I am a big fan of prayer books and devotionals. These resources have enriched my prayer and devotional life. This year, I am using a particularly special resource, the Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church, edited by Robert Elmer. This book contains prayers from the Early Church Fathers, a group of influential Christian theologians and writers from the first few centuries of the Church’s history. Reading their prayers has reinforced my conviction that the Church must always maintain connections to the past to keep moving forward. We do not establish new paths—we walk the path “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20).
One principal reason for the Church to remain tethered to the teaching of the past is its relevance. Consider this prayer from Augustine:
Set me free, O God, from too much speech within my soul. I fly for refuge to your mercy, for my thoughts are not silent, even when I say nothing out loud. You know my thoughts. May they not overtake me or lead me to act on them. But at least let my opinions and my conscience be safe from those thoughts, under your protection.[1]
Augustine’s prayer resonates with a struggle that remains unchanged over time-the danger posed by our own minds. His plea to God to free him from ‘too much speech within my[his] soul’ echoes a frustration that many of us can relate to. Our inner dialogue can become overwhelming, leading us, like Augustine, to seek refuge and mercy in God.
Like Augustine, we are in danger of thoughts overtaking us and leading us to act on them. What this looks like in real life should not be surprising. We do something sinful, and then someone close to us says, “What were you thinking?” To deflect their shock, we reply, “I don’t know.” And yet, we do know. Our fleshly thoughts overwhelm us, and we willingly follow their lead and act on them.
Before Augustine, there was David, who prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). The grievous way in us manifests first in our thoughts. Then our thoughts grow into desire, and our desire “gives birth to sin” (James 1:15).
The essence of Augustine’s prayer and the consistent message of Scripture is that our self-talk must be silenced. This self-talk, a conversation that revolves around the self, cannot be silenced by our own efforts. Only God, with His liberating power, can free us from the chains of self-talk and keep us safe from it under his protection. This is a message of hope and transformation in our spiritual journey.
[1] Robert Elmer, ed., Fount of Heaven: Prayers of the Early Church (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2022), 238.
The Established Path of Discipleship 
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