"Even when we do good works, it is the Spirit that compells us, it is his work in us, not us working with the Spirit"
How spectacularly Western of you! It never ceases to amaze me how far Western Christianity has gone in the past 500 years or so from the understanding of theosis of the early Church as expressed by the Fathers.
"A house roof is held up by the foundations and the rest of the building, and the foundation and the rest of the building are laid to hold the roof - since both are necessary and useful - and neither is the roof built without the foundations and the rest of the house, nor can foundations and walls without roof make a building fit to live in. So it is with the soul: the grace of the Holy Spirit is preserved by keeping the commandments, and the keeping of the commandments is the foundation laid for receiving the gifts of God's grace. Neither does the grace of the Holy Spirit remain in us without our obeying the commandments, nor can obeying the commandments be useful and salutary without Divine grace." St. Symeon the New Theologian
When you say "Western," don't you mean "Protestant?" ;-)
St. Francis de Sales, a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, describes in his Introduction to the Devout Life on how to prepare for meditation or prayer. This consists in placing yourself in the presence of God, and invoking His assistance. He describes "four principal means" for placing yourself in the presence of God. The second way that he lists is "to remember that He (God) is not only in the place where you are but also that He is present in a most particular manner in your hear and in the very center of your spirit. He enlivens and animates it by His divine presence, for He is there as the heart of your heart and spirit of your spirit." Just as St. Symeon states, this indwelling, also known as Sanctifying Grace, is preserved only by keeping the commandments.