Suggestions from Two Saints Named John

"If you wish that God should speedily give you hearty faith in prayer, strive with all your heart to speak and to do everything in regard to other people sincerely and never be deceitful in your dealings with them. If you are straightforward and truthful with others, then God will give you straightforwardness and sincere faith also in reference to Himself."
-- From "My Life in Christ" by St. John of Kronstadt


"The beginning of freedom from anger is silence of the lips when the heart is agitated; the middle is silence of the thoughts when there is a mere disturbance of soul; and the end is an imperturbable calm under the breath of unclean winds."
-- Step 8 from"The Ladder of Divine Ascent" St. John Climacus