Letters of Madam GuyonGuyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte
Religion
Letters of Madam Guyon
Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte
Guyon, Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte, 1648-1717
I pray for the church; I mourn at times that God is so little known and
loved; but these feelings are transient, and the soul is ready to take
any impression that God gives it. While it seems to have no consistency
of its own, so to speak, it adapts itself to the state of others with
wonderful facility. Sometimes even relating amusing stories, to
children, and to those who cannot be entertained in any other way.
The soul, in this state of union with God, is sometimes permitted to
foretell things to come, which appear very obscure to man, but which
are, nevertheless, infallibly true, because proceeding from God. The
knowledge of the event, and its full explanation, will come in the
fulness of time. The soul is ready for anything; ready for nothing. All
that is true comes from God; what is not true, from the creature. The
soul does not seek to justify itself, nor produce humiliation, but
passes on, disregarding self, and absorbed in God.
STATE OF REST IN GOD.
If I do not reply to you, Dear Sir, as soon as you might expect, it is
because I hold myself in reserve, until I have a movement to write, and
not from any want of regard to you. Relative to the distinct,
voluntary acts of resignation, renouncement, it would be difficult, in
my present state, to make such acts, because such acts would seem to
imply something of self-appropriation still remaining; whereas, I have
given to my Sovereign, all that I am; and as far as I know, I have
nothing more to give him. My soul is at rest in his will.
It is the same in regard to prayer, or petitions. The soul having a
very simple method of prayer, all other prayer seems foreign to it.
When it would make a request, and as soon as the soul knows distinctly
what it demands, there is something which goes before to accomplish it,
without the utterance of words. When the soul utters words, or makes
petitions, if the spirit accompanying approves, the prayer is made with
ease. If the spirit do not cooperate, the words are uttered with
difficulty, or not at all. God takes the place of self in the soul,
and there prays for things agreeable to his will. This is a state of
the soul, in which it has no desire to originate prayer, but loves to
be silent in the presence of God. This is an experience more
satisfactory than I am able to express. O, that all the earth knew
what it means to keep silence before the Lord!
GREAT HUMILIATIONS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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