"Let us apply this method to the Lord's Prayer. We say 'Our Father,' thinking that God is within us, and will indeed be our Father. After having pronounced this word Father, we remain a few moments in silence, waiting for this heavenly Father to make known His will to us.
Then we ask this King of Glory to reign within us, abandoning ourselves to Him, that He may do it, and yielding to Him the right that He has over us. If we feel here an inclination to peace and silence, we should not continue, but remain thus so long as the condition may last; after which we proceed to the second petition, 'Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.'
Then, seeing that the occupation of the will should be love, we desire to love, and we ask God to give us His love. But all this is done quietly, peacefully; and so on with the rest of the prayer."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Two Words, Then Waiting
Guyon takes the most familiar prayer in the world and transforms it from words spoken to a conversation lived. Two words — Our Father — and then silence. Not rushing to the next petition. Stopping. Letting the word land. Waiting for the heavenly Father to make known His will before moving on.
If an inclination to peace and silence comes, Guyon says — do not continue. Stay there. The silence is not a gap between the words. The silence is where the Father speaks. The spoken prayer gradually shortens. The silence gradually lengthens. Until God gains the supremacy.
"The Father reality and relationship came with the new birth."
Before conversion, "Our Father" is a phrase. After the new birth, it is an address — spoken to someone present, someone within, someone who responds in the silence between the words.
"At other times we hold ourselves in the position of sheep near to the Shepherd, asking of Him our true food. O Divine Shepherd! You feed Your sheep with Your own hand, and You are their food from day to day.
We can form no image of what God is: a lively faith in His presence is sufficient; for we can conceive no image of God, though we may of Christ, regarding Him as crucified, or as a child, or in some other condition, provided that we always seek Him within ourselves.
At other times we come to Him as to a Physician, bringing our diseases to Him that He may heal them; but always without effort, with a short silence from time to time, that the silence may be mingled with the action, gradually lengthening the silence and shortening the spoken prayer, until at length, as we yield to the operation of God, He gains the supremacy."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ Father, Shepherd, Christ, Physician
Guyon offers four images for how we approach the God within — each one a different need, each one met in the same interior place, each one with the same rhythm: speak a little, rest a little, let the silence grow.
Father
We say "Our Father" and wait. The King of Glory reigning within. We yield to Him the right He has over us — quietly, peacefully. The occupation of the will is love.
Shepherd
Sheep near the Shepherd, asking for true food. He feeds with His own hand. He is the food — day to day. John 10:28 again: the Lord of Glory who quit His throne and took a shepherd's crook.
Christ Within
No image of God can be formed. But Christ can be sought — as crucified, as a child, in any condition — provided He is always sought within. A lively faith in His presence is sufficient.
Physician
Bringing diseases to Him without effort. Silence mingled with the action. The spoken prayer shortening. The silence lengthening. Until He gains the supremacy.
"Gradually lengthening the silence and shortening the spoken prayer, until at length, as we yield to the operation of God, He gains the supremacy."
— Madame Guyon · The silence is not a gap between the words. It is where the Father speaks."When the presence of God is given, and the soul begins to taste of silence and rest, this experiential sense of the presence of God introduces it to the second degree of prayer."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)There is a second degree. The spoken prayer — even the Lord's Prayer — is the entrance. But the experiential sense of God's presence, tasted in the silence between the words, is the door to something deeper. Guyon does not describe what lies beyond. She only says: the silence and rest will take you there.