Prayer (and Spiritual Fruit)
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“To establish a solid and fruitful relationship with God and build himself up spiritually, a Christian must be attentive to himself. He needs a permanent attitude of vigilance (nepsis) to avoid evil thoughts (including diverting thoughts) and must remain attentive to God in undistracted prayer so as to develop a solid and fruitful relationship with God, which also builds him up spiritually by uniting him with the One God.” (Jean-Claude Larchet)
“The fruits of sincere prayer are simplicity, love, humility, patience, meekness, and the like. All these, even before the eternal fruits, produce fruit here in the life of the diligent. Such are the fruits that adorn prayer; if they are absent, its labor is in vain.” (St. Gregory of Nyssa)
“The fruit of prayer is a gradually expanding vision of one’s own sins and sinfulness, whereby compunction increases and is transformed into tears. The fruit of prayer is the sense of God’s presence, a living remembrance of death, and the fear of judgment and condemnation. The fruits of true prayer are the bright peace of the soul, united with a quiet, silent joy— free from fantasy, self-conceit, and heated impulses and movements; love for one’s neighbors, not separating the good from the evil in love, but interceding for all before God as for oneself. The fruit of prayer consists in the illumination of the mind and the softening of the heart, in the enlivening of the soul with the life of the spirit.” (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov)
“Is your conscience troubled because you say prayers hastily? That is justifiable! Why do you listen to the Enemy? He is the one who spurs you on. "Make haste, hurry up," he says. That is why you do not sense any fruits from your prayer. Make it a rule for yourself to take your time and to say every word of the prayers with understanding, and if possible, with feeling. Assume this task as resolutely as a commander-in-chief who does not bear any objection. The Enemy would suggest: you need to do this or that; but you should just say to yourself, "I know that without your seduction. Off with you...." And then you will see how successful your prayer will be. Otherwise you have only the prayer rule, but not the prayer itself. It is only prayer that nourishes your soul…The essence of a prayer is easy to explain. Make your heart and mind stand before the Lord and appeal to Him, saying, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." That will be your prayer work. The Lord will see who prays devotedly and will grant him spiritual prayer according to his zeal. That spiritual prayer is in fact the fruit of the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is all we should say about the Jesus prayer. All those other inventions have nothing to do with it: they are the Enemy’s attempts to distract us from prayer.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)
“When you pray, see to it that you have a peaceful disposition. It is the most important precondition for fruitful prayer….Each of us will have to discover our own most effective means to acquire a measure of quiet and a disposition toward prayer….In the quiet of that place, bring your mind and heart to focus on God’s presence. Then allow the Holy Spirit to direct your prayer in whatever way is most appropriate, most necessary…James 5:16 draws the contrast to such Spiritless worship and prayer: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Thus, fruitful prayer is not a matter of volume or display of religiosity.” We don’t have to shout or put on a show of piety to get God’s attention. The whisper of our hearts reaches the ears of God in an instant.” (Elder Efstratios of Glinsk, Fr. John Breck, Fr. Basil)
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