Unceasing prayer is born of love, while fault-finding, idle talk and self-indulgence are the death of prayer. The man who loves God is able to keep his mind on Him day and night since no form of activity interferes with loving God. The Apostles loved the Lord, and the world did not hinder them – though they were not forgetful of the world and prayed for it, and preached. True, Arsenius the Great was bidden to ‘shun people’ but in the desert, too, the Spirit of God teaches us to pray for people and for all the world.

St. Silouan the Athonite, (1866-1938)