Is it possible to pray while we are working? On the surface it seems that this will distract us from our work. The reality is that it will enhance our concentration and our ability to do quality work unhindered by distractions and anxiety.
Elder Paisios says,
When someone is doing work that needs concentration, i.e. he is driving a car, or he is operating on a patient, he should also say the Jesus prayer so God can help him and enlighten him; however, he should pray with his heart, and use his mind to concentrate on his work and thus avoid doing any mistakes.
Prayer can help us concentrate and gain greater insight into our work.
The Elder says,
The more the mind concentrates on praying, and is being humbled, the more it is enlightened by the grace of God. However, the more it gets dispersed and confused due to its haughtiness, the more it becomes troubled; therefore the our mind, which is clean by nature, fills up with dirty thoughts.
It is through prayer that we act with a “clean” mind. Without prayer we are left with our own often confused thoughts. We play over and over in our minds negative thoughts about this or that person. We play over again and again scenarios about what might befall us in the future. With continuous prayer our mind become still, clean from distracting thoughts, only filled with God and the work that is in front of us as this moment. We are held in the vision of His will for us.
Source: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, p 80
Abba Moses gave the following
seven precepts to Abba Poemenius, which if followed will lead to
salvation by anybody whether they be in the cenobium, or in solitude or
in the world:
1. In the first place, as it is written, love God with all your heart and with all your mind.
2. Love your neighbour as yourself.
3. Bring to death all evil in you.
4. Do not judge your brother in any dispute.
5. Do no evil to another person.
6. Before departing this life cleanse yourself of every fault of mind or body.
7. Always be of a humble and contrite heart.
These
things can be achieved by anyone who thinks of his own sins and not his
neighbour's, and trusts in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who with
the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen
From The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods,
admiring all that the "accident of evolution" had
created.
"What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he walked alongside the river, he heard a
rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to
look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charging
toward him.
He ran as fast as he could up the path. He
looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear
was closing in. He ran even faster, so scared
that tears were coming to his eyes.
Looking over his shoulder again, the bear was
even closer. His heart was pumping frantically
and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and
fell on the ground.
He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the
bear, right on top of him, reaching for him with
his left paw and raising his right paw to strike.
At that instant the atheist cried out, without
thinking,
"Oh my God! ... "
Time stopped.
The bear froze.
The forest was silent.
Even the river stopped moving.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice
came out of the sky,
"You deny my existence for all of these years,
teach others I don't exist and even credit
creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me
to help you out of this predicament? Am I to now
count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light and
answered,
"It would be hypocritical for me to be a
Christian after all these years; but, perhaps,
you could make the bear a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice.
The light went out.
The River ran again.
The sounds of the forest resumed.
And then the bear dropped his right paw ...
brought both paws together ... bowed his head and
spoke:
"Lord, for this food which I am about to receive,
I am truly thankful."
The First is a smile.
The Second is tears.
The Third is a gentle touch.
The Fourth is prayer.
The Fifth is love.
With these five languages you can travel the entire earth and the whole world will be yours.
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/05/five-languages-of-love-eldress-gabriela.html
My dear Christian brothers and fellow Greeks: May our sufferings become lessons for us. Let us correctly consider what Greece once was, and what it is today. It used to be a great and powerful empire, and today it has ended up a small, poor, weak nation that can barely subsist.
If the Greeks have been diminished and humbled, if they are enduring hardships, this happened to them an account of their many sins, as the Holy Spirit states through the wise Solomon:
“sins diminish peoples; righteousness exalts a nation” (Pr. 14:34).
They have suffered because they have distanced themselves from God. They have suffered on account of their pride, jealousy, hatred, divisions, and their other sins.
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation” (Mat. 12:25).
As soon as divisions and jealousy emerged within the Byzantine Empire, the beginning of its
downfall commenced.
The Christians were segregated into two different armies that despised and persecuted each other, especially during the iconoclastic period. The heretical iconoclasts would imprison, exile, and execute the Orthodox Christians.
Jealousy and hatred similarly infiltrated into the political rulers.
In order to rise to power or to secure their safety in the royal palace, many emperors would assassinate
their rivals, gouge out their eyes, cut their nose and ears, castrate them, confine them by force in monasteries and tonsure them monks, so that they would no longer have the right to seize the kingdom. These and other innumerable evils and improprieties committed by the civil and
ecclesiastical leaders, as well as the people and the clergy, induced God to wrath,and He handed them over to foreign nations. Consequently, on account of their sins, the formerly vast and powerful Byzantine Empire came to an end.
My fellow Greeks: May our sufferings become lessons for us. “Virtue raises up a nation!”(Pr. 14:34).
When Byzantine emperors such as Constantine the Great, Theodosius, Leo, Justinian, Heraclius, and more importantly the people and the clergy lived with piety, and were united with God and one another through sincere and genuine love, their
kingdom flourished, they became firmly
established, and they would defeat their enemies; because they had help from God, Who aids and protects them who love Him, and Who destroys all the sinners. Even during recent historical
times, during the Greek Revolution, the Balkan War, and World War II against Italy, when all the Greeks were united with God, they achieved miracles. When, however, they would distance themselves from God and alienated themselves from one another, they were vanquished.
“Sins diminish peoples!”(Pr. 14:34).
Fellow Greeks: let us stand well; let us stand with fear! Let us be careful; otherwise we will be utterly destroyed—not so much by our enemies, but more so by our own selves. If we continue to fight with each other, we will unavoidably devour each other. God has also become angry with us because we do not listen to Him; instead we curse Him, blaspheme Him, and disregard Him.
When we repent and return to God, when we become united, then we will be saved, and our nation will not only live, but it will also prosper,
be honored, glorified, strengthened, exalted, and magnified.
I promise and guarantee this. I believe it and hope for it. I confess and proclaim it, because I know such is the case from the aforementioned examples and many other examples witnessed by history. Truly, “Virtue raises up a nation!”
An appeal to the Greek nation by Elder Philotheos Zervakos
http://www.stnektariosmonastery.org/weeklymessage.pdf
