"The soul, being brought to this place, needs no other preparation than that of repose: for the presence of God during the day, which is the great result of prayer, or rather prayer itself, begins to be intuitive and almost continual.
The soul is conscious of a deep inward happiness, and feels that God is in it more truly than it is in itself. It has only one thing to do in order to find God, which is to retire within itself. As soon as the eyes are closed, it finds itself in prayer.
It is astonished at this infinite happiness; there is carried on within it a conversation which outward things cannot interrupt. It has within it a germ of life and fruitfulness, which gives it a facility for all good, and an insensibility to all evil. Let it then remain faithful, and seek no other frame of mind than that of simple rest."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ As Soon as the Eyes Are Closed
After ten days of method — the bee on the flower, the chewing and swallowing, the fire that must not be blown, the abandonment, the weight of love falling toward its center — Guyon arrives here: the soul no longer needs to prepare. It only needs to close its eyes. The presence is already there. The conversation is already running. Prayer has become as natural as breathing — exactly as Guyon promised on the first day.
"The reason why inward silence is so necessary is that Christ, being the eternal and essential Word, in order that He may be received into the soul, there must be a disposition corresponding with what He is.
Now it is certain that in order to receive words we must listen. Hearing is rather a passive than an active sense, receiving, and not communicating. Christ being the Word which is to be communicated, the soul must be attentive to this Word which speaks within it."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)✦ The Ear of the Soul
Christ is the Word. Words are received by hearing. Hearing is passive — receiving, not communicating. Therefore the soul that would receive Christ must be in a posture of listening. Not speaking. Not constructing. Not working. Listening. The inner silence is not emptiness — it is the ear of the soul turned toward the voice of the Word.
"This was real light to me. I understood why I crave silence. I hear so much more in silence."
"Christ is the Word, He is God, and He is my most personal friend. There are no words to express how rich this is."
"'Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father's house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty' (Psalm 45:10–11).
We must listen to God, and be attentive to Him, forgetting ourselves and all self-interest. These two actions, or rather passions — for this condition is essentially a passive one — arouse in God a 'desire' toward the 'beauty' He has Himself communicated."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)Forget yourself. Forget your own interests. And the King — not tolerates, not accepts — greatly desires the beauty He Himself placed there. The beauty the soul has is the beauty God communicated. When the soul forgets itself, that beauty becomes visible. The forgetting is not loss. It is revelation.
"I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her."
— Hosea 2:14 · The wilderness is not punishment. It is where God speaks."Outward silence is extremely necessary for the cultivation of inward silence, and it is impossible to acquire inward silence without having a love for silence and solitude.
It will be a small matter to pray, and to retire within ourselves for half an hour or an hour, if we do not retain the unction and the spirit of prayer during the day.
To be inwardly occupied with God, and outwardly occupied with countless trifles — this is impossible."
— Madame Guyon (1648–1717)"The morning devotion is not the goal. It is the ignition. The spirit of prayer must be carried into the packing, the driving, the ordinary hours. The moment, the ignition... how true."
The morning before dawn is the ignition. The flame lit in silence and solitude. But the flame that stays in the morning room and does not travel into the day has not done its work. The unction — the oil of the presence — must be carried into the packing of boxes, the driving through Portugal, the ordinary hours that make up the life. The prayer of the heart that Guyon taught on day two — the prayer that exterior occupations cannot interrupt — this is what carries the ignition through the whole day.
Why Silence
Christ is the Word. Words are received by hearing. Hearing is passive. The soul that would receive Him must listen — and the craving for silence is the ear of the soul recognizing what it was made for.
The King Desires
Forget yourself, and the beauty God placed in you becomes visible. The King does not merely accept — He greatly desires the beauty He Himself communicated. The forgetting is revelation.
The Ignition
The morning devotion lights the flame. But the flame must travel into the day — into the packing, the driving, the ordinary hours. The unction retained is the prayer continued.