Just as providing enough water to meet our needs will require numberless trips to and from the well, so too our perseverance in prayer will require a parallel in self-denial, cooperation with grace and growth in the practice of the virtues in order to be a true follower of Christ. As she will explain later in the “Interior Castle”, prayer is the means of entry into the Castle. Thus the First Water or the first stage of prayer requires considerable exertion on our part – we must draw the water from the well. Saint Teresa uses this very same example as the first means by which we are to slake our own thirst. Jesus had asked the Samaritan woman to draw water from the well to slake His thirst. Today, we will discuss what those four waters of prayer entail. Teresa of Avila also gets our attention when speaking of the stages of prayer as waters of prayer. If You Only Knew…Saint Teresa and the Waters of PrayerĮditor’s Note: In Part I, we looked at how Jesus had gotten the attention of the Samaritan woman when He spoke of living waters, and how St.
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