I was a protestant for 27 years and a pastor for about 10. I had a horrid failure and spent ten years 'on the run'. After listening to a Jordan Peterson video on Genesis late one night (I dont know why) I had a profound dream - I was back at church and was asked to 'preach' and I had no notes. It was 2 Cor 5:17 -19 (New creation). I then spent the next 2 years going to a dozen protestant churches looking for home - until I discovered Orthodoxy. I have been truly home for 2 years and now a 'Reader' I ROCOR. Thank you for sharing Father - this is beautiful and helps a lot. And reminds us all how little we really know.
Thank you Fr. Paul for this incredibly helpful instruction! I am a life-long Protestant and am getting married in a month to my life-long Protestant fiance. What great timing to be drawn to the Orthodox Church! 😅 I am struggling with her rejection of any of the ideas I share with her about Orthodoxy, but I am making my best effort to begin the spiritual practices of the Church on my own in preparation, in case God decides in His mercy to make a way for me and my fiance to convert together. Please pray for me that this will happen. For now, I feel blessed to even know about Orthodoxy even if God never allows me into the Church, I will be filled by the hope and knowledge of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church, and become closer to Christ every day. Thank you for your edifying words again.
My fiance started learning about orthodoxy last year, right after we were freshly engaged. We were both raised protestant. I pushed back and could not accept the saints--I thought it was evil to pray to them. I also could not understand the love and veneration of the Theotokos. I would have arguments with him, trying to bring him back to Protestantism, but man did he just jump right in. After a while, I began to realize my protestant arguments were weak. I realized the saints were real and alive--after all Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise that very day. I began to understand the disregard for Mary was very mistaken, along with the story of her relationship with Joseph. The Orthodox Church is deeply rooted in history and on God working through the saints, while the protestant church felt very disconnected and mega modern. It was started 1500 years (give or take) after Jesus's resurrection, after all. I became a catechumen after 2-3 months of arguing and falling flat. 😂 Now, we are married and were baptized/chrismated into the Church. My point is that there is hope! And though your fiance might hold on to protestantism, you going down this path gets her one step closer to the true church. I am forever grateful that my fiance dragged me here. Eventually, I picked my face up, got to my feet, started walking alongside him. Prayers for you and your fiance.
The Truth is Truth regardless of the source. Protestants are not totally wrong, in fact they are right about most points. Perhaps explain that to her, that she isn't wrong. I like it to having a partial set of encyclopedias. They are not wrong, and the reader is not wrong, they just haven't read all the books.
Thank you, father, I only recently went to my first Liturgy and decided to fully become Orthodox this reflection and others you made have truly helped me to get to where I am now are continuing to help me grow spiritually
i always feel terrible when i commit sins i've tried to repent for so i'd wait a few days to not commit it and then start praying again because i felt cleaner, this really opened up my eyes, thank you, Father
Thank you Father. I often suffer with praying on autopilot, where I just whiz through it to tick the box. It is good for us to stop and appreciate what we are actually doing. As you say, the whole 'ticking the box' thing is another facet of thinking God needs our prayer. I will try to remember to take these steps when I pray. Your blessing.
Your previous experience is so relatable!!! Thank you so much for being so humble to share it with us. Makes me feel like I'm not alone in my horrible ideas of God inside myself sometimes that His love is truly for all including me but somehow it's only in front of others, that when it's just me and Him we both know i don't really have it like the rest... I'm getting so much better at not feeling that way but not even close to being fully healed yet. I will certainly try what you explained! God bless you Father i thank God for you 🙏
Wild! I do this same thing as a protestant. Appreciate this and glad to hear brothers in a different tradition are more similar than I would have thought.
Love your videos I only have a small critique, only on the channel I feel as though if you improved on your thumbnails it could help reach more and more people
Hello father, genuine question - when the elders talk about prayer, they advice not to imagine things while praying. What's the difference between their meaning of imagination and what you're advising - imagining all the junk flooding out of you? I don't mean to be disrespectful, just an honest question. Thank you in advance!
He was imagining prior to prayer to clear his mind to begin proper prayer. That's my thought, at least. Have you read the book The Way of a Pilgrim? It talks about this, too.
Great question! The Fathers strictly advise us not to use our imagination DURING prayer. What I suggest is using it in preparation for prayer. St Theophan the Recluse does the same. He says to imagine Christ on the cross or something else to warm yourself up for prayer prior to beginning prayer. Once we begin praying, though, our prayer should be without mental images.
@@frpaul Thank you, father! Thanks to both of you, I will try to implement this method to prepare my mind for prayer. Also thanks for the book recommendation. God bless you! 🙏
@@frpaulHi Paul, when I pray, I’ll sometimes imagine myself kneeling or lying on the floor in front of him as he stands there as a shining light. I always find it helps me focus on the heavenly throne and so my mind doesn’t wander to something else. The more Scripture I read before and after, it would help me pray longer and in a more pure state. I find prayer to be very physically and mentally exhausting, incredibly taxing on the system.
Many thanks for your posts. How did you find out about soon to be recognised as Saint Father Cleopa Ilie. Maybe you will come to attend when he will be sanctified? God bless
As a very busy mama of two very little kids, how do I find time and energy to just be still for this long and pray? How do I find time to breathe that much? I want to do this so badly. We are very new to orthodoxy.
This is a huge struggle that we all pass through our spiritual life. 😞 I constantly have those thoughts, although I am sure God have answered me many times in my agony. I even ask if He is aware of me (my existence), does He know me or one day He will tell me “ depart from me, I don’t know you” 😢But on the other hand I often have the feeling that I have to open up my self to Him with humility and humbleness and ask Him those questions. But what is keeping me from doing so? It’s like I am waiting from Him to make the first step and show me so that my soul, heart and mind would feel His love in a way that I can’t deny it anymore! Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy upon me!🙏🏻☦️
This is a new age approach to prayer life, we cannot change our sinful through prayer. Only through Jesus. Jews tried that for thousands of years, still do, and muslims do the same and also a lot of new age people do it. But we have the words of Jesus to guide us, they are eternally more precious than our own prayers since they direct us to HIM. How should we otherwise know the truth? We would be no better at proclaiming the truth than the new age people. But through Jesus words we can really know how he touches us and it is way different than our own heart. Let Jesus wash the inside of the cup and drink from what he offers. I also think it is a bit strange that you already call yourself a father when you also see yourself as a beginner. A reliable father shouldn't be a beginner. This is why Jesus said, call no man on earth your father, so that we do not confuse God the Father with the devil. Jesus also says that there's no need for repetitions of prayers. I pray that all start to read New Testament.
I'm in a dark place and desperately need Christ. This video was exactly what I needed, Thank you Father.
My unworthy prayers for you. God bless.
❤❤
Be blessed in Godly suffering, and never forget this is our true state of being. We are in constant need of Him and His grace.
Praying for you. Never stop praying. All prayers are heard even if you feel like your prayers aren't answerered.💛
Praying for you 🙏🏻
I was a protestant for 27 years and a pastor for about 10. I had a horrid failure and spent ten years 'on the run'. After listening to a Jordan Peterson video on Genesis late one night (I dont know why) I had a profound dream - I was back at church and was asked to 'preach' and I had no notes. It was 2 Cor 5:17 -19 (New creation). I then spent the next 2 years going to a dozen protestant churches looking for home - until I discovered Orthodoxy. I have been truly home for 2 years and now a 'Reader' I ROCOR. Thank you for sharing Father - this is beautiful and helps a lot. And reminds us all how little we really know.
God bless you sir
This changed my thoughts about praying. Listened to it 10 times. Thank you, Father!
Thank you Fr. Paul for this incredibly helpful instruction! I am a life-long Protestant and am getting married in a month to my life-long Protestant fiance. What great timing to be drawn to the Orthodox Church! 😅 I am struggling with her rejection of any of the ideas I share with her about Orthodoxy, but I am making my best effort to begin the spiritual practices of the Church on my own in preparation, in case God decides in His mercy to make a way for me and my fiance to convert together. Please pray for me that this will happen. For now, I feel blessed to even know about Orthodoxy even if God never allows me into the Church, I will be filled by the hope and knowledge of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church, and become closer to Christ every day.
Thank you for your edifying words again.
God bless you and her.
My fiance started learning about orthodoxy last year, right after we were freshly engaged. We were both raised protestant. I pushed back and could not accept the saints--I thought it was evil to pray to them. I also could not understand the love and veneration of the Theotokos. I would have arguments with him, trying to bring him back to Protestantism, but man did he just jump right in. After a while, I began to realize my protestant arguments were weak. I realized the saints were real and alive--after all Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise that very day. I began to understand the disregard for Mary was very mistaken, along with the story of her relationship with Joseph. The Orthodox Church is deeply rooted in history and on God working through the saints, while the protestant church felt very disconnected and mega modern. It was started 1500 years (give or take) after Jesus's resurrection, after all. I became a catechumen after 2-3 months of arguing and falling flat. 😂 Now, we are married and were baptized/chrismated into the Church.
My point is that there is hope! And though your fiance might hold on to protestantism, you going down this path gets her one step closer to the true church. I am forever grateful that my fiance dragged me here. Eventually, I picked my face up, got to my feet, started walking alongside him. Prayers for you and your fiance.
@MerelyMolly This is INCREDIBLY encouraging, thank you so much! Prayers for you all in your journey as well!
@@jacobdishman3451 Thank you! 🙂
The Truth is Truth regardless of the source. Protestants are not totally wrong, in fact they are right about most points. Perhaps explain that to her, that she isn't wrong. I like it to having a partial set of encyclopedias. They are not wrong, and the reader is not wrong, they just haven't read all the books.
All your previous mistakes are basically my current mistakes that I continually make. Thank you for this video. ♥ ♥ ♥
God bless you, father. Yesterday i was nearly in despair about my praying, like often before....And then this helpful video ☦️.
Thank you, Father Paul. Madelyn Athens, Greece
I believe this is one of the most underrated videos. Thank you so much for this gift and much love from Canada
Thank you, father, I only recently went to my first Liturgy and decided to fully become Orthodox this reflection and others you made have truly helped me to get to where I am now are continuing to help me grow spiritually
Me too! 🙏
i always feel terrible when i commit sins i've tried to repent for so i'd wait a few days to not commit it and then start praying again because i felt cleaner, this really opened up my eyes, thank you, Father
Thank you, Fr. Paul. May Heaven consume you.
Thank you so much for sharing this!! This was amazing, and helped me so much!! God bless you, Father Paul!
Meline
Thank you Father, this was very important segment. Lord, Jesus Christ have mercy on me
I will try this, I have trouble connecting. Thank you.
Thank you Father☦️🤍
Thank you Father. I often suffer with praying on autopilot, where I just whiz through it to tick the box. It is good for us to stop and appreciate what we are actually doing. As you say, the whole 'ticking the box' thing is another facet of thinking God needs our prayer. I will try to remember to take these steps when I pray. Your blessing.
Thank you, dear Father. This is exactly what I needed to warm my heart and help me with my prayer life.
Your previous experience is so relatable!!! Thank you so much for being so humble to share it with us. Makes me feel like I'm not alone in my horrible ideas of God inside myself sometimes that His love is truly for all including me but somehow it's only in front of others, that when it's just me and Him we both know i don't really have it like the rest... I'm getting so much better at not feeling that way but not even close to being fully healed yet. I will certainly try what you explained! God bless you Father i thank God for you 🙏
Thank you Father helped alot.
Thank you, Father. This morning I prayed for guidance in how to pray, and your video popped up! Just what I needed. Glory to God.
Lord, show me the way and make me willing to walk it
Thank you, Father.
Thank you very much Fr Paul.
Glory to God. I needed this. Thank you Father for the helpful information.
I spent the weekend with my godfather and it pained me to talk aloud about how horrible I am at praying. It’s shameful.
God knows your heart.
Thank you so much father ☦️❤️
Thank you Fr. Paul
God bless
Thank you Father. What a great video
Father, this video is amazing. Thank you.
Thank you, Father, for your timely message. I really needed to hear this today!
This was incredibly helpful, thank you so much, Fr. Paul!
Thank you, Father. I really needed these words. What good timing from the Lord!
Thank you for this I hope I can do it too
Thank you Father for this most helpful video.
Gold thank you
Thankyou Father for your advice and encouragement
God bless
Thank you ❤️🙏
Thank you for the practical advice Father!
It really helped me to deepen my prayer!
Thank you. Great video. You will be successful on RUclips.
Wild! I do this same thing as a protestant. Appreciate this and glad to hear brothers in a different tradition are more similar than I would have thought.
Great video, very helpful toward my own prayer life. God bless you father!
Thanks be to God for your ministry! Real, tangible help without any political agenda! Thank you, Fr. Paul!
I am addicted to pills and praying god can help me get off them. I don't know what to do.
Love your videos I only have a small critique, only on the channel I feel as though if you improved on your thumbnails it could help reach more and more people
Could you make a video on the difference between the efficacy and validity of sacraments--if there is any?
6:30
Hello father, genuine question - when the elders talk about prayer, they advice not to imagine things while praying. What's the difference between their meaning of imagination and what you're advising - imagining all the junk flooding out of you? I don't mean to be disrespectful, just an honest question. Thank you in advance!
He was imagining prior to prayer to clear his mind to begin proper prayer. That's my thought, at least. Have you read the book The Way of a Pilgrim? It talks about this, too.
Great question! The Fathers strictly advise us not to use our imagination DURING prayer. What I suggest is using it in preparation for prayer. St Theophan the Recluse does the same. He says to imagine Christ on the cross or something else to warm yourself up for prayer prior to beginning prayer. Once we begin praying, though, our prayer should be without mental images.
@@frpaul Thank you, father! Thanks to both of you, I will try to implement this method to prepare my mind for prayer. Also thanks for the book recommendation. God bless you! 🙏
@@frpaulHi Paul, when I pray, I’ll sometimes imagine myself kneeling or lying on the floor in front of him as he stands there as a shining light. I always find it helps me focus on the heavenly throne and so my mind doesn’t wander to something else. The more Scripture I read before and after, it would help me pray longer and in a more pure state. I find prayer to be very physically and mentally exhausting, incredibly taxing on the system.
Many thanks for your posts. How did you find out about soon to be recognised as Saint Father Cleopa Ilie. Maybe you will come to attend when he will be sanctified? God bless
As a very busy mama of two very little kids, how do I find time and energy to just be still for this long and pray? How do I find time to breathe that much?
I want to do this so badly. We are very new to orthodoxy.
We go to the well to draw from in, not to pour our drips of water into it.
Hello, i am unsure about converting, could you tell me the falsities of a non denominational baptist church. Thanks
How do you truly believe that He really loves you? Like i believe it but.... I know my daughter loves me, my granddaughter loves me..
This is a huge struggle that we all pass through our spiritual life. 😞 I constantly have those thoughts, although I am sure God have answered me many times in my agony. I even ask if He is aware of me (my existence), does He know me or one day He will tell me “ depart from me, I don’t know you” 😢But on the other hand I often have the feeling that I have to open up my self to Him with humility and humbleness and ask Him those questions. But what is keeping me from doing so? It’s like I am waiting from Him to make the first step and show me so that my soul, heart and mind would feel His love in a way that I can’t deny it anymore! Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy upon me!🙏🏻☦️
God bless Father but man you up late
✝️❤️👏👏
I see that iconoclasm never happened in orthodox.. icon of Epiphanius of Salamis is missing ☺
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
🙏🏻🤍
An apophatic approach!
Jesus saves. Muslims and Jews pray alot.
Oh, be careful about any imaginations in your prayers, no a good practice.
Indeed. My suggestion is to use the imagination PRIOR to prayer, not during it.
@@frpaul thank you for your clarification.
This is a new age approach to prayer life, we cannot change our sinful through prayer. Only through Jesus. Jews tried that for thousands of years, still do, and muslims do the same and also a lot of new age people do it. But we have the words of Jesus to guide us, they are eternally more precious than our own prayers since they direct us to HIM. How should we otherwise know the truth? We would be no better at proclaiming the truth than the new age people. But through Jesus words we can really know how he touches us and it is way different than our own heart. Let Jesus wash the inside of the cup and drink from what he offers. I also think it is a bit strange that you already call yourself a father when you also see yourself as a beginner. A reliable father shouldn't be a beginner. This is why Jesus said, call no man on earth your father, so that we do not confuse God the Father with the devil. Jesus also says that there's no need for repetitions of prayers. I pray that all start to read New Testament.