The mind is the imperial part of the soul.

In the spiritual struggle it is very important how we use the mind. If the mind is busy with the prayer of Jesus, they simply cannot touch unclean thoughts and sinful desires because they are burned by the prayer of Jesus. About this and Emperor David in the 1^st psalm speaks when in the 2^nd verse says, ” but the Law of the Lord loved him, and thought of the Law of the Lord day and night.” When the mind of man is occupied with divine things, the grace of God enters into the heart of man and the heart is kindled by divine love.

The devil often struggles people spiritually and often does not attack sin directly, but first tries to make them ineligible, that is, to entice their minds with some vain things that are in some ways not sinful. But the devil thus separates man from God, and here he finds space to taste man, and very skillfully in that vain state of attacking man.

That’s why often in the day you remember the Lord, wherever you are and whatever you do; after a while, remember the Lord. That thought, from time to time, in the activities you remember, it means a lot, it warms a man’s heart. Otherwise, if the mind detaches itself from God and is occupied with worldly things, then the heart becomes cold. And when the heart is cold, then in it the devil easily triumphs and enslaves him with passion. Just the memory of the Lord, the very thought of Him rejoices the heart over time. So, when you remember to use it to at least say then in yourself, LORD, have mercy on or GOD save me or GOD give me peace, or GOD preserve me with your grace, or GOD teach me to MAKE YOUR LOVE. By doing this in the day you will develop a prayer mood, and when you have time for prayer, then it will be thoughtful, collected and strong. So, if you do not have time for some work or for learning to pray and read spiritual books, then remember often the Lord, the Lord should always be close to your heart. Because the memory of the Lord develops in you and the desire for the Lord develops in you and the love for Him. The aim of cunning demons is to separate man from the Lord and deprive him of the glory of God and of eternal life. And the first separation of man from God is when man in thought separates himself from the Lord and when the mind is occupied during the day with these worldly things. The mind that separates from the Lord and does not remember the Lord is cast as seed into the weeds of the care of this world, which drown it so that the spiritual generation does not bring. That is why often during the day, remember, and prayerfully remember the Lord, not just at bedtime. Because the devil often entertains you to do this or that, to look at this or that, and time passes, and then you’re dead tired of praying, and then you have “no time” for it.

If a man puts his prayer or spiritual rule to an end, then know that the devil is talented to entertain you with various things and not to do it spiritually, or if you do it to do it hastily and rashly, and to obtain as little blessings as possible and that what the less spiritual benefit you have. That is why it is always better to find time for God during the day and have the greatest benefit. During school, when I got back from class, I used to spend the first time for God, and when I started working, then on my return from work, the first time was spent for God, and then the rest came to do and I had a spiritual benefit.

Creating a man, God places him in Eden (paradise garden) and “LET HIM HANDLE IT” so consider your soul and your body as your Garden of Eden, and you are obliged to “cultivate it spiritually” if you think not to you will be deprived of him.

Hieromonk Dositej of Hilandar