The Screwtape Letters-Prayer

C.S. Lewis is by far my most favorite author of all time. That being said, Screwtape Letters is one of my most favorite books of all time! I have read it several years ago, and am now reading it with my husband. He does not enjoy reading, but does very well being read to, so we work out well together (my Mama is a librarian, and a quite skilled story-teller: I am hopeful to have inherited some of her takent).

Before you continue, if you have never heard of The Screwtape Letters, read this because it will help!

Screwtape is an experienced devil. His nephew Wormwood is just beginning his demonic career and has been assigned to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. In this humorous exchange, C. S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good v. evil, temptation, repentance, and grace.
taken from:http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&q=the+screwtape+letters&oe=UTF-8&cid=11636614210901651869&ei=DVoJTJXPA5aq2ATPjcXlBA&sa=title&ved=0CAgQ8wIwADgA#p

Chapter 4 in The Screwtape Letters is about prayer, and I wanted to share a little piece:

One of their poets, Coleridge, has recorded that he did not pray 'with moving lips and bended knees' but merely 'composed his spirit to love' and indulged 'a sense of supplication.' That is exactly the sort of prayer we want; and since it bears a superficial resemblance to the prayer of silence as practiced by those who are very far advanced in the Enemy's service, clever and lazy patients can be taken in by it for quite a long time. At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.

It was incredibly humbling to read this and recall that my most intense/sincere prayers have had physical results on my body. When I am on my knees or weeping (sometimes both), those are some of the times I have truly been in solid communication with God. Not to say that He does not hear or listen when I am praying as I drift off to sleep; but, what a difference in that prayer and the above stated prayers! C.S. Lewis (Via Screwtape) drives home a good point with the above quote.
One more that hits home for myself and my dear sister:

If this fails, you must fall back on a subtler misdirection of his intention. Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing. When they meant to pray for courage, let them really be trying to feel brave. When they say they are praying for forgiveness, let them be trying to feel forgiven. Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling; and never let them suspect how much success or failure of that kind depends on whether they are well or ill, fresh or tired, at the moment.

Guard your hearts even in your prayer time, my friends! In-spite of our circumstances, may our gaze never falter from the Lord, and His will for our lives! Amen!