(Part 4) The Lenten Prayer of St Ephraim is the ‘Step Stool’ of ‘Ladder of Divine Ascent’ for the Rest of Us

 “Lust of power (φιλαρχία)”

Desire to command, control, and be first, rather than to obey and serve.

• Step 4 – Obedience: “tomb of the will”; puts to death the desire to command and rule.

• Step 22 – Vainglory: love of praise, being seen, first place, reputation for holiness—inner form of “lust of power.”

• Step 23 – Pride: root of self‑exaltation; contempt for others and refusal of correction.

• Step 24–25 – Meekness and Humility: show the opposite: accepting reproof, seeking the lowest place, delighting in being overlooked.

For fuller reading in the Ladder:  Steps 4, 22, 23, 24, 25.

Biblical References φιλαρχία – love of rule, lust for power

LXX (4 Maccabees)

4 Maccabees 2:15 – φιλαρχία appears in a list of passions; one scholarly discussion notes it as “lust for power,” coordinated with similar terms. 

NT The precise word φιλαρχία does not occur; the concept appears with other words (e.g., φιλοπρωτεύω in 3 John 9 for “love to be first”).

 Lust of Power (φιλαρχία): Learning to Serve, Not to RuleΦιλαρχία, or the lust for power, is the inward desire to dominate, control, and be first—placing one’s own will above obedience and love. In The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Saint John Climacus shows that this vice manifests through pride, vainglory, and the constant wish to be seen and praised. Step 4 teaches that obedience becomes the “tomb of the will,” putting to death the craving to command. Steps 22 and 23 reveal how vainglory and pride feed this lust for power, leading to contempt for others and refusal to accept correction. Steps 24–25 offer the remedy: meekness and humility, accepting reproof, seeking the lowest place, and delighting in being overlooked. Though φιλαρχία as a word is rare in Scripture, its meaning appears clearly in the LXX (4 Maccabees 2:15) and in the New Testament concept of “loving to be first” (φιλοπρωτεύω, 3 John 9). True spiritual freedom comes not from ruling, but from surrendering the self to God’s will and serving others in love.