“Man’s greatest merit is to place all his hope in God” (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux).
These words of St Bernard turn the world view of the natural man on its head. We all have a tendency to base our worth on what we possess, what we know, what we achieve. It is not so easy to overcome this because we are surrounded by this mentality and we need a process until we can give our full consent to what St Bernard is telling us today.
What can help us in this process?
“Pray always in the Spirit” (Eph 6:18).
We are coming to the end of St Paul’s advice for spiritual warfare. Surely all believers know how essential prayer is, without which there can be no spiritual life. If we neglect prayer, we are always in danger that temptations will overcome us more easily, that distractions will increase and that the temptations of the world will have a greater influence on us. We will also be weaker and more vulnerable when it comes to fighting the battle that has been entrusted to us with the appropriate weapons.
On the other hand, if we take advantage of the Lord’s opportunities to pray, our souls will be prepared and docile to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Through prayer we will be able to conquer strongholds with the Lord.
Yesterday I ended the meditation by quoting part of a Starez’s exhortation on the prayer of Jesus. He was clear that this prayer is a special weapon against the power of the devil. The full quote is:
