Does prayer without ceasing justify a neglect of performing actions?

The answer

St. Mark the Ascetic says, “Whoever wants to reach ‘the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph. 4:13) must not prefer any work over prayer, yet he should still undertake other work lest be in need … He must not refrain from doing the essential duties required by divine law on the excuse that he is devoting himself to prayer. He should distinguish between prayer and work, obeying the divine law without question [i.e., do both together].”

Fr. Tadros Yacoub Malaty