Beginning with the desert story of Abba Macarius — "Lord, as You will, and as You know, have mercy" — this episode grounds Orthodox prayer in the simple act of turning toward God and asking for mercy. Dcn Seraphim moves from the definition of prayer as communion (Evagrius, Gregory Palamas, Anthony Bloom) into the Sermon on the Mount, walking phrase by phrase through the Lord's Prayer with the help of Chrysostom, Cyprian, Theophylact, Maximus, and Gregory of Nyssa. He then lays out the daily cycle of the Church and introduces a beginner's prayer rule as a trellis on which a prayer life can grow. The episode concludes with a demonstration of the rule at the icon corner and the encouragement that dryness in prayer is often the sign that God is drawing us deeper. PRAYER LESSON OUTLINE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wY5vsnQr2ND9GciZbsfV4b148k7qzlUp/view?usp=sharing SAMPLE PRAYER RULE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d2WdXDHC7_-Uw0oYDtEWlsXJ4fwYSn_Y/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113635573846427389195&rtpof=true&sd=true