Admitting our shortcomings, our prayer is filled with honesty
Let’s make the effort of using our shortcomings in order to acquire the humble reasoning, because this is the enemy of pride that we don’t even take in consideration ourselves. You worry because you judge your neighbour: if we will be humble, we will no longer judge our neighbour. Let’s pray with humbleness, as the tax collector did, and God will hear our prayer- because God hears the prayer of the humble.
Recall as often as possible the words of God – “We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). Thus you may cast away the lofty thought.
Anyway, since we are far from accomplishing God’s commandments, we need to be humble and repent ourselves, as Saint Mark the Ascetic has written in his “Word about Repentance.” We always need repentance but we also want to see our accomplishments. Why do you think that in his prayer, Saint Ephrem says “Oh Lord, allow me to see my own mistakes and not to judge my brother?” By this he means that we shouldn’t commit a sin on purpose, but that we need to see the sins we’ve committed in the past as well as in the present, and never to lose faith but to repent thinking we are the blackest sheep of the flock. After speaking about the seven works of the flesh, St Peter of Damascus wrote in Philokalia that “Then, the mind starts to see its faults as the sand of the sea - and this is only the beginning of the enlightenment of the soul and the sign of its health.”
Do you see? After a man becomes filled with virtue, he sees his sins and not his accomplishment. St Isaac the Syrian doesn’t say we should seek for the highest vision, but to seek for the word of God. My advice would be to try and fulfil his commandments, but don’t be too distressed when you commit a sin. You should repent and be humble: When in your heart will be the pledge of humbleness, God will offer you His help to make good works turn you from committing sins.
And, according to St. John Climacus the cause of our sins is pride “Where a sin has been committed, there leads the pride”.
Therefore, let’s make the effort of using our shortcomings in order to acquire the humble reasoning, because this is the enemy of pride that we don’t even take in consideration ourselves. You worry because you judge your neighbour: if we will be humble, we will no longer judge our neighbour. Let’s pray with humbleness, as the tax collector did, and God will hear our prayer- because God hears the prayer of the humble while we don’t have the right to cherish our prayer. Only God knows its value and if we cherish it we risk to resemble the Pharisee.
(Translated from Sfântul Macarie de la Optina, Sfaturi pentru mireni, Editura Sophia, București, 2011, pp. 9-10)
