THE RELEVANCE OF PRAYERS AND FASTS

(Fr. Dr. Biji Chirathilattu; Vicar, St.Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church, Vienna)

The Christians today are having different notions about prayers and fasts. Most of the free Churches see them as means to achieve favours and benefits from God and many of the common believer's notions about prayers and fasts correspond to it. On the other side, the mainline Churches impose on the believers fixed daily prayers and periods of fasting. This article is an attempt to build a wholesome attitude about prayers and fasts.

It is not wrong to pray for the things of this world. In fact, we need to pray to God to be strengthened in our struggle to live in this world filled with dangers (Mathew 26:41). He helps us to escape from dangers that may befall us. Though the traditional theology perceives God as the unchangeable, God's plans could be changed through prayers because He is merciful. As in the case of Lot, God honours supplications and changes His plans (Gen.19: 1-23). God is the good one who is never angry, who in his kindness bears the faults in peace without vexation. He is the one who rises up to hear our repeated requests like the friend in Luke 11:8. He fills our heart with His peace and with love without distinction. The Lord is near to us, full of mercy and commiseration and He hears anyone who calls to Him (Math. 7:7) with a contrite heart. One need not worry about the earthly needs because the giver of our life knows that food, clothing etc. are necessary to us. He provides His creatures with all their necessities (Math. 6: 8-9; 25f).

Every believer has to strive to get from God spiritual benefits as well. One has to supplicate to God for illuminating his soul with God's rays and to be made worthy to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Prayers are also for entering the temple of the soul to see Christ there and for eating avidly from Him, who is the tree of life. Prayers also strengthen us in faith making us doubtless about God, and they fill our hearts with peace and enable us to see the mysteries of Christ. Prayers provide eternal benefits also.

One who prays has to bear in mind that the Lord of all knows what is useful to him and that He provides him with even the goodness not requested for. It is not desirable to use too many eloquent words in prayer or to raise voice in prayers, because God is near to us. Wrong requests are not heard by God and it explains why many of our prayers are unanswered (James 4:3). Concentration is one of the most necessary pre-requisite to prayer. One has to free the mind from every impassioned thought in order to be able to speak with God, even though it is achievable only through constant effort. He has to absolutely restrict the mind from wandering towards futilities. Only those who have an unchanging faith in the almighty God, that He has created and sustained us and will provide tomorrow also all our needs can have such a concentration. The best preparation for prayer is to render the intellect deaf, without speech, at the time of prayer. Focused and meaningful prayers alone lead to purity in prayer. So, one certainly has to understand the meaning of words that are stammered during prayer, and there is no place for hypocrisies and simulations in prayer. The mechanical and meaningless repetition of beautiful words in prayer does not bring any effect and silence is much better than prayers without understanding of the meaning. Awe arising out of the knowledge of the strength and power of the almighty Lord and praising the Lord by the soul are also important in prayers. Shame happening by the remembrance of the sins and recollection of shortcomings and hope resulting from the knowledge of God's mercy also lead to perfection in prayer.

Such a perfection in prayer guides us to the real goal of prayer; namely the union with God. The ultimate purpose of prayer is the union with God and actually, the true prayer itself is union with God. Prayer is the means to be near to God and to get immense joy out of it. It is the commingling of the intellect with God and through prayer it beholds His glory and abides in the light of His greatness within the place of the spiritual beings, stupefied, silent, motionless, in ecstasy and in wonder. It is the experience of the apostles at Mount Tabor, who have seen the immense Glory of God and longed just to be there (Math. 17:4). The highest form of prayer is the pure prayer, where, the mind being unified with God comes to a stage where it identifies itself with God as the receiver of all prayers. It is described as following by Issac of Ninneveh the eighth century Syrian Father.

"Prayer which is beyond purity, is steadiness of the intellect, quite of the heart, rest of the mind, quietness of the thoughts, contemplation of the new world, hidden consolation, intercourse with God and the intelligence in communion with God through the revelation of his mysteries." "When the spirit of the Son dwells in the perfect, it speaks through him, as through the Son of God, to the Father. And here is no human weakness nor prayers, nor beseeching, nor recollection of things of this world or of things to come. But the Son of God knows himself in a divine way, and as the son with his father, so he speaks freely with God. And then he becomes as the one receiving all prayers, and not as the one who prays; and as the one answering all questions, and not as the one who asks, because the rich one, his Father has given him power over his riches and he has become the same as the person who dwells within him."

At this highest stage of prayer we stop asking about our material needs because we know for sure that the God with whom we are united provides us with everything. Though only the ascetics mostly achieve to it, everybody has to strive towards it. The daily forms of prayers and spiritual exercises occupy a primary stage in the spiritual journey of the soul towards its creator. They should lead one to this highest stage of spiritual experience.
Fasting has the role of assisting prayers and often preparing the conditions for ideal prayer. Therefore, it has always to be accompanied by prayers and has the same intentions as that of prayers. It results in the spiritual illumination and lifts one to the higher levels in the spiritual journey. It helps the one who prays to elevate him from animal ranks to the angelic ranks. Human beings rank higher than the animals because they are capable of suppressing material desires by means of their intellectual faculty of reflection and they rank lower than the angels, because they are overpowered by desires and because of their continuous fight and struggle against them. In this way, in as much as one is carried away towards desires, he is thrown down to the lowest rank of the animals, but in as much he can withdraw from passions, he is elevated to the highest rank of the Angels. And because of his proximity to them, he draws near to God's domination.

Fasting is aimed at this resemblance, because by it the eyes of the soul are purified from the bleariness so that it will see the spiritual beings and their perfection, will long after them and desire to resemble them, and will be saved from the stink of different kinds of food, which by the smoking fume exalted by them darken the visions of the soul and do not allow it to see something spiritual. By fasting, the mirror of the human soul will obtain the aptitude of receiving spiritual images; because acts of impudence are put to an end and fists of lustfulness are appeased by permanent hunger.

Fasting helps to have serenity of the soul because the one, who hungers in his stomach, enlightens his intellect. Therefore, the hunger is a key, which opens the door of wisdom. It assists to arrive at the spiritual beauty, because tastes and materiality cover the intellect. The humility of the soul and the non-arrogance are also resulting from fasting, because the body, which is a stallion, is being lustful. When not in hunger it does not reduce to subjection/obedience. And it quenches the desires of the sins. It is necessary that we should control the stomach before it rules us. The hunger purifies the mind, attains spiritual enjoyments, by which spirit is made humble, the desires are quenched and the weariness of sleep lightened. Mathew 17:21 also tells us that prayers and fasts purify and heals the body and soul. In Mathew 9:15 Jesus is not rejecting Fasts; rather he teaches us that in a suitable time it is right to fast (i.e. when the bridegroom is not with us).

Fasting helps the repulsion of the plentiness of sleep, because the one who is full drinks a lot and the one who drinks more, his sleep also multiplies. It is also useful that man is not engaged with preparing food and thus being lazy in spiritual things. It improves the health of the body as the doctors say that who does not eat before he is hungry and who stops eating before he is full are freed from many sicknesses. And it multiplies the abundance with which we should satisfy the other hungry. Because one who is being luxurious is not being satisfied by what he owns or that of the others. Fasting is also in order to remember the poor, the needy, the hungry, and those in tribulation.

(For more details see the forthcoming book: "Prayers and Fasts according to Bar Ebroyo, a study on the prayers and fasts of the Oriental Churches", by Fr. Dr. Biji Chirathilattu, Lit Publishers, Hamburg)