What should you pray when temptation, distraction, fear, pride, or weakness strikes?

Drawing from St. John Cassian’s Conferences on Prayer, this sermon offers one of the simplest and most practical pieces of spiritual direction:

“O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.”

St. John Cassian recommends this short Scriptural prayer as a spiritual weapon that can be used in virtually every circumstance—temptation, fasting, distraction in prayer, weariness, fear, spiritual attack, and even the danger of pride after overcoming temptation.

The sermon gives wonderfully practical examples: resisting unnecessary eating during a fast, fighting distractions during the Rosary or Mass, overcoming fatigue, confronting fear, and avoiding the pride that can follow spiritual victories.

These short prayers—often called aspirations—help us fulfill Christ’s command to pray continually even while driving, working, shopping, walking, or waiting.

And like the wounded man beside the road, we must learn to cry out for divine assistance and trust that God will come at the perfect time and in the perfect way for the salvation of our souls.

O God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.

0:00 Martyr’s Walk
0:24 A Gem of Spiritual Direction
0:37 “O God, Come to My Assistance”
1:06 We Are the Wounded Man by the Roadside
2:02 St. John Cassian’s Conference on Prayer
2:29 A Prayer for Every Situation
3:18 A Cry for Help Against Temptation
3:26 Temptation During Fasting
4:05 The Late-Night Food Temptation
4:58 Fighting the Flesh
5:24 Weariness & Distraction in Prayer
6:23 What to Pray When Your Mind Wanders
6:39 Fear & Spiritual Attack
7:05 The Danger of Pride After Victory
7:56 Temptation to Self-Reliance
8:10 Short Prayers for Daily Life
8:41 What Are Aspirations?
8:57 How to Pray Constantly
9:26 A Prayer You Always Have Time For
9:35 Psalm 69:2
10:03 The Importance of Spiritual Reading
10:35 Recommended Spiritual Books
11:03 We Are Souls Wounded by the Roadside
11:20 God May Answer Differently Than Expected
11:34 God Comes at the Perfect Time
12:00 Amen
12:31 Sensus Fidelium App

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