"Prayer is nothing else but the application of the heart to God, and the interior exercise of love. Saint Paul commands us to 'pray without ceasing' (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Our Lord says: 'Take heed, watch and pray.' 'And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!' (Mark 13:33, 37).
All, then, are capable of prayer, and it is the duty of all to engage in it.
But I do not think that all are fit for meditation; and, therefore, it is not that sort of prayer which God demands or desires of them."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Nothing Else
After fourteen days of George Bowen, a new voice arrives — a French mystic imprisoned in the Bastille for her faith. And she opens with a definition that clears away everything complicated about prayer: the application of the heart to God, and the interior exercise of love. Nothing else. Not technique. Not formula. Not eloquence. The heart turned toward God. Love exercised inwardly.
And then Guyon draws a distinction that liberates: all are capable of prayer, but not all are fit for meditation. Meditation is the intellectual work — studying, analyzing, constructing thoughts about God. Guyon says God does not demand it of everyone. There is a simpler way — the heart turned toward God without the scaffolding of structured thought.
"I never have a prayer list. I expect to be led by the Holy Spirit to guide my prayers. Prayer lists can lead me to frustration, like telling God what to do — and this never works."
A prayer list can become what Jeremiah calls a broken cistern — a structure built to hold water that only flows freely from the source. Not wrong for everyone. But for a soul led by the Holy Spirit, the list can become a barrier between the heart and God. Guyon's method is simpler: the heart applied to God, and then following where He leads.
"Come, all you who are thirsty, and take this water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). Do not amuse yourselves by hewing out 'broken cisterns that can hold no water' (Jeremiah 2:13).
Come, hungry souls, who find nothing that can satisfy you, and you shall be filled. Come, poor afflicted ones, weighed down with griefs and sorrows, and you shall be comforted. Come, sick ones, to the great Physician, and do not fear to approach Him because you are so weak and diseased: expose all your diseases to Him, and they shall be healed.
Come, children, to your Father; He will receive you with open arms of love. Come, wandering and scattered sheep, to your Shepherd. Come, sinners, to your Savior.
Come, ignorant and foolish ones, who believe yourselves incapable of prayer; it is you who are the most fitted for it."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Open Arms of Love
Seven invitations. Each one to a different kind of need: thirsty, hungry, afflicted, sick, children, wandering sheep, sinners. And not one includes a condition. Guyon does not say come when you are ready, come when you have studied enough, come when your list is prepared. Come as you are.
And the last invitation overturns everything the world teaches about qualifications: come, ignorant and foolish ones, who believe yourselves incapable of prayer — it is you who are the most fitted for it. The most fitted. Because the soul that knows it cannot pray on its own strength is the soul that will not rely on its own strength. The empty channel. The couched eye. The clay that has stopped reaching for the Potter's tools.
"Come, children, to your Father; He will receive you with open arms of love."
— Madame Guyon · No condition. No interview at the door. Open arms."For years I did not understand it — He will receive you with open arms of love. I learned not to 'feel worthy' to seek His attention. It is what Madame Guyon talks about all the time — just abandonment."
✦ Just Abandonment
Abandonment. Guyon's whole theology in one word. The soul abandons its grip on self-evaluation, self-direction, self-justification — and falls into the open arms. Not because it earned the arms. Because the arms were always open. The worthiness question was the broken cistern — a structure built to hold something that was never meant to be contained by deserving.
Bowen refined the need from its grossness. Guyon goes further — she abandons the self that was doing the refining. Both arrive at the same place: the heart applied to God, with nothing between.
The Interior Exercise of Love
Prayer is the heart applied to God. Not technique, not formula, not a list. The interior exercise of love — simple enough for the most simple, deep enough for a lifetime.
Broken Cisterns
Structures built to hold water that only flows freely from the source. Prayer lists, worthiness questions, self-evaluation — all cisterns that crack under the weight of what they were never meant to contain.
Just Abandonment
Guyon's whole theology in one word. The soul lets go of the worthiness question and falls into the open arms. Not because it earned them. Because they were always open.
David cried. God heard. No prayer list. No worthiness assessment. No condition met. A voice cried and the holy hill answered. He knows my voice. The Shepherd of John 10 who knows His sheep — not by their credentials but by their cry. The Father of Guyon's invitation who does not interview at the door but receives with open arms. The God of Psalm 3 who hears from His holy hill because the voice that cries is the voice He has always known.