"Let those only refuse to come who have no heart. The invitation is not for them; for we must have a heart in order to love. But who is indeed without heart?
Oh, come and give that heart to God, and learn in the place of prayer how to do it! All those who long for prayer are capable of it, who have ordinary grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is freely promised to all who ask it."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ The Last Excuse Undone
Guyon closes the door on the last excuse — and then immediately opens it again. Let those only refuse to come who have no heart. That sounds like a restriction. Finally, someone excluded. But then: who is indeed without heart? No one. Every human being has a heart. And a heart is all that is required.
You do not learn to pray before you pray. You learn by praying. Come and give that heart to God, and learn in the place of prayer how to do it. The broken cistern says — prepare, qualify, fix yourself, then come. Guyon says — come, and the coming will teach you.
"But who is indeed without heart?"
— Madame Guyon · The question that removes the last barrier to prayer"This is a very powerful revelation from God that draws to Him. Let those who have no heart to love."
"Prayer is the key of perfection and of sovereign happiness; it is the effective means of getting rid of all vices and of acquiring all virtues; for the way to become perfect is to live in the presence of God. He tells us this Himself: 'Walk before Me and be blameless' (Genesis 17:1).
Prayer alone can bring you into His presence, and keep you there continually."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Walk Before Me
Genesis 17:1 — the same verse Oswald Chambers opened in February with Abraham on the hilltop. The same walk before Me that was entry five of this journal. And now Guyon shows how the walking happens: through prayer. Not prayer as an event that begins and ends, but prayer as the means of staying in His presence continually.
Guyon calls prayer the key of perfection and of sovereign happiness. Not a duty that produces happiness later — happiness itself. The presence of God is not the reward for praying. The presence of God is the prayer. Vices fall away not by effort but by displacement. Virtues grow not by striving but by proximity to the source.
"Prayer as a sovereign happiness. The Lord is the source of all good things in heaven and on earth. Prayer alone can bring you into His presence — a place of great privilege and joy."
"What we need, then, is an attitude of prayer, in which we can constantly abide, and out of which exterior occupations cannot draw us; a prayer which can be offered alike by princes, kings, prelates, magistrates, soldiers, children, artisans, laborers, women, and the sick.
This prayer is not mental, but of the heart."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Not Mental, but of the Heart
The list is deliberate. Guyon includes every station, every condition, every level of education. The soldier in the field can pray it. The laborer at the bench can pray it. The sick person in the bed can pray it. The woman packing boxes in Caldas da Rainha can pray it.
Mental prayer requires preparation, concentration, structured thought. Heart prayer requires only the heart. The mind may be tired, distracted, occupied with exterior things. But the heart can remain turned toward God through all of it — through occupations that would interrupt mental prayer completely.
An attitude of prayer out of which exterior occupations cannot draw us. Not a prayer that stops when the work begins. A prayer that continues inside the work, beneath the work, holding the heart steady while the hands are full.
Who Is Without Heart?
The question that removes the last barrier. A heart is all that is required. Not a trained heart, not a pure heart — just a heart. Come, and the coming will teach you.
The Key of Perfection
Prayer brings you into His presence and keeps you there. The presence does the work — not effort, not striving. Vices fall by displacement. Virtues grow by proximity. Walk before Me and be blameless.
Of the Heart
Not mental but of the heart. An attitude that exterior occupations cannot interrupt. Princes and laborers, soldiers and the sick — all can pray it. The school of the heart of Jesus Christ has no walls and no graduation.
"Taught by the discipline of the Holy Spirit, learned in the school of the heart of Jesus Christ."