St. John Chrysostom: Prayer can be done everywhere and at all times.

 

So do this yourself also: sigh deeply, bring your sins to remembrance, lift your gaze to heaven, and say in your mind, “Have mercy on me, O my God,” and your prayer is complete. For he who said “have mercy on me” has expressed confession and has repented of his sins; for to seek mercy befits those who have sinned. He who said “have mercy on me” has received forgiveness of his faults; for he who has been shown mercy is not condemned. He who said “have mercy on me” has gained the kingdom of heaven, for the one whom God has mercy on is not only delivered from hell, but is also made worthy of the future good things.

Let us not make excuses then, saying that there is no house of prayer near us; for the grace of the Spirit of God has made us ourselves temples, if indeed we are vigilant, so that we have great ease in all things. For our worship is not as it formerly was for the Jews, having much material requirement and requiring much labor. For there the one praying had to go up to the sanctuary, to buy turtledoves, to use wood and fire, to take a knife, to stand before the altar, and to carry out many other instructions; whereas here, nothing of the sort, but wherever you may be, you have the altar with you, and the knife, and the victim, for you yourself are both priest and altar and victim. Wherever therefore you may be, you can set up the altar, showing only a sober intention, and nothing hinders you—not place, nor time; but even without kneeling, without striking your breast, and without lifting your hands to heaven, only if you show a fervent mind, you have completed the whole of the prayer.

It is possible even for a woman, holding a spindle and weaving, to lift her gaze noetically to heaven and to call upon God fervently; and a man walking in the marketplace and going alone can offer long prayers; and another, sitting in his workshop and sewing leather, can dedicate his soul to the Master; and it is possible even for the servant and the one doing the shopping, and the one going up and the one coming down, and the one working in the kitchen—when they cannot come to church—to make long and fervent prayers.

God is not ashamed of the place; one thing only does He seek: a fervent mind and a soul full of sobriety. And so that you may know that forms and places and specific times are not needed, but rather a courageous and awakened disposition, Paul, while lying on his back in prison and not standing upright (for the stocks bound his feet), since he prayed with willingness while lying down, shook the prison and struck its foundations, and bound the jailer and afterward led him into the holy mystery.

And Hezekiah likewise, without standing upright, nor kneeling, but lying on his back in bed due to illness, turned himself toward the wall, and by calling upon God fervently and with a sober soul, reversed the announced decision and won great compassion, and recovered his former health.

And one may see this happening not only in holy and great men, but even in the wicked. For the thief did not stand in a house of prayer, nor did he kneel, but stretched upon the cross, with a few words he attained the kingdom of heaven. One from within mud and pit, another from a den and among beasts, another from the very belly of the whale, after pleading with God, dispersed all that threatened them and attained the favor of God.

And indeed, in saying these things, I encourage you to go constantly to church and also to pray at home with much quiet, and when you have free time, to kneel and lift up your hands; but if, either because of time or place, we remain among many others, do not neglect the customary prayers on account of this, but pray in the manner I have described to your love, and beseech God, with the certainty that you will not be lacking anything from this kind of prayer.

These things I have said not so that you may admire me or applaud, but that you may apply them in practice, and dedicate the hours of night and day and labor to prayers and supplications. If we so order our affairs, we shall attain the kingdom of heaven—which may we all attain by the grace and philanthropy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom to the Father belongs glory, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

 

(Works of St. John Chrysostom, vol. IV, “On Anna,” Homily IV, pp. 111–112, publ. “Byzantium,” digitized by Church of the Holy Archangels, Istiaia; published on entaksis.gr, November 9, 2024)

Greek source: https://imlp.gr/2025/12/03/%ce%b7-%cf%80%cf%81%ce%bf%cf%83%ce%b5%cf%85%cf%87%ce%ae-%ce%bc%cf%80%ce%bf%cf%81%ce%b5%ce%af-%ce%bd%ce%b1-%ce%b3%ce%af%ce%bd%ce%b5%cf%84%ce%b1%ce%b9-%cf%80%ce%b1%ce%bd%cf%84%ce%bf%cf%8d-%ce%ba%ce%b1/