Protopriest Konstantin Rovinsky. "Old priest’s conversations with his spiritual children".
About Fr. Alexis Mechev
When everything happened as the Father had said, I asked him once during one of our conversations how he could know exactly the will of God when revealing it to me.
The Father wasn’t a little surprised at my question and answered me: ‘The very first thought that comes to one’s mind after the prayer, comes from God, and one has to follow it [1]. As I noticed that many times and got absolutely sure about this, in certain cases after an ardent prayer, I began to proclaim His will. This was my way with you, too…’
I also heard that from an archbishop, a great man of prayer. He said, when giving me an example, ‘Sometimes, after having prayed, I made my decision to punish a faulty clergyman, but later felt pity for him and didn’t discipline him strictly, which was not good for him, as the future revealed. One must stick to the first thought that comes after one’s prayer.’
[1] The first thought of a person who leads a holy life is meant. St. Alexis (Mechev) was one of such persons. Especially the first thought when the person is asked by another person, not when he thinks something by himself.– Eds.