Jesus Christ – “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” – which, of course, requires for the catechumens: attention, memory of God, obedience, listening-understanding and reverent fear of God. Where there is no at least one component: either obedience (attention, understanding (the will of God) – what I say, think, understanding what I have to fulfill, how I have to act-behave, feel, to be pleasing to God, to fulfill the will of God, not mine or the devil’s), or reverence (humble fear of God, trembling standing before the Holy One, God, Cross Love), or repentance (good deeds, actions according to the word of God, fulfilling God’s commandments), – then there is no prayer, but empty words, magical spells, pagan mantras, dreams… – all this is for judgment and condemnation, delusion… the end of which is: “I do not know you and never knew (you never prayed!): depart from Me all who do iniquity.” “Not everyone who says to Me: Lord, Lord! (says (listens and says: Amen! to all heard words of prayers) various Orthodox prayers, canons, akathists, troparions, hymns, psalms, serves (or participates in church services-prayers) various worship services, supplications, Sacraments…) – will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who fulfills the will of My Heavenly Father. Many will say to Me on that day (at the Last Judgment of Divine Love-Mercy): Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you, depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7: 21-23). Just think: miracle workers (they performed many miracles in the name of the Lord!), seers (they prophesied in the name of the Lord), exorcists (they cast out demons in the name of the Lord) – and all this they did (do), reading various prayers (in the name of the Lord), and the Lord says to these deceived by demons and who are in delusion: I never knew you, you never prayed to Me, did not commune with Me (to know-to experience is to be one, to be in communion). So, these were not prayers (not communion with God-Person, not penitential, humble giving of themselves, all and everything to Christ God), but magical spells, mantras… anything, but not Christian prayer (of Christians) or proper, which catechumens pray!