The Purpose of Prayer in Evagrius' Chapters on Prayer

Like Saint Augustine, who believed that humanity must be receptive to Grace and allow themselves to be guided by the will of God alone instead of their own mortal will, for the Egyptian monk Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 A.D.) one prays not for one's own good, but so that one can become closer to God. Also like Augustine, Evagrius shows there is a difference between living well in the world and living well in God.

In order for our prayers to be "an ascent to the spirit of God" (Ch. 35), we must cultivate inner purity and become focused on living well in God.

Evagrius notes in numerous chapters in his codex Chapters on Prayer that one must empty him or herself of passions and concerns.

"The man who stores up injuries and resentment and yet fancies that he prays might as well draw water from a well and pour it into a cask that is full of holes," as he says in Chapter 22.

"You will not be able to pray purely," Evagrius explains later his work, "if you are involved with material affairs and agitated with unremitting concerns" (Ch. 70). Injuries, resentment, and our material affairs and concerns are things of the world that have important significance for our comfort and pleasure in our life, but these are not things of God.

In order to prevent these worldly circumstances from corrupting our prayers, Evagrius suggests that you should "render your mind deaf and dumb" (Ch. 11).

Finally, he makes the point that living well in the world is not the same as living well in God. In Chapter 110, he says to, "deny your flesh and your desires and live according to the spirit."

Although often times one benefits from his or her prayers, receiving a benefit is not the purpose of prayer. As Evagrius says, "Pray not to this end, that your own desires be fulfilled. You can be sure they do not fully accord with the will of God. Once you have learned to accept this point, pray instead that "thy will be done" in me" (Ch. 31).

Later on, he reiterates this point, saying that those who pray should "not set your heart on what seems good to you but rather what is pleasing to God" (Ch 89).

Reference: Evagrius. The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer. Cistercian Studies Series, vol. 4. Translated by John Eudes Bamberger OCSO. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1972.