A collection of articles on prayer. When God hears and fulfills our requests
Every person at certain points in his life turns to God for help or advice. Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to know how to pray correctly at home so that God hears your words. Today, perhaps, the overwhelming majority of people are unsure that they are praying correctly, but sometimes you really want to hear the answer to the question posed.
How to pray correctly at home so that God hears?
Behind every turn of fate Insurmountable difficulties or dangers may await us:
- terrible diseases;
- a lack of money;
- uncertainty about the future;
- fear for loved ones and relatives.
Few people manage to avoid such turns. All that remains for us is to pray to God, tell him about our troubles and ask for help. If you want to hear an answer and feel a helping hand, then it is necessary that the request be sincere and come from the depths of your heart.
Unfortunately, in modern times, prayer is resorted to only in the most extreme circumstances, in desperate need of support, protection or help. But it is worth remembering that prayer is not just a collection of interconnected words, and a conversation with God, so the monologue must come from the soul. Prayer is the only way to communicate with the Creator, which is why every person should know how to pray correctly.
In order to be heard, it is not at all necessary to conquer mountain peaks, travel to holy places or walk through caves; it is enough to believe strongly and sincerely. If God sees everything, then why do we need to go somewhere to turn to him?
But how to read prayers correctly in order to be heard? What can you ask from the Creator? You can make requests to the Almighty for anything. Exceptions are requests that entail grief, sadness and tears of other people.
Divine Prayer Book Today it contains an incredible variety of prayers that cover various life situations of a believer. These are the prayers:
As we said earlier, these prayers simply have no number. There are no number of words with which one can turn to our Savior, praying for help. Just remember that the Lord is lenient towards you, understand the seriousness of your appeal, assessing your unworthiness.
Even if you do not know the words of the prayer, but you approach the prayer with all sincerity and seriousness, then The Lord will not leave you and will definitely guide you on the right path.
I would also like to add that turning to the Almighty is not a panacea for all diseases and is not one of the magical rituals. Therefore, treat the request accordingly. Remember that God himself knows who is worthy of what in this life. You shouldn’t ask him to harm or punish someone, it’s sinful! Never ask him to commit injustice.
When exactly can you say prayers?
Modern man does not have the opportunity to read prayers all day, so you should set aside a certain time for this. Waking up in the morning, even the busiest person in life can stand in front of the icons for a few minutes and ask God for blessings for the coming day. Throughout the day, a person can silently repeat prayers to his Guardian Angel, Lord or Mother of God. You can address them silently so that people around you don’t notice.
It is worth noting that a special time is before bed. It is at this hour that you can reflect on how spiritual this day was, how you sinned. Turning to the Lord before bedtime calms you down, allows you to forget the bustle of the past day, tuning into a calm and quiet sleep. Don’t forget to thank the Lord for everything that happened to you during the day and that he lived it with you.
There are different ways to ask the Lord for help, no matter where you are - at home or in the temple. The icon will always have a positive effect.
How to ask for help in front of an icon? Which image is better to give preference to? If you have no idea how to read the prayer correctly and in front of which icon, then it is best to pray in front of the images of the Most Holy Theotokos and Jesus Christ. These prayers can be called “universal” because they help in any task or request.
The main components of home prayer books are the beginning and the end. It is necessary to contact the Saints and ask for help correctly by following these simple tips:
Prayer will be heard by the Lord if you follow the following rules:
What is the difference between church and home prayer?
An Orthodox Christian is called to pray constantly, doing it anywhere. Today, many people have a very reasonable question: why go to church to pray? There are certain differences between home and church prayer. Let's look at them.
The Church was founded by our Jesus Christ, therefore, thousands of years ago, Orthodox Christians gathered in communities to glorify the Lord. Church prayer has incredible power and there are many confirmations from believers about grace-filled help after a church service.
Church fellowship involves and mandatory participation in religious services. How to pray so that the Lord will hear? First of all, you need to visit the church and understand the essence of the service. At the very beginning, everything will seem incredibly difficult, almost incomprehensible, but after a while everything will become clearer in your heads. It is also worth noting that to help every beginning Christian, special literature is published that clarifies everything that happens in the church. You can buy them at any icon shop.
Prayer by agreement - what is it?
In addition to home and church prayers, in the practice of the Orthodox Church There is. Their essence lies in the fact that at the same time people read the same appeal to the Lord or Saint. However, it is worth noting that these people do not necessarily have to be nearby, they can be in different parts of the world, it does not matter.
In most cases, such acts are committed with the goal of helping loved ones in extremely difficult life situations. For example, when a person has a serious illness, his relatives gather and pray to the Lord to heal the sufferer. The power of this appeal is very great, because, in the words of God himself, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them.”
But you should not consider this appeal as some kind of ritual that will fulfill all your desires. We have already said earlier that The Lord knows all our needs Therefore, when turning to Him for help, we must do so, trusting in His holy will. Sometimes it happens that prayers do not bring the desired fruit, but this does not mean that you are not heard, the reason is very simple - you are asking for something that will become extremely unhelpful for the state of your soul.
Summarizing all of the above, I would like to note that the main thing is not just to pray, but to be a truly sincere and believing person with pure thoughts and heart. We strongly recommend that you pray every day so that you are more likely to be heard by God. If you decide to start a righteous life, then you first need to cleanse yourself of all sins by taking communion and confessing. Before starting prayers, it is recommended to spend exactly nine days not only spiritually, but also physically, giving up meat.
When do people turn to God? In difficult life situations, when hope gradually gives way to despair. That's when people remember that there is a God. Not all, of course, but many people are believers “at heart.” Until a certain point.
How to properly turn to God and ask him for help?
One gate play?
Before you find out how to ask God for help so that He hears the petitioner, it is worth answering the question: does God help people in life? It helps, of course, to ask a stupid question. Do people often thank Him for His help before turning again? And here comes an awkward moment, because usually a request for help looks like this: you asked (sometimes tearfully), got what you wanted, and forgot about God until the next necessary moment. There was no room for gratitude. And this is wrong.
From childhood, people are taught to say “thank you” to their parents. God is the Father, how can we not thank Him for fulfilling the request?
How to give thanks?
How to ask God for help? And how can you thank the Savior for your help? It's very simple. You can go to church and order, light a candle in front of the icon of Jesus Christ.
If it is not possible to attend church (precisely because of weakness, and not because of laziness and eternal fussiness), you can read the akathist of gratitude at home. Or thank God in your own words, standing in front of your home iconostasis.
People don't know how to ask
How to ask God for help in love, for example? Don't be shy, first of all. For some reason, people are ashamed to ask their neighbors for help. It’s good if they are not ashamed to turn to the Savior with their requests.
There is no need to be afraid of this. After all, this is your Father. Is it possible that when a person loves his dad, he is embarrassed to contact him? Of course no. It's the same here. God loves everyone and responds to all requests.
A difficult situation
Finding yourself in a difficult situation, a person often doubts whether this is the right thing to do. People get nervous, get stressed, try to consult with loved ones or make decisions on their own. Weighing the pros and cons, they begin to get even more nervous. So what should I do? How to resolve the issue? Ask God for help? Yes, without any embarrassment. Pray to the Savior, entrust Him with the solution to a difficult issue. Who but God knows what is best for your good? Only He guides people through life, helping and protecting them in everything.
Never hesitate to ask God for help in a difficult situation, just like turning to God in general.
Pupils and students
Students and pupils are a separate issue. Are there many among them who turn to God for help? Hardly. Most often, mothers and grandmothers pray for their students. The students themselves either don’t want to, or don’t believe, or don’t understand why this is necessary.
How to ask God for help in studying for your son or daughter? Pray for your student and ask God to help him on his path to acquiring knowledge. And even better - the schoolchild or student himself should ask the Creator for help.
When you ask God for help, it’s somehow not very scary to take a difficult exam or go out to answer in front of a large audience and a strict professor.
Problems at work
It also happens: a person works, tries. But the bosses are unhappy and don’t even try to answer the question of what’s wrong with the work.
Or the boss gives his subordinates a task. They do it extremely poorly, failing miserably. How can you not get angry? How not to yell at your subordinates? How can a subordinate tolerate his boss’s nagging out of nowhere?
Turn to God for help. How to ask God for help in your work? Pray for the softening of the boss’s heart and for help for yourself. It will be useful to pray like this: “Lord, remember King David and all his meekness.” This short prayer helps if the boss is very harsh. By the way, this also applies to students. The professor is angry and sends everyone to re-exam? Say these simple words more often.
Ah, love, love
How to ask God for help in love? Pray that the Lord will give a soul mate if we are talking about a lonely person praying.
If the person asking is married, and for some reason it is cracking, then pray for the preservation of the marriage. Stand in front of the icons more than once, but ask regularly, persistently. It is not for nothing that it is said: “Ask, and it will be given to you.” So ask and knock on the Lord.
Why is it not given?
It happens like this: a person asks, asks, but is not given. At this point he begins to grumble - why? The request seems to be good, it’s not asking for something bad.
How to ask God for help so that this help will come? More precisely, how else can you ask? Why doesn't He always help? For several reasons:
- And most importantly, don’t forget to thank for what you receive.
Example one. The mother asks God to take her son away from the sin of drunkenness. He prays and prays, but the son continues to drink. Why is that? Because he is not interested in quitting alcohol. And of course, he does not ask the Lord to help him stop drinking. When a person asks for someone, it is important that both the petitioner and the one for whom they are asking are interested in the same final result.
His request is not good for the person. How so? For example, a person has been wanting to buy a car for a long time and is saving money. And this money is constantly spent on more significant needs: for example, the neighbors upstairs have flooded, repairs need to be done. Or an elderly mother is sick and needs medicine and a high-quality medical examination. You have to reach into your stash. Maybe this car is simply not needed? Who knows what God is protecting the beggar from, not allowing him to save money for his own car? Perhaps He saves a person from a fatal accident? The ways of the Lord, as they say, are inscrutable.
The request will be fulfilled a little later. It happens that a person asks for something, but it is not fulfilled. You just have to humble yourself, and suddenly the request is heard. This is because only God knows whether a person needs what he asks for, and at what moment it is better to give it to the person asking.
How does a person ask?
Choosing a moment amid the daily bustle, humbly standing in front of the home iconostasis and mentally voicing your request - or out loud. Once, usually. And then the person asking waits for his request to be fulfilled. When the Lord does not respond, the person asks again - this time more persistently. And again there is no answer. Then he stops asking altogether, considering that it is pointless.
This is fundamentally wrong. How then to ask God for help correctly?
How should you ask?
This must be done, first of all, with an open heart, without hesitation to resort to God’s help. Ask not just once, but every day when you pray (if you pray). Literally cry out internally to God. How does a child ask something from his parents? Persistently and obviously more than once, especially when he really wants something. So every person should ask in the same way as children ask - persistently and constantly.
Where to ask?
You can turn to the Savior for help at home or in church. In general, there is no shame in resorting to Him everywhere: on the way to work, walking with a child, going shopping. Nobody forbids this.
Most often, people ask for help either in a church or in front of a home iconostasis. Those who regularly go to church know that you can cry out for help both there and there.
Ask for a home
How to ask God for help at home? If it is not possible to get to the temple - due to illness, for example, you should not be embarrassed to pray at home.
When a person, having awakened from sleep, goes to the icons to pray, it would not be amiss to add his request to the prayers after the morning rule. Just before you do this, do not forget to thank God for waking you up and giving you a new day.
On the way to work, instead of listening to music, you can turn mentally to the Savior, again disturb Him with your request.
In the evening, after praying for sleep, thank God for the day you have lived and ask again.
Ask in the temple
It often happens like this: a person enters a church, lights candles, asks for something and leaves, confident that his request will be immediately fulfilled. It doesn't happen that way.
To get anything in life, you need to work hard. In the same way, you need to work hard before God. Go to church on Sundays, attend the liturgy, ideally, confess and receive communion. But this should not be done in order to “bribe” God; it must be done from the heart. And ask, ask, ask again. Knock and it will be opened to you.
Ask the saints
Saints are man's helpers before God. Now, while people walk their earthly path and pray to them, they help. How to ask a saint for help?
For example, there is a desire to prayerfully turn to Matrona of Moscow. Don’t be lazy to read the holy akathist, then ask in your own words. Read the akathist for a while, and after you have received what you want, order a prayer service in the temple and read the akathist in gratitude to Matrona.
If you have the opportunity to go to the relics of a saint, take advantage of it. Bow to the honest remains of the saint of God, ask her for help. The saints have boldness before God and ask for the people living on earth.
A little about communion and confession
As stated above, it is ideal when a person has received communion and confessed. How to achieve the ideal? It's not that difficult actually.
Confession is repentance for your sins. Sincere, and not for show. People must not only understand that they have sinned, but also get rid of this sin in the future. For example, what's the point of repenting of smoking if you don't think about improving. It is clear that you cannot get rid of this sin right away, especially for experienced smokers. Everything is done gradually. At first they smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. After the first confession, they began to smoke five less. And little by little you will achieve complete victory over sin with God’s help.
There are everyday sins that people repent of, reading the rule for the coming sleep. His last prayer is daily repentance. People “bring” more severe sins to church.
What kind of prayer is it to ask God for help? You can pray in your own words, they are sincere and come from the heart.
What about confession? What sins especially disturb the soul? Those should be confessed first. As the soul is cleansed, sins will emerge from memory on their own. Just don’t be embarrassed to tell them to the priest, he’s never heard anything like that before.
You need to go to church (preferably on Saturday evening or Sunday morning) and confess to the priest.
As for the sacrament, it is started only after proper preparation. This is a fast for three days (minimum). It is physical, as for mental fasting - it is abstinence from various entertainment activities, computer games, watching films, listening to music. For spouses, this means abstaining from intimacy for three days before communion.
On Saturday evening you need to read three canons: Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos and the Guardian Angel. You also need to read the Akathist to the Sweetest Jesus and the procedure for Holy Communion. All these prayers are in prayer books; at worst, if you don’t have a prayer book at home and you can’t buy one at the moment, you can find it on the Internet and print it out.
If a person has completed three days of physical and mental fasting, confession has been completed. Then you need to take a blessing from the priest for communion. How to do it? Just say: “Father, bless me to receive communion.” And if he asks if you are ready, list how you prepared: you fasted and read everything you were supposed to.
Conclusion
So how can you ask God for help? Here are the main aspects you need to know:
You can ask at home and in church.
At home, after reading the morning and evening rules, you should first thank God for allowing you to see a new day, and for allowing you to live another day. Then add your request.
You can turn to the saints with a request. To do this, you should read an akathist to the chosen saint and pester him with a request.
In the temple you need to ask more than once, but go to services and offer prayers along with a request for help.
Prayer is a way of conversation between a person and higher powers. Turning to God, the Mother of God, the saints or a guardian angel, a person repents of sins, asks for assistance or thanks for help. Each of these prayer requests has its own characteristics and rules.
The prayer of repentance frees you from worries
A prayer of repentance is one in which a person admits his guilt, repents of actions for which he is ashamed before God and people. According to Orthodox canons, if a person has not realized his mistakes, his other appeals from higher powers may be ignored. Therefore, first of all, it is important to repent of the sins you have committed. At the same time, the admission of guilt must be sincere and effective, otherwise the prayer of repentance will have no meaning. Such prayer frees a person’s soul from the burden of experiences and helps to find peace of mind and strength.
You can pray in your own words, but it would be good to know at least one prayer of repentance written by ascetics or saints, since their words have special vibrations. One of the most famous prayers of repentance is “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Repentant prayers can also include some types of canons - prayers dedicated to a saint.
Say the prayer of praise first
Prayer of praise exists so that a person can glorify God and the saints and express his love to them. During such prayers, requests and other appeals to higher powers are inappropriate. According to Orthodox traditions, the prayer of praise should always be read first, even before the prayer of repentance. We say one of them - “Thank God” - very often, and in most cases we do it mechanically, without even thinking about its meaning. It is also customary to say a prayer of praise at the end of any task. Praises include canons and akathists - prayers dedicated to God, the Mother of God or a saint. All church services usually begin and end with prayers of praise.
A prayer of supplication will help in difficult times
Petitionary prayer allows a person to ask for help or express his desires. Petitionary prayers help a person to humble his selfishness and pride. After all, for many it is very difficult to ask for help. Yes, and a prayer of petition is not an ordinary request. To be heard, she must be sincere. The most famous short prayers of petition are “Lord, bless,” which is said at the beginning of any task, and “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.” They are a universal appeal to higher powers in times of danger or difficult times. Petitionary prayers also include litany - a special appeal to God, which is read during church services.
Thank a higher power for everything
A prayer of thanksgiving gives a person the opportunity to express gratitude to God or the saints for their help. It is customary to read it regardless of whether a person received what he asked from higher powers. Even if his request went unheeded, you still need to say a prayer of gratitude - perhaps what the person did not receive would only bring him trouble. In Orthodoxy, it is customary to give thanks to God even in difficult moments of life, since any trials make us stronger and wiser. The most common short prayer of thanksgiving is “Thank you, Lord, for everything.”
Prayers heal
Relatively recently, scientists began to study the phenomenon of prayer and found that words addressed to higher powers normalize all processes in the body, reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, and help with depression. In addition, prayers “heal” our biofield and have a beneficial effect on the electrical impulses of the brain.
ABOUT PRAYER. HOW TO PRAY, HOW TO TURN TO GOD?
During the ancient law written in stone, the law given through Moses, people addressed God by name. Therefore, in the Holy Old Testament Scripture the Holy Name of the Most High God appears about seven thousand times (Tetragrammaton).
The Tetragrammaton is absent from the New Testament Scriptures. When God's law is written on the hearts of people, then people turn to God not by name, but by FATHER, FATHER.
“Lord, teach us to pray,” the disciples asked Christ. The Lord's answer is well known to everyone. This is the Lord's Prayer. She showed how to turn to God. Not by name, but “Father,” Heavenly Father. All who believe in Jesus Christ are children of God. Children do not address the Father by name. Servants and slaves are addressed by name. And the children say “Father, Dad.” We, as disciples of Christ, turn to God “Father” if, of course, we feel like God’s children, if we are adopted by God through faith in Jesus Christ, through receiving the Holy Spirit.
“Therefore, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God; because you did not receive the spirit of slavery, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry: “Abba, Father!” This very Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:12-16).
...The Lord in the Sermon on the Mount teaches what prayer should be, and even gives an example text of the prayer.
...The brevity of prayer.
...The mystery of prayer. Secret prayer: “Enter the room, lock the door behind you...”
...There is no need to go to the point of self-torture in prayer. A loving Heavenly Father does not require this from His children.
...Long, emotional, loud (shouting) prayers are from paganism.
(Here is what I wrote about prayer in the book “The Wisdom of Love”).
“...Prayer is the most sacred, the most profound, the most intimate. I wouldn't want to show it to anyone. Only God alone. For me, prayer has always, as far as I can remember, been like a warm, confidential, frank conversation with my father, and often even like with a friend. It goes without saying that I was afraid of God, and still am, and the further I go, the more I probably do. But - not in prayer, and not during prayer. In prayer I came to God, well, like to my home. My prayers have never been long, protracted, intrusive, annoying. For some reason, the words of Christ “when you pray, do not say too much,” and “your Heavenly Father knows before you ask...” always came to my mind.
One more thing (as I understand it): Whatever the reason for the prayer, whatever the problem with which I came to God in prayer, the very fact of prayer, this very act was and remains an extremely bright, joyful and pleasant act. Even when I was disgusted with myself, even when I did obvious stupidity, sinned, all the same, turning to God, I came to Him as my own, dear, loving, in full confidence that He would definitely hear my words. Often I said: “Father, you see, I got myself into trouble again. Again I am ashamed... Forgive me, Father...” Tears? Yes, there were tears, not even rarely. Both about mistakes and about problems for the resolution of which prayer was said. But there was no verbosity. And there was no self-torture. But it was like a conversation with a good friend who understands everything well, and who, of course, will not abandon you in difficult times, will not betray, but will help, support, and will not reproach: “Oh, here you are again...”
Often we ourselves, without fully understanding what is happening, bring ourselves to torment in prayers. This is exactly what happened to the prophet Daniel, who fasted and prayed for long days, not knowing that God instantly heard his prayer, and immediately, as soon as he began to pray, sent an Angel to him with an answer. But the Angel did not come on time for another reason, about which Daniel knew nothing. (Dan. 10:12,13). Whatever prayer we take from the Psalms, it will last a few minutes in duration. How long did the prayer of the prophet Elijah take on Mount Carmel in front of hundreds of prophets of Baal?
But what does Hebrews 5:7 say? What prayer of Jesus are we talking about there? It seems to me that it does not say about all the prayers of Jesus that He prayed while living on earth, that all His prayers were like this. There we are talking about prayer before the crucifixion. And this prayer was written down not so that we could imitate it, but so that we could imagine a little what a feat Jesus Christ accomplished by giving Himself to be crucified. We won't be able to pray like that. No man can pray as the Lord Jesus prayed. And we don’t need to pray like that, because our salvation does not depend on the fervor of our prayer, but on faith in Christ. Even if not only sweat with blood, but all our blood were to flow during prayer, it would not benefit us if we do not have faith in Christ. But, if we have faith in Christ, then there is no need for us to pray like that. In principle, it is enough to say the “Our Father” prayer.
True, it is repeatedly said about Christ that He “spent the night on the mountain in prayer...” I think that in this case we are not talking about prayer as a request, but as a pleasant communication with the Heavenly Father. Why do I assume this? Because we are not given the text of those prayers. This means that it was His, Christ’s, personal communication with God. And people are not supposed to know the details. Only the fact itself is indicated so that we, as adopted by God, as His children, understand that we can and should also have such personal communication with Him, with Our Heavenly Father. But this is different. This is more than just prayer. And I think no one will publish the text of such “communication,” just as the words of Christ’s prayers have not been published. In our hearts, during such a conversation with God, we can thank Him for everything, we can rejoice in His wonderful deeds, praise, make Him happy, even sing songs to Him! All this, of course, is not limited by time. This is what happens to God's spiritual children.
But we are also literal, bodily people. And there is no way for us to jump out of our body. And it hurts... But, alas, you have to endure, suffer, suffer. And we can’t escape anywhere. “He who endures to the end will be saved.” One consolation is that the Lord sees everything, knows everything, and does not ignore all our problems, sighs and tears. Now, I’ll tell Him about everything at night - and it will become easier. And the night is long, I have time to tell you a lot.” (End quote)
The desire to pray to God, to talk with God, to communicate with Him in spirit, is the main feature of a righteous person. He who prays to God is pleasing to Him. God is always with him. No sin, no mistake or mistake in life will cause irreparable harm to one who always prays to God, who does not stop praying under any circumstances.
“Be constant in prayer.”
“For a righteous man will fall seven times and rise again...” - Bible.
And actually, when? From Scripture we know: ask, and it will be given to you. Therefore, we ask and ask, but, as it seems to us, we do not receive what we need. Maybe we really don't understand what we need. It’s not for nothing that the apostle says: “For what we will pray, we know not.” If the great Apostle did not know what to ask of the Lord, then what can we, mundane and shrouded in an incessant and often empty vain life, know?
However, every believer knows from his personal life how the merciful Lord does not leave him in his requests. As many requests as a person pours out to the Lord, the same number and many more happy and comforting answers follow from Him.
Yes, there are requests that remain unanswered. When? Doesn’t an unfortunate mother know what her unlucky son needs: a drug addict, a drunkard, a riotous brawler? He knows and asks. And the son remains, to her tears and grief, the same, if not worse. Often mothers claim that their son wants to leave his misdeeds and cannot. “Father, I pray, but the Lord does not help. Maybe I’m praying wrong?” What can you say to console a mother who is disappointed in everything? In her despair, she can already hear a murmur against the Lord: “I pray, but the Lord does not help.”
- I know, mother, that you are praying. But the son flatters you, complains to you with his pretense, but does not want to leave his former life. Therefore, I will tell you: continue to pray, mother. A mother’s prayer cannot fail to be heard, and she will do her job, let it be, perhaps even after your death. The request of a mother who loves her child even to death will beseech the Lord, and He will bring the lost child to reason. Bring him to the service, after the service we will talk with him.
“I can’t persuade you, father, he doesn’t want to.”
That's the whole answer to the tearful question. Oh, if only the prayer were mutual!
We know from the Old Testament how two Israeli kings, Saul and David, sinned. And both asked the prophets to pray for them. But the prophet ordered the first to hand over his royal affairs, since he, having sinned, could no longer be the king of Israel, and to the other, who had sinned much more, at the first request for prayer, the prophet replied: “Your sin has been taken away!”
At first glance, it seems like injustice. After all, both ask, and ask for a prophet, a person who has, so to speak, direct access to God. But the answer is different: David was pardoned, but Saul was rejected in his request. Why? Because one of the sinners, having sprinkled ashes on his head, groaned and prayed for mercy, while the other continued his ungodly lifestyle, wanting someone else to ask and pray for him.
But in life there are literally wild cases. Doctors from the parishioners noticed that their old priest was weakening in health and sent me to the local Ural sanatoriums to rest and gain strength. It so happened that nearby, at the Medic recreation center, Mashenka Shmakova, a student at the Chelyabinsk Medical Institute, was on vacation with her mother. The family is a believer. It was August 4, the feast day of Mary Magdalene. And we celebrated the day of the Angel Mashenka in a casual way. They sang, as expected, “many years.” The thought flashed: probably in this place for the first time in my life the prayer of many years was heard. And when we went to our health resort “Utes”, we attended a water prayer service in the chapel in honor of the “Healer” icon of the Mother of God. After the prayer service we went to rest in the apartment that kind people provided us with. Passing by the food pavilion, my mother went in to buy something for dinner, and I sat down on a chair at the pavilion table. A tall young guy came out of the pavilion, unceremoniously sat down next to him and suddenly spoke rather rudely:
– Where did you get the idea that God exists?
- Where did you get the idea that he exists?
- Where did you get the idea that He doesn’t exist?
“I’ll knock out your eye, I served two years, you see,” and shows a horned fist with protruding crooked fingers.
- Nothing will change from this. In my prison, which I spiritually care for, where there are more than three thousand of the same children, no one promised me anything like this, and now my children will have a newcomer for fun training and entertainment. But the trouble is that you never listened to your mother because you didn’t love her.
- I would shoot you all! – he shouted in anger and walked away with a drunken gait.
– Mother of God, heal, remove the spirit of malice from this boy, as they soon feel the Spirit of God opposite them in people!
Who would pray for such a thing? What awaits him? Only the Lord knows.
But it is gratifying and, one might say, rewarding what a believer feels when he asks the Lord for help. Such requests are fulfilled immediately.
With the permission of the patient reader of my notes, I will give one or two of God’s aids to my requests, which clearly show which of our requests are appropriate for God to fulfill. I would like to first clarify that God’s help provided to me was not for my dignity, but because my request turned out to be pleasing to God, which I realized, to my shame, many years later, when I was already a priest.
I grew up and was drafted into the army. Mom was left alone to live in the barracks to which my dad brought us in 1939 in the mining village of Roza, Korkinsky district. During my time in the army, the barracks were demolished, and my mother was given a room of 12 square meters to share in a two-story house. meters.
When I returned from the army, they refused to register me because the standard living space per person was 9 square meters. meters. We clearly didn't have enough space. The paradox was resolved by registration. The time has come to start a family. They didn’t want to register my wife for the same reason, but they registered her anyway.
I am graduating from a mining technical school and working in a mine as a mechanic at a mining site. A child was born, then a second. There is a sharp shortage of housing, but the mine does not provide housing. The City Executive Committee informed the mine about the baptism of my children, and I was among the unreliable. I was blatantly shuffled from first to last priority many times. The team of repairmen treated me very well. People older than me, experienced in work and life, seeing my hopeless situation, one late evening a delegation came to my home with a bottle of vodka and put 1200 rubles on the table. money. At that time this was a lot of money. They all lived in their own houses.
It turns out that they bargained for a house for me not far from the mine. I was frightened and bewildered. At first I refused, but the stern conversation of the miners stopped me: “If you don’t take it, we’ll take it back, we won’t offer it a second time, and our friendship will break. We work together, you’ll pay back over time.” So I became the owner of my own house, in which I lived for many years. It was very convenient - work nearby.
Judging by the years, the house was old and in tatters. The area is sufficient, but in good frost the walls froze, and the house had to be heated without stopping. Luckily there was coal. We endured plenty of difficulties, and the most important thing was that when my wife and I were at work in the winter, my mother often, due to her weakness, stayed in an unheated house.
And then one day I came home from the night shift. The children are in kindergarten, Maria is at work, the stove that she flooded is almost burnt out, mom is lying in her room under a thick blanket, Maria has placed a thermos next to her. The wall where mom lies is covered with snowy frost. He lit the stove, gave mom some tea and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed.
Our dear mothers, forgetting about themselves, worry about their children.
- Son, how are you doing at work?
- Mommy, everything is fine.
- God bless. While you are at work, I pray for you without ceasing.
I picked up the newspaper, and a note caught my eye that this year so many millions of square meters of housing have been commissioned for the well-being of Soviet people. My soul involuntarily burst out: “Lord! I would like one and a half of these millions for my mother. I am in the mine day and night, Maria is at work, my mother is alone in the cold. If there had been a folder, the issue would have been resolved in my infancy. At work I’m afraid to even speak up about housing. Lord, You are our Father, help me keep my mother warm, she deserves it.”
My mother and wife often told me to leave my job in the mine. But I didn’t see where I could apply myself with a mining diploma. He was, as they say, dragging his feet, pushing aside the home conversation on this topic. And, as I understand it now, this was my big mistake: disobedience to my mother and the will of God. And then the Lord puts me in a different position.
The Union rejoiced at the opening of a new VAZ automobile plant in Tolyatti. "Zhiguli" cars were given to the leaders of production. I had a stellar production record. At that time I had a “hunchbacked” Zaporozhets, but I wanted a Lada. But my situation in getting a car turned out to be as deplorable as getting an apartment. Patience has its limits, and I went out to talk with the director of the mine, considering myself deprived.
By this time, my rating had increased: I was transferred to the “Ventilation” section as a mechanic. In other words, I was responsible for the gas protection of the mine. This is high and very responsible. But all my successes did not count; the first opponent of my requests was the party organizer of the mine. The arguments were obvious: attending Church, reports on the baptism of children, morally unstable. And I decided to leave the mine. He came home upset, his mother noticed and asked why. I told him and added that if now they began to persuade me to stay at the mine and offered me a Zhiguli for free, I would not agree, considering that I had exchanged my faith for a coffin with wheels. Of course, my soul was very bad and painful, but I should have listened to my mother earlier, I would have left quietly and peacefully, painlessly. Where to go? Maria offers for the construction of the Chelyabinsk Poultry Farm, where she worked in construction, in order to subsequently become a veterinarian. Decided. The decision was made by three people: me, mom and Maria. Neither the children nor the relatives knew anything. We agreed that until I get a job, I won’t tell anyone where I’m going. So the Lord inspired.
“Abba, you and I are in the deep desert, we are alone in your cave, no one can hear us, why was it necessary to write a note, and even burn it?”
“The evil one hears our conversation.”
- No, I couldn’t. He's not trained for this. Moreover, his primitive pride will not allow him to read a note written by a man of God.
Remembering the advice of the wonderful old man, we decided to have our own family secret.
So, I submitted my resignation. After the director’s signature, the application had to be signed by my head of the “Ventilation” section. An ardent commie. He tolerated me only because I had a wonderful friendship with the RGTI (mining technical inspection), before which everyone was in awe. This was the will of God, which kept me afloat in front of the haters. And so, my dear boss, signing the application, asks:
- Where are you going?
- They will give me an apartment.
- Will you be a mechanic?
- No. Plumber.
- Why?
– I’m telling you that they will give me an apartment. You don't give it!
- You won't get an apartment.
- I'll get it. Otherwise I would not have left the mine.
- You won't get an apartment.
- Why?
– As long as I am a deputy of the City Council, you will not get an apartment.
- I'll get it. And I invite you in advance to the housewarming party.
- I won't go to you.
- Why? I invite you.
– You and I are ideological enemies.
- Well, it’s my job to invite.
For the first time in my life I told a lie. It must be a white lie. Having received a full payment, on the same day I got a job at a poultry farm under construction as an instrumentation and automation engineer. After working his shift, when talking with his mining friends, he said that he got a job at a poultry farm. The factory was 15 kilometers from us, there was no communication. It was 1974. On the third day I went to work, explained to my electricians the scope and purpose of the work, and suddenly my chief power engineer at the poultry farm called me aside and asked excitedly:
- Sergei Ivanovich, the director of the factory sent me to ask - are you a Baptist?
- What's the matter?
– Now they came to him from the mine where you worked and said, “Sergey Ivanovich Gulko is getting a job with you.” Don't take it. He’s a Baptist and ruins discipline among people, we’ve had a lot of trouble with him.” Sergei Ivanovich, tell me honestly, are you a Baptist?
– You ask, I answer honestly: no. I never have been and never will be.
- Thank you. I got it.
And he left to report to the director.
Here is the characteristic style of the Council of Deputies: waste working time, come to an unfamiliar construction site, go to an unfamiliar director and warn that a believer, as an enemy, should not be hired for work. Slander him, stick a hungry knife in the back of the family of someone who never offended anyone with a word, whose father died heroically for his homeland and family. He died so that his family would not die of hunger without a warrior breadwinner. He died for this same mediocre and unscrupulous liar and others like him.
Surprisingly, my new director turned out to be a believer and carried me, one might say, in his arms. This is how the Lord supports his own! And if at the mine I was even crossed off the list for housing, then in the new place I was elected chairman of the housing commission for the distribution of housing to factory workers. For the good work of the housing commission, the director invited me to choose an apartment myself. I modestly refused, but the question remained the same.
In parallel with the construction of the factory, workers' housing was also built. To speed up the occupancy of the new house, the factory management asked all future residents to go and clear the house of construction debris so that the builders could quickly begin painting the floors. The children and I went too. There were three children, but only two could walk. We went to the second floor into the first apartment we came across, and the youngest daughter exclaimed: “Mom, this apartment will be ours!” That’s where we settled, the apartment was four-room and suitable for our family of six.
The Lord always gives more than you ask. I asked for at least a one-and-a-half-room apartment for my mother, but I got a four-room apartment, in which we lived for 5 years. The children began to grow up and larger rooms were needed. They wrote an application for review and forgot about it. The director asked me to move to a very important workshop for the poultry farm - the incubator. I agreed. The dear director died suddenly. The other one didn’t know us at all, and he didn’t care about all of us, he had a lot of things to do. We lived like this for another two years.
In our village, two-apartment houses were built for the management staff. One day, after the end of the shift, we go out through the entrance to the buses to go home, at the same time people from the Administrative Department, where the trade union Fab Committee met and distributed these same cottages, were leaving. Guys I knew came up to me with congratulations on allocating me a cottage. I took it as a joke, but it turned out to be true. We moved to a new two-flat house with a plot of land. The house had three rooms and a huge veranda, which we converted into a nice fourth room. I received the house by the will of God so that I could learn to read the Slavic language out loud. We lived there for 15 years and moved to Korkino when we were already a priest.
Why is it such a long and far from easy path to obtaining housing? Because it was necessary to immediately hear the will of God in my mother’s words and obey: “Son, I always ask the Lord for you to leave the mine.” The will of God was expressed in words. I heard this and didn't dare. I was thinking in the wrong place: I’ll leave the mine, I’ll leave work, what will happen to me? And the Lord was preparing me to be His servant. What mercy of God is towards us, hesitant and self-confident!
Then, when I grew a little wiser, I understood why the Lord gave me such wonderful housing. He didn't give it to me, he gave it to my mother. I asked Him, out of many millions of square meters of housing, for a warm semi for my mother. And, since my mother lived with me, and I with her, I and my family also received this gift. Wonderful are Your works, O Lord!
This may be a complex example, but here is a simpler example.
So, on February 23, the Day of the Soviet Army, we received a four-room apartment in a five-story building. Great Lent is coming, we are waiting for a joyful Easter.
Great Thursday. Maria and her mother put fresh Easter cakes and a plate with colorful eggs on the table, covered with a clean, beautiful tablecloth. We all faced a very difficult question: how to sanctify the Easter meal? Easter Sunday is declared a working day this year. We can’t get to Korkino; we live in the middle of nowhere. It’s even further to Chelyabinsk, we’ll obviously be late for work. My “Zaporozhets” is no longer there, on the advice of the director of the mine I had to sell it to a worker from my mine so that I would not be classified as a speculator, since I was standing in line for a “Zhiguli”. I followed the advice and was completely left without wheels.
We sit at home with the whole family, admire the beauty of the festive table and grieve. You will have to break your fast with an unconsecrated egg. Each of us reassures each other: “Well, what can you do, the Lord sees our situation. Let’s break our fast with what we have.”
“Lord,” I burst out almost in tears, “if only we had a machine, we would stand for the service, and sanctify the little beads, and break our fast like human beings, and we would have time for work!”
On the morning of Good Friday, we went to work as usual. Suddenly the director of the factory calls me. It turns out that he lost the keys to the safe. Spare inside. Who can open it? Of course, Kipovets. He came and picked at it with an awl and with curved tweezers. God knows how, but the safe opened.
The director is happy. I leave the office, and on the porch stands a very elderly and respected party organizer of the factory, Nikolai Ivanovich Klimenko. In the past, Honored Chairman of the collective farm. We greeted each other politely. He is asking:
– Sergey Ivanovich, how is life young?
Unexpectedly, I lied for the second time in my life.
– Last Sunday I went to Chelyabinsk for a flea market, looked at the cars, they were all old, half-rotten, I was afraid to take them. I would like to take the children out into nature on weekends and relax somewhere near the water.
- What are you, what are you, don’t take it! I saw the order for agriculture in the area, we will have cars, take a new one.
And with that we parted. Closer to lunch, the factory dispatcher urgently calls me to the director over a loud intercom. Then the senior supply manager ran up to me and hurried to go see the director.
“Kolya,” I ask him, “what happened?” Can I take some of the tools with me?
– Sergei Ivanovich, you don’t need anything, now everything will depend on you.
- Kolenka, what’s the matter, tell me a secret.
– As you say now, so it will be.
I go obediently, I get angry too, they call me a friend. I go to the director, and he asks me from the doorway:
– Sergei Ivanovich, do you need a car?
- Why were you silent? Nikolai Ivanovich is on the line, he is in the area at a meeting, he says that you need a car. They give us Moskvich-2125. It is more expensive than Lada. Will you take it, or is it better to wait?
- I'll take it.
- Expensive. “Zhiguli” is 5500, and “Moskvich” is 7200.
- I'll take it.
He calls party organizer Nikolai Ivanovich to agree. They give us the car. A brand new, luxurious Moskvich combi 2125 was already standing under our window by lunchtime on Holy Saturday. In the evening, without numbers, with great joy we went to Korkino to celebrate the most joyful Easter. What great joy! Behold the mercy of the Lord to those who ask Him for help! And what a miracle: at the mine the party organizer “cut down” my request, and in the village the party organizer helped her!
Why was the request fulfilled so quickly? Because the request was for the glory of God, for prayer, for visiting church on Sundays.
This is what we who ask for God’s help must remember: what we ask from God and why. God’s will is to lovingly help everyone.
Let the example of our requests be the request of the Holy and Righteous Fathers of God Joachim and Anna, who, having an impeccable and pious life, prayed to God to bless them with the birth of a child, whom they decided to give to the service of God. Their tearful and fervent petitions contained all their trust in the Lord, sacrificial love for Him and all their hope: “Take from us, Lord, the reproach of infertility, give us a Child, and we will give Him to You for Your glory.” They thought that God would give him a son so that he could be assigned to serve God in the temple of the Lord, but a girl was born. But they happily kept their promise. It is a great and indescribable joy for us that the Lord gave them a Girl, the Most Pure and Most Blessed Mary, who became the Mother of God and the Mother of the entire human race, the First Helper of all crying and grieving mothers.
