Transcriber's note:
This eBook contains the front matter from a combined edition of A Short Method of Prayer and Spiritual Torrents, but only contains the text of A Short Method of Prayer.
[p i]
A
Short Method of Prayer
AND
Spiritual Torrents.
BY
J. M. B. DE LA MOTHE GUYON.
Translated from the Paris Edition of 1790
BY
A. W. MARSTON.
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, & SEARLE,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET.
1875.
[All rights reserved.]
[p ii]
PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
[p iii]
PREFACE TO THE
ENGLISH PROTESTANT EDITION.
Some apology is perhaps needed when a Protestant thus brings before Protestant readers the works of a consistent Roman Catholic author. The plea must be, that the doctrine and experience described are essentially Protestant; and so far from their receiving the assent of the Roman Catholic Church, their author was persecuted for holding and disseminating them.
Of the experience of Madame Guyon, it should be borne in mind, that though the glorious heights of communion with God to which she attained may be scaled by the feeblest of God’s chosen ones, yet it is by no means necessary that they should be reached by the same apparently arduous and protracted path along which she was led.
The “Torrents” especially needs to be regarded rather as an account of the personal experience of the author, than as the plan which God invariably, or even usually, adopts in bringing the soul into a state of union with Himself. It is true that, in order that we may “live unto righteousness,” we must be [p iv] “dead indeed unto sin;” and that there must be a crucifixion of self before the life of Christ can be made manifest in us. It is only when we can say, “I am crucified with Christ,” that we are able to add, “Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” But it does not follow that this inward death must always be as lingering as in the case of Madame Guyon. She tells us herself that the reason was, that she was not wholly resigned to the Divine will, and willing to be deprived of the gifts of God, that she might enjoy the possession of the Giver. This resistance to the will of God implies suffering on the part of the creature, and chastisement on the part of God, in order that He may subdue to Himself what is not voluntarily yielded to Him.
Of the joy of a complete surrender to God, it is not necessary to speak here: thousands of God’s children are realising its blessedness for themselves, and proving that it is no hardship, but a joy unspeakable, to present themselves a living sacrifice to God, to live no longer to themselves, but to Him that died for them, and rose again.
A simple trust in a living, personal Saviour; a putting away by His grace of all that is known to be in opposition to His will; and an entire self-abandonment to Him, that His designs may be worked out in and through us; such is the simple key to the hidden sanctuary of communion.
[p v
A SHORT METHOD OF PRAYER.
CONTENTS.
XIII. READING AND VOCAL PRAYER 42 XIV. THE FAULTS AND TEMPTATIONS OF THIS DEGREE 44 XV. PRAYER AND SACRIFICE EXPLAINED BY THE SIMILITUDE OF A PERFUME
[p vii]
SPIRITUAL TORRENTS.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAP. PAGE I. THE DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH SOULS ARE LED TO SEEK AFTER GOD 91 II. OF THE FIRST WAY, WHICH IS ACTIVE AND MEDITATIVE 94 III. OF THE SECOND WAY, WHICH IS THE PASSIVE WAY OF LIGHT 103 IV. OF THE THIRD WAY, WHICH IS THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH, AND OF ITS FIRST DEGREE 111 V. IMPERFECTIONS OF THIS FIRST DEGREE 125 VI. SECOND DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH 139 VII. SECT. I.—COMMENCEMENT OF THE THIRD DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH—FIRST DEGREE OF THE SPOLIATION OF THE SOUL 151 SECT. II.—SECOND DEGREE OF THE SPOLIATION OF THE SOUL 164 [p viii]SECT. III.—THIRD DEGREE OF SPOLIATION 169 SECT. IV.—ENTRANCE INTO MYSTICAL DEATH 179 VIII. THIRD DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH, IN ITS CONSUMMATION 185 IX. FOURTH DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH, WHICH IS THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE DIVINE LIFE 193
PART II.
I. MORE PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESURRECTION LIFE 211 II. STABILITY, EXPERIENCE, ELEVATION, AND EXTREME PURITY OF THE ABANDONED SOUL 221 III. PERFECT UNION OR DEIFORMITY 231 IV. ACTIONS AND SUFFERINGS OF THOSE IN A STATE OF UNION WITH GOD 240[p ix]
A
“Walk before me, and be thou perfect.”—Gen. xvii. 1.
[p xi]
AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
I did not write this little work with the thought of its being given to the public. It was prepared for the help of a few Christians who were desirous of loving God with the whole heart. But so many have requested copies of it, because of the benefit they have derived from its perusal, that I have been asked to publish it.
I have left it in its natural simplicity. I do not condemn the opinions of any: on the contrary, I esteem those which are held by others, and submit all that I have written to the censure of persons of experience and learning. I only ask of all that they will not be content with examining the outside, but that they will penetrate the design of the [p xii] writer, which is only to lead others to LOVE God, and to serve Him with greater happiness and success, by enabling them to do it in a simple and easy way, fit for the little ones who are not capable of extraordinary things, but who truly desire to give themselves to God.
I ask all who may read it, to read without prejudice; and they will discover, under common expressions, a hidden unction, which will lead them to seek for a happiness which all ought to expect to possess.
I use the word facility, saying that perfection is easy, because it is easy to find God, when we seek Him within ourselves. The passage may be quoted which says, “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me” (John vii. 34). Yet this need not occasion any difficulty; because the same God, who cannot contradict Himself, has said, “He that seeketh findeth” (Matt. vii. 8). He who seeks God, and who yet is unwilling to forsake sin, will not find Him, because he is seeking Him where He cannot be found; therefore it is added, “Ye shall die in your sins.” But he who sincerely desires to forsake [p xiii] sin, that he may draw near to God, will find Him infallibly.
Many people imagine religion so frightful, and prayer so extraordinary, that they are not willing to strive after them, never expecting to attain to them. But as the difficulty which we see in a thing causes us to despair of succeeding in it, and at the same time removes the desire to undertake it; and as, when a thing appears both desirable and easy to be attained, we give ourselves to it with pleasure, and pursue it boldly; I have been constrained to set forth the advantage and the facility of this way.
Oh! if we were persuaded of the goodness of God toward His poor creatures, and of the desire which He has to communicate Himself to them, we should not imagine so many obstacles, and despair so easily of obtaining a good which He is so infinitely desirous of imparting to us.
And if He has not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, is there anything He can refuse us? Assuredly not. We only need a little courage and perseverance. We have so much [p xiv] of both for trifling temporal interests, and we have none for the “one thing needful.”
As for those who find a difficulty in believing that it is easy to find God in this way, let them not believe all that they are told, but rather let them make trial of it, that they may judge for themselves; and they will find that I say very little in comparison with that which is.
Dear reader, study
I do not pretend to elevate my sentiments above those of others, but I relate simply what has been [p xv] my own experience as well as that of others, and the advantage which I have found in this simple and natural manner of going to God.
If this book treats of nothing else but the short and easy method of prayer, it is because, being written only for that, it cannot speak of other things. It is certain that, if it be read in the spirit in which it has been written, there will be found nothing in it to shock the mind. Those who will make the experience of it will be the most certain of the truth which it contains.
It is to Thee, O Holy Child Jesus, who lovest simplicity and innocence, and who findest Thy delight in the children of men, that is to say, with those amongst men who are willing to become children;—it is to Thee, I say, to give worth and value to this little work, impressing it on the heart, and leading those who read it to seek Thee within themselves, where Thou wilt take Thy rest, receiving the tokens of their love, and giving them proofs of Thine.
It is Thy work, O Divine Child! O uncreated Love! O silent Word! to make Thyself beloved, [p xvi] tasted, and heard. Thou art able to do it; and I even dare to say that Thou wilt do it, by means of this little work, which is all to Thee, all of Thee, and all for Thee.