Nepsis: Watchfulness and the Inner Life of Prayer

Why Prayer Often Remains Superficial

Everyone prays—but do we truly pray?

Many attend church each Sunday, but do we truly worship? Some faithfully keep a daily prayer rule, but does this lead to real communion with God?

The difficulty is not a lack of prayer, but the quality of our prayer. Our minds are scattered, our hearts divided, and we often approach God with self-formed ideas rather than a living awareness of God’s presence. When the mind becomes absorbed in distracting thoughts during prayer, our communion with God is weakened and fragmented. Instead of standing attentively before Him, the soul becomes scattered among its many cares.

True prayer is not simply speaking words. It is communion with God.

The Fathers use the Greek word nous—often translated as “mind” or “spiritual intellect”—to describe the deepest faculty of the soul, the part of us that can directly know and perceive God. It is the nous that must be gathered, purified, and stilled in prayer so that true communion with God may take place.

This is not merely mental activity, nor is prayer simply an ordinary conversation conducted in words. God often reveals Himself not through verbal responses, but through grace, illumination, stillness, repentance, peace, and the quiet awareness of His presence. 

Prayer requires that we rise above the continual noise and distraction of our thoughts—not by violently suppressing them, but by no longer allowing ourselves to be carried away by them—so that the soul may stand attentively before God in living communion.

Yet when we attempt this, we immediately encounter a problem.

Our minds are filled with distractions—our worries, emotional burdens, desires, and unresolved struggles. Instead of entering into communion with God, we remain caught within ourselves. Prayer becomes something external—words spoken, but not truly lived.

We may spend long periods in prayer, yet never truly encounter God. God seems distant, even though we know He is ever-present. Somehow, we are not present to Him, not because God is absent but because the mind is enslaved to thoughts and passions. 

We often approach prayer in a merely outward or conversational manner, speaking many words while remaining inwardly distracted and centered on our own concerns. In this way, prayer remains centered on ourselves and things of this world rather than on God and His Kingdom.

The Fathers teach that our thoughts are deeply connected to the passions within the heart. What we secretly love, fear, resent, crave, or cling to continually pulls the mind away from God. The struggle for attention in prayer is therefore not merely psychological, but spiritual.

The Fathers recognized this struggle and gave a clear answer: nepsis—watchfulness.

Without this, prayer remains scattered. God seems distant.
With it, prayer becomes real.

What is Nepsis?

Nepsis is often called watchfulness, vigilance, or inward attentiveness. It is an ancient Orthodox practice of spiritual watchfulness that helps the soul remain attentive to God in prayer.

It is not separate from prayer but an essential dimension of prayer itself. Nepsis helps us turn away from the constant pull of thoughts and concerns and to stand attentively before God in true communion, keeping the heart turned toward Him in prayer.

Without this watchfulness, prayer easily becomes mechanical and routine—words spoken outwardly, while the mind wanders and the heart remains untouched.

Nepsis is a careful awareness of the thoughts that arise within us, and a refusal to be carried away by them—whether sinful, anxious, distracting, or even seemingly good thoughts that draw the mind away from attentive prayer. Our minds are constantly in motion, filled with images, memories, anxieties, judgments, and fantasies that continually pull the soul away from God. 

Nepsis is not the suppression of thoughts, but the refusal to follow them away from God.

The Fathers also teach that distracting thoughts are often rooted in the passions within the heart. What we secretly fear, crave, resent, or cling to continually pulls the mind away from God.

Elder Aimilanos describes it as the effort to awaken the inner part of our being—to gather the scattered mind, reject distracting thoughts, and remain inwardly attentive before God.

This is not a passive state but an active, sober attentiveness. It is an inner stillness, a sober attentiveness of the heart in the presence of God.

Through this watchfulness, the heart begins to acquire a deeper stillness. In this stillness, prayer becomes more real—not because we force it, but because we are no longer scattered.

As this inner attentiveness deepens, a new orientation of the soul begins to emerge. The mind and heart are gradually unified, and the soul becomes more attentive to God's presence.

In this way, nepsis prepares the soul for a deeper knowledge of God—not a conceptual knowledge, but a knowledge born of communion.

Nepsis is the vigilant attentiveness of the heart that guards the mind from distraction, allowing us to remain present before God and enter into true prayer.

Nepsis is More Than Meditation or Concentration.

It is easy to confuse nepsis with various forms of meditation, mindfulness, or mental concentration that emphasize inner quietness, attentiveness, and awareness of thoughts. These practices may bring calmness or mental clarity, but they do not lead to prayer on their own. Nepsis is more.

Nepsis is not a technique for relaxation or self-improvement but an essential practice within the spiritual life of the Orthodox Church. As Saint Theophan the Recluse teaches, prayer does not become real through technique but when the mind stands attentively before God.

In many forms of meditation and concentration, such as Buddhist meditation, the focus is often on awareness itself and detachment from thoughts and desires. In Orthodox prayer and nepsis,  however, the focus is always directed toward Someone—towards God. It is not about seeking silence for its own sake, but about becoming attentive to His presence. In this attentiveness, we stand before Him with love and humility—waiting, listening, opening the heart to His love and grace.

The Fathers teach that the deepest obstacle to prayer is not only mental noise, but the passions within the heart that continually pull the mind away from God.

For this reason, nepsis is not merely the quieting of the mind into inward stillness or detached awareness. This watchfulness helps us recognize and resist the temptations caused from the passions within the heart. The goal is not silence or emptiness for its own sake, but communion—the loving embrace of God.

The path of nepsis is our attentive effort, joined with the grace of the Holy Spirit, to guard the heart from distractions and remain present before God. It is not about suppressing the mind, but keeping it attentive to His presence.

The difference is not silence itself, but whether that silence is directed toward God.

Practicing Nepsis in Prayer

Having understood what nepsis is—and what it is not—we can now begin to see how it is practiced in the life of prayer.

Nepsis requires effort and discipline. It is not merely an idea, but something that must be lived and practiced daily. The spiritual fathers speak with one voice on this, though each emphasizes a different aspect of the same path. Together, they give us a complete and balanced way to begin.

1. Begin with Attention: Gathering the Mind Before We Pray.

Saint Theophan the Recluse teaches that the first task in prayer is to gather the mind.

Before you begin to pray, pause, become aware of where you are and before Whom you stand. Our thoughts are usually scattered in many directions—concerns, plans, memories.

As you begin to pray, gently draw your mind inward and place it within the words of the prayer.

The beginning of nepsis is:

• to notice the wandering of your mind

• and then bring it back with attention

As Saint Theophan insists, prayer becomes real only when the mind and heart are united.

2. Return Gently: Do Not Fight Harshly

As you begin to pray, you will discover that your mind is restless, continually bringing worldly concerns to mind. The Fathers often observe that distracting thoughts become especially strong when we begin to pray seriously. What was previously hidden within the heart now becomes visible.

Saint Porphyrios gives essential advice: do not fight your thoughts aggressively. If you struggle harshly against distractions, you only become more agitated. Instead, learn to gently return to the words of your prayer. Do not engage with the thoughts that come.

Saint Paisios uses the analogy of thoughts as airplanes flying overhead. He says you just don’t want to provide an airport for them to land.

When a thought comes:

• do not argue with it

• do not analyze it

• do not become discouraged

Simply return—quietly, peacefully—to the prayer. This gentle returning is itself an act of nepsis.

3. Stand Watchfully: Guarding the Heart

Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra deepens this teaching by describing nepsis as standing watchfully before God. It is not only about thoughts, but about the state of the heart, the center of our soul.

Often these thoughts are connected to the passions within us—fear, resentment, pride, vanity, desire, or self-love—which continually seek to pull the heart away from God.

As these inner movements are revealed, Nepsis also becomes an act of repentance and humility, as we begin to see more clearly the true condition of our heart before God.

As the mind gradually becomes quieter, you will begin to observe:

• what is arising within you

• what draws you away

• what darkens or disturbs your heart

Nepsis means not allowing these movements to take hold but to remain present, attentive, and sober.

It is a kind of inner vigilance, as if standing at the door of the heart, discerning what may enter and what must be turned away.

4. Remain in Stillness: Learning Inner Silence

As you continue in this practice, something begins to change. Your mind, no longer constantly following thoughts, begins to settle. Your heart becomes quieter and more peaceful. A certain stillness appears—not forced, but gradually received.

This is not the absence of thought, but the presence of attentiveness. This stillness is not psychologically manufactured or self-created, but gradually received through perseverance, humility, and grace.

In this stillness, your prayer becomes less about speaking or reading and more about being present. This is the beginning of what the Fathers describe as deeper interior prayer—the gradual movement of prayer from the lips and mind into the heart.

5. Persevere: The Hidden Struggle

This does not come easily. Distracting thoughts will continue to arise. You will become distracted again and again. Don’t become discouraged, even if it feels like nothing is happening.

This struggle is not a failure—it is the very arena of nepsis.

Every time you notice a distraction and return to God, you are already practicing true prayer.

Over time, this repeated turning reshapes your soul.

6. Hold Together Effort and Grace

Nepsis requires effort—but it is not accomplished by effort alone. You gather your mind, you return from distractions, and you stand watchfully. But you must remember that it is God who gives stillness, depth, and true communion.

The Fathers call this synergy: your effort to remain attentive and God’s grace working within you. Without effort, the mind remains scattered. Without grace, prayer never becomes living.

7. From Effort to Communion

At first, nepsis feels like effort: watching, returning, and guarding. But over time, it becomes something deeper. Through humility, perseverance, and the grace of God, the soul gradually begins to rest more easily in His presence, turning toward Him more naturally and remaining less scattered. What began as a struggle becomes attentiveness, then stillness, and then communion.

Over time, this attentiveness gradually extends beyond moments of formal prayer into daily life itself, and the soul begins to live more consciously in the presence of God.

Closing Insight

Nepsis is not something added to prayer—it is what makes prayer real.
Through watchfulness, the mind is gathered, the heart is guarded, and the soul becomes attentive before God.

And in that attentiveness, we begin—not perfectly, but truly—to stand before God in living communion with Him. The soul becomes quieter, less scattered, and more capable of standing before God with humility, love, and the listening heart. 

Notes: The concept of Nepsis is not limited to our prayer life. As we develop the attributes necessary for prayer, in a true communion with Him, we will also be able to apply this same concept to the rest of our lives so that our whole life is focused on God and living according to His will.

Nepsis is often connected with the practice of the “Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”.

For those who wish to go deeper, the Philokalia — a collection of writings by the Fathers on watchfulness, prayer, and the inner life — is the great treasury of this tradition. It is available in English and is an inexhaustible companion for those seeking to grow in Orthodox prayer.

The Vocabulary of Watchfulness and Prayer:

Nepsis - νῆψις

 Watchfulness; sober inner attentiveness. The vigilant guarding of the heart and the watchful awareness of thoughts enable the soul to remain present before God in prayer. It is not a passive quietness but an active, alert sobriety of the inner life. Saint Hesychios of Sinai calls it "a firm guarding of the intellect"— the foundational practice of Orthodox inner prayer.

Nous - νοῦς

The spiritual intellect or eye of the soul — the deepest faculty of the human person, distinct from the reasoning mind (dianoia). The nous is that part of us capable of direct, non-discursive awareness of God. In the Fall it became darkened and scattered; in prayer and watchfulness, it is gradually purified and gathered. When the Fathers speak of "gathering the mind," they mean the nous — not analytical thinking, but the soul's capacity for living communion with God.

Heart - καρδία

The spiritual center of the human person — deeper than emotions or thoughts alone. In Orthodox spirituality, the heart is the inner sanctuary where the nous, will, desires, and spiritual awareness are united, and where communion with God takes place. The Fathers teach that prayer is the gathering of the scattered mind into the heart so the soul may stand attentively before God.

Hesychia - ἡσυχία

Stillness; interior peace and silence of soul. Hesychia is both a practice and a gift — the inner quiet that results from faithful watchfulness and prayer. It is not merely the absence of noisy activity but the presence of undivided attentiveness to God. The Hesychast tradition of Orthodox monasticism takes its name from this word. Nepsis is the watchful practice; hesychia is the state of peace it cultivates.

 

Logismoi - λογισμοί

Thoughts: interior movements of the mind — images, memories, desires, fantasies, and suggestions that continually arise within us during prayer. The Fathers are careful to distinguish between a thought arising (which is not itself sinful) and consenting to it and allowing oneself to be carried away by it. Nepsis is precisely the art of noticing logismoi without following them, gently returning the nous to the presence of God rather than engaging with each passing movement of the mind.

The Jesus Prayer

The short prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer is the traditional instrument of watchfulness in the Orthodox Church. Repeated slowly and attentively, it anchors the nous in the presence of God and gives the mind something to return to whenever it wanders. It is not a mantra or a technique of relaxation, but an act of faith, humility, and love addressed to a Person. The entire Philokalic tradition — and Hesychast monasticism — treats the Jesus Prayer as the primary vehicle of neptic prayer.

Theosis - θέωσις

Deification; union with God. The goal of the entire Christian life in Orthodox theology — not merely moral improvement or closeness to God, but genuine participation in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Saint Athanasios of Alexandria expressed it simply: "God became man so that man might become God." Nepsis and watchful prayer are among the primary means by which the soul is opened to this transforming grace. Theosis is not the erasure of the human person but its ultimate fulfillment in communion with the Holy Trinity.

The Philokalia - Φιλοκαλία

Literally, "love of the beautiful" — a collection of writings by Orthodox Fathers from the 4th to the 15th centuries on watchfulness, prayer, and the purification of the nous. Compiled by Saint Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and Saint Makarios of Corinth and published in 1782, it is the great treasury of the Hesychast tradition. It includes the foundational texts of neptic prayer by Hesychios of Sinai, Saint Maximos the Confessor, Saint Gregory of Sinai, and Saint Gregory Palamas, among many others. Available in a five-volume English translation by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware.

These terms form the vocabulary of the inner life as the Fathers understood it. Reading them carefully — and returning to them as you encounter them in patristic writings — is itself a form of formation in the Orthodox way of prayer.

Guarding the Heart - Watchfulness

To live a God seeking life in this world filled with distractions and temptations we must learn to be watchful always, guarding our heart from all evil thoughts. We are constantly being bombarded by thoughts triggered by our senses. These can tempt us into sinful acts. Our spiritual challenge is to engage in a struggle to eradicate all negative thoughts. We can learn to discipline our mind to become quiet enough so we can reject them when they occur. Jesus tells us to watch and pray (Mat 26:41). Both are essential. We must have a desire to live a Christ like life based on a loving faith so we are motivated to pay attention to our thoughts, desiring to reject those that can lead to sinful action. 

The Jesus prayer is an important discipline than can help us. This is a short prayer that seeks God’s mercy and forgiveness as well as bringing a quietness to the mind. Like any physical exercise program, it is practiced with repetition for periods of time each day until it becomes a prayer that is constantly being repeated in our mind. If we take no remedial action the brain will continue to trigger unending thoughts in response to inputs from our senses. We can easily become like a car without a steering wheel and brakes headed down a winding road at seventy miles an hour.

In addition to an inner effort to control our thoughts though attention and prayer we can become more critical about which life experiences we choose to participate in. This approach controls the kind and amount of stimulation we encounter. This includes entertainment of all forms, friends we associate with, social media we use, and other activities. A quiet spiritual life leads to a quieter mind focused on what God wills for us. Our current world is saturated with pleasure seeking activities. We are also constantly bombarded by advertising all cleverly crafted to stimulate our passions and lead us to engage in more and more of these activities. We should also be careful about idle time and daydreaming.

This spiritual task is to become more aware of our internal state and change our main focus on external events we call our daily life, to what is happening within our soul. In this way we can begin to control our thoughts and make room for an ongoing dialog with God. This will reduce the busyness and stress experienced in daily living.

We must take charge and not let our senses control our activities. We can’t be passive and let all the stimulation of worldly life fill our mind with temptations. We must learn to carryout our responsibilities without the normal bustle and fretfulness. We must become mindful, watchful. For example, we cannot allow any thoughts enter that lead us to anger and resentment. We must develop an internal attentiveness with spiritual vigilance and mindfulness. All this requires a serious effort to guard what impacts the heart of our soul.

The Orthodox way of life involving prayer, fasting, worship and participation in the sacraments will help you. Consult your spiritual father for specific suggestions related to your spiritual condition.

Reference: The Struggle for Virtue, chapter 7, Archbishop Averky

Ten Points for an Orthodox Life

Orthodox Prayer - the Jesus Prayer

Watchfulness - Foundations of Orthodox Spirituality 3

Watchfulness is how the Church Fathers teach us to purify our heart so we can see God as Jesus told us. This is the third video in the series on the foundations of Orthodox spirituality.


Complete series

Becoming Watchful

Do you experience distractions when you try to pray? Do you ever wonder what is the cause of those actions you take that you wish you had not taken? Whether we are in prayer or involved in our daily activities we are misled by thoughts. To counteract this we need to learn the practice of Watchfulness.

What is watchfulness in our Orthodox tradition? It involves a continual guarding or the heart, the center of our soul, from all thoughts that lead us away from God. These thoughts are called "logismoi" in Greek. These are thoughts that mislead us or distract us in prayer. They are not like we normally think of thoughts, but are those that seem to come from nowhere. They are temptations intended to lead us astray. They are not the result of our rational process but come from outside us sent by the devil to lead us away from God.  They are not "our" thoughts. They are directed at "our" weaknesses, our passions, which lead us to sinful activity, away from God. When we sit down for prayer we intend to focus our full attention on God. But against our intention we are bombarded by thoughts that take us away from our prayer and concentration on God. They are coming from without with the intention of disrupting our prayer to keep us separated from God.

The Church Fathers describe differing ways how these work but in general they describe them beginning with an assault, a sneak attack. It may be a thought to get up and do something during prayer. It may be a thought to lash out in anger or to condemn another person. It may be a thought of envy or a desire to possess something that is not ours or we cannot afford. It could be any  number of things depending our our weaknesses.

After this initial assault then if we are not watchful we enter into a dialogue with this thought. We begin to consider how to respond as a result of this thought. This then is followed by a consent, we own the thought as our own and become prepared to act on it. This is when the sin is committed and we become a captive of the thought. 

After we respond to the thought, the next time a similar thought is encountered we are more likely to accept it as our own and respond. The temptation becomes stronger. We become a captive of the logismoi leading us to a bad habit that we call a passion.

If we are watchful what are we to do with these thoughts? IGNORE them! The church fathers tell us to simply ignore them. They are like flies that fly around and bother us. We need to brush them away. Watch them come and go without disturbing the mind. They will quickly disappear. We need to think of them as an unwanted salesman who knocks at our door. We do not let him in and do not have a dialogue with him. The same with these thoughts. Do not let them enter into your heart.

Since God demands our whole heart, mind and soul we need to be ever watchful of these temptation that come in the form of thoughts. They are not ours but sent to us to lead us away from God. So just like we are not obligated to let any stranger into our house, similarly we do not have to accept theses thoughts and let them into our minds or enter our heart. To become watchful we must seek God's help to develop this attentiveness and resistance. This is why it is so important for us to stand before God every morning and focus our full being towards Him and engage our mind in prayer focused on God alone.

In prayer we need to practice rejecting all thoughts and develop this mental discipline. To pray we must not be distracted by any worldly thoughts otherwise it is not prayer. To dialogue with God requires our full attention to Him alone.  One of the most powerful prayers is the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God have mercy on me a sinner." This is a complete prayer. The first part is a confession of faith in the divinity of Christ and the Holy Trinity. The second is a supplication acknowledging our fallen nature, our weakness, our sinfulness and our need to God's mercy.

By repeating this prayer over and over as part of our prayer rule, we learn to concentrate only on the words. In doing this, the prayer becomes a habit and will be with us at all times. It will be there when we receive the tempting thoughts and will help us immediately drive them away. This is a prayer that with practice will be with you the entire day, even while you are working. It will lead you to a life where you act as of God's children. It will enable you to become watchful.

Remember what our purpose is in this life. We are preparing for our Heavenly life to come. We should always be looking forward to the end of our earthly life and think of ourselves as training for this future, our life with God in Heaven. The Jesus prayer is not like yoga or Transcendental Meditation. It is based of the reality of a living relationship with God, the God who revealed Himself to us in His Incarnation, the God who humbled Himself to take on human flesh, to become fully man while yet remaining fully God. He Showed us the Way to become united with Him. He was Crucified, arose to sit at the right hand of the Father in Heaven and opened the gates of Paradise for those who choose to follow Him. This is quite different from Eastern ascetic practices that are centered on oneself and seek a stillness that is identified with an impersonal absolute. As Christians, God has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ. We strive to become like Him and out of our love for Him enter into a ongoing dialog with Him. This leads us to a mind that is ever focused not on stillness or emptiness, but on actions that carry out His will, actions that are without sin actions based on love. We are created in His likeness and image and out of his love for us and our love for Him we are destined to be united with Him in eternal life. Watchfulness is key to us realizing our potential. The Jesus Prayer coupled with a life of repentance and participation in the sacramental life of the Church helps us gain the grace of God that enables us to become like Him.

For more on the Jesus prayer go to the website OrthodoxPrayer.org 

Reference: The Hidden Man of the Heart, Archimandrite Zacharias

Can Your Political Views Undermine your Spiritual Growth?

Do you find yourself arguing with the television set, being angered by Facebook political postings, or stupid comments from your friends?  Well consider the following two findings from social research.

1. "Americans cited "hearing about what the government or politicians are doing" as the most frequent daily stressor on their lives, and at a substantially higher rate than the usual annoyances like commuting, chores and general schedule-juggling." (survey conducted by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health and National Public Radio.)

2. "Partisanship “can even undermine our very basic reasoning skills…. [People] who are otherwise very good at math may totally flunk a problem that they would otherwise probably be able to solve, simply because giving the right answer goes against their political beliefs.”" (from Yale law school professor Dan Kahan’s research  paper is called “Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government.”)

Apparently when we harbor fixed political beliefs we do not act rationally when we hear talk from others that goes against what we believe.  We will deny facts that are against our beliefs. The bottom line is that we are easily subject to unnecessary stress if we let ourselves engage in such political drama.

The answer is simple, avoid all forms of such dialogue and you will find you will have a more peaceful and loving life.  You will not be so angry, negative, or offensive to others. For most of us one simple action we can take is to not watch cable news.  These channels play to our fears and stroke our latent political beliefs. They pick stories that will arouse our worst instincts and therefore draw your loyal viewship so they can attract advertisers to sell you products and make more profits. They understand how our minds really work (or don't work) and use this knowledge to make greater profits.

What is the spiritual angle here? Spiritually, when we are aroused by anger and feel stress we are separated from God. The solution our Church Fathers tell us is to become watchful about what we let enter into our heart. Our sinful tendencies come from the thoughts that enter our minds and we choose to engage with them. Once we engage these thoughts we are led to some kind of action. The source of sin is thoughts.

The skill to stop such a chain of events is called watchfulness. This requires a well disciplined mind and God's grace which comes from regular prayer. Whenever we sincerely call on the name of Jesus we have the power to ignore thoughts and instead direct our attention to God and what He wills for us.

The challenge for a life lived according to God's will is developing a life of continual prayer so we will always have God on our mind. We need to be able to at any time stop and say, "Lord have mercy", or to recite the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father..."

Fr Dimitru Staniloae tells us: "Guarding thought... consists of a continual reciting of the name of God in the mind... nothing but a concentrated uninterrupted prayer..."
This is the meaning of Saint Paul's teaching on unceasing prayer.

Pray without ceasing...test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. (1Thess 5:17, 21,22)  Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer... (Romans 12: 9,12)

I have found that the most powerful way to develop this discipline is by following the practices of the Orthodox Church, especially the practices of the Jesus Prayer and regular fasting.

Make a simple choice. Turn off all the political talk shows and news programs that stimulate your anger and stress about political affairs. Instead take this time to engage in prayer each and every day. Learn about the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Try it for three months, reciting "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner," over and over for twenty minutes each day. Begin to follow the prescribed fasts of the Church, including the Wednesday and Friday fasts, and read the daily Scripture readings that you can have sent to you via email from the Archdiocese Department of Internet Services.

If you do, you will find you will be on a path to spiritual renewal and you will begin to seek for a spiritual father for further guidance.

We are all free to hold whatever political views we choose. That is not the issue being addressed. God loves Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents. We are also free to have whatever religious views we chose. If we claim to be Orthodox Christians, we must be careful not to let our political beliefs override our rational thought process and undermine our peace of mind and heart. We must remain free of anger and stress so we are able to hear God's will and act with His love and our love for our neighbors. Watchfulness, prayer and fasting can help us develop the ideal of continual prayer that Saint Paul asks of us and bring us peace and love.

Advice on Dealing with Stray Thoughts in Church

One of the problems we all face is the tendency for our minds to take over while we are in church where we are supposed to be in prayer. This happens to all of us as it i the nature of our mind to be always active unless we command through our soul to stop.   This part of our mind is part of the body and needs to be controlled by the higher part of our being.


Here is some advice from Saint Theophan the Recluse:
First we are to pray as follows:

Pray with sincere warmth, with an outpouring before God, with feelings of contrition, humility and reverential fear and with diligent petitions for your spiritual needs.

When we even approach prayer in church with this attitude we will still be faced with stray thoughts.  Here is how how recommends to deal with them

As soon as you notice your thoughts have left church, turn them back and do not ever allow yourself consciously to daydream or to stray in thought...  When the thoughts stray unbeknownst to you, this is also a small sin; but when you begin wandering off in thought purposely while you are in church , this is as sin...It is like a man who has gone to the king in order to ask him for something who then begins to make faces and fidget in the king's presence, without paying any attention to him...  With respect to thoughts there are these two rules: 1) As soon as you notice this straying, turn the thoughts back, and 2) do not consciously allow the thoughts to wander.

A remedy against straying thoughts is mental attention, attention to the fact that the Lord is before us and we are before Him.... The attention is attached to the Lord by fear of God and by the desire to please God.  From these come warmth of the heart, which draws the attention to the One Lord... Without labor and mental effort you will not attain anything spiritual...

Reference: The Spiritual Life, pp 151-152