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ISAAC: That there are different reasons for prayer being heard in
accordance with the varied and changing condition of souls the words of the
gospels and of the prophets teach us. For you have the fruits of an answer
pointed out by our Lord's words in the case of the agreement of two
persons; as it is said: "If two of you shall agree upon earth touching
anything for which they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven." You have another in the fulness of faith, which is
compared to a grain of mustard-seed. "For," He says, "if you have faith as
a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain: Be thou removed,
and it shall be removed; and nothing shall be impossible to you." You
have it in continuance in prayer, which the Lord s words call, by reason of
unwearied perseverance in petitioning, importunity: "For, verily, I say
unto you that if not because of his friendship, yet because of his
importunity he will rise and give him as much as he needs." You have it
in the fruits of almsgiving: "Shut up alms in the heart of the poor and it
shall pray for thee in the time of tribulation." You have it in the
purifying of life and in works of mercy, as it is said: "Loose the bands of
wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress;" and after a few words in which
the barrenness of an unfruitful fast is rebuked, "then," he says, "thou
shall call and the Lord shall hear thee; thou shalt cry, and He shall say,
Here am I." Sometimes also excess of trouble causes it to be heard, as
it is said: "When I was in trouble I called unto the Lord, and He heard
me;" and again: "Afflict not the stranger for if he crieth unto Me, I
will hear him, for I am merciful." You see then in how many ways the
gift of an answer may be obtained, so that no one need be crushed by the
despair of his conscience for securing those things which are salutary and
eternal. For if in contemplating our wretchedness I admit that we are
utterly destitute of all those virtues which we mentioned above, and that
we have neither that laudable agreement of two persons, nor that faith
which is compared to a grain of mustard seed, nor those works of piety
which the prophet describes, surely we cannot be without that importunity
which He supplies to all who desire it, owing to which alone the Lord
promises that He will give whatever He has been prayed to give. And
therefore we ought without unbelieving hesitation to persevere, and not to
have the least doubt that by continuing in them we shall obtain all those
things which we have asked according to the mind of God. For the Lord, in
His desire to grant what is heavenly and eternal, urges us to constrain Him
as it were by our importunity, as He not only does not despise or reject
the importunate, but actually welcomes and praises them, and most
graciously promises to grant whatever they have perseveringly hoped for;
saying, "Ask and ye shall receive: seek and ye shall find: knock and it
shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that
seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened;" and
again: "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall
receive, and nothing shall be impossible to you." And therefore even if
all the grounds for being heard which we have mentioned are altogether
wanting, at any rate the earnestness of importunity may animate us, as this
is placed in the power of any one who wills without the difficulties of any
merits or labours. But let not any suppliant doubt that he certainly will
not be heard, so long as he doubts whether he is heard. But that this also
shall be sought from the Lord unweariedly, we are taught by the example of
the blessed Daniel, as, though he was heard from the first day on which he
began to pray, he only obtained the result of his petition after one and
twenty days. Wherefore we also ought not to grow slack in the
earnestness of the prayers we have begun, if we fancy that the answer comes
but slowly, for fear lest perhaps the gift of the answer be in God's
providence delayed, or the angel, who was to bring the Divine blessing to
us, may when he comes forth from the Presence of the Almighty be hindered
by the resistance of the devil, as it is certain that he cannot transmit
and bring to us the desired boon, if he finds that we slack off from the
earnestness of the petition made. And this would certainly have happened to
the above mentioned prophet unless he had with incomparable steadfastness
prolonged and persevered in his prayers until the twenty-first day. Let us
then not be at all cast down by despair from the confidence of this faith
of ours, even when we fancy that we are far from having obtained what we
prayed for, and let us not have any doubts about the Lord's promise where
He says: "All things, whatsoever ye shall ask m prayer believing, ye shall
receive." For it is well for us to consider this saying of the blessed
Evangelist John, by which the ambiguity of this question is clearly solved:
"This is," he says, "the confidence which we have in Him, that whatsoever
we ask according to His will, He heareth us." He bids us then have a
full and undoubting confidence of the answer only in those things which are
not for our own advantage or for temporal comforts, but are in conformity
to the Lord's will. And we are also taught to put this into our prayers by
the Lord's Prayer, where we say "Thy will be done,"--Thine not ours. For if
we also remember these words of the Apostle that "we know not what to pray
for as we ought" we shall see that we sometimes ask for things opposed
to our salvation and that we are most providentially refused our requests
by Him who sees what is good for us with greater right and truth than we
can. And it is clear that this also happened to the teacher of the Gentiles
when he prayed that the messenger of Satan who had been for his good
allowed by the Lord's will to buffet him, might be removed, saying: "For
which I besought the Lord thrice that he might depart from me. And He said
unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for strength is made perfect in
weakness." And this feeling even our Lord expressed when He prayed in
the character of man which He had taken, that He might give us a form of
prayer as other things also by His example; saying thus: "Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will but as Thou
wilt," though certainly His will was not discordant with His Father's
will, "For He had come to save what was lost and to give His life a ransom
for many;" as He Himself says: "No man taketh my life from Me, but I
lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take
it again." In which character there is in the thirty-ninth Psalm the
following sung by the blessed David, of the Unity of will which He ever
maintained with the Father: "To do Thy will: O My God, I am willing."
For even if we read of the Father: "For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son," we find none the less of the Son: "Who gave
Himself for our sins." And as it is said of the One: "Who spared not His
own Son, but gave Him for all of us," so it is written of the other: "He
was offered because He Himself willed it." And it is shown that the will
of the Father and of the Son is in all things one, so that even in the
actual mystery of the Lord's resurrection we are taught that there was no
discord of operation. For just as the blessed Apostle declares that the
Father brought about the resurrection of His body, saying: "And God the
Father, who raised Him from the dead," so also the Son testifies that He
Himself will raise again the Temple of His body, saying: "Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up again." And therefore we
being instructed by all these examples of our Lord which have been
enumerated ought to end our supplications also with the same prayer, and
always to subjoin this clause to all our petitions: "Nevertheless not as I
will, but as Thou wilt." But it is clear enough that one who does not
pray with attention of mind cannot observe that threefold reverence
which is usually practised in the assemblies of the brethren at the close
of service.
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