Father John's teaching is prophetic. it clarifies, expands and inspires. John Main often said that the greatest need today is for men and women of deep prayer, and that everyone is called to the personal experience of this prayer. He believed that the only way to teach someone to pray is to pray with them. He taught with an authority and a conviction that was rooted in personal experience. Yet he always pointed beyond himself to the true teacher - Christ. His conviction that silence is the supreme medium of the spirit's revelation was the gentle strength of his authority. He ws a man of great freedom of spirit and of the joy that flowed from this freedom.