Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer, also known as the Prayer of the Mind, Prayer of the Heart, or simply, The Prayer, finds its roots in the rich history of the Eastern Orthodox Church. (It’s actually thought to be as old as the church itself.) It is a short, formulaic prayer whose words have ranged from very simple, repeatedly uttering the name of Christ, to more expansive versions.
The prayer is very simple in its more common, extended form:
“Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, the late Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate’s diocese for Great Britain and Ireland said the Jesus Prayer, “more than any other,” helps us to be able to “stand in God’s presence.” This means that it helps us to focus our mind exclusively on God with “no other thought” occupying our mind but the thought of God. At this moment when our mind is totally concentrated on God, we discover a very personal and direct relationship with Him. One Eastern Orthodox theologian has said, “It also serves as perhaps the most succinct Gospel message available.”
The Jesus Prayer is one of the oldest of Christian prayers, dating in its original form to the words the two blind men cried out to Jesus in Matthew 20:31. It was formalized by the Orthodox Churches in the 5th century. Contained in the prayer is a uniquely clear summation of the Christian faith:
Jesus the man is declared by name to be the Christ, the annointed one of God, as well as being the Lord of our lives; he is declared to be the Son of God, and therefore divine; he is declared to be in the position of judgment and mercy, and we confess to be sinners requiring His grace.
The practice of the Eastern Orthodox Churches calls for the Jesus Prayer to remind them of constant prayer that the Apostle Paul speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, where the prayer is kept on the lips and in the hearts of believers at all times. In its ultimate form, this prayer method is called Hesychasm (Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, “to keep stillness”).
A spectacular jewel from Eastern Orthodox theology is their view of repentance. In the West, we take a very juridical understanding of sin and repentance; a wrong has been committed, somebody needs to pay, Jesus paid, we come to Jesus and make a transaction, we take His righteousness and He takes our sins, we are blameless before God, the Father.
This age old understanding of justification is not wrong by any means. Nor is it complete. Eastern Orthodoxy takes a different approach to repentance. John Chryssavgis, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, wrote the following in his essay, “Repentance and Confession”:
Repentance (Greek: μετάνοια, metanoia, “changing one’s mind”) isn’t remorse, justification, or punishment, but a continual enactment of one’s freedom, deriving from renewed choice and leading to restoration (the return to man’s original state).
The Jesus Prayer stands at the center of this journey. It is merely two statements and a petition. The first statement is the declaration of Jesus Christ as Lord. The second statement is the acknowledgment of one’s own sinfulness. Flowing out of the meeting of the two is a petition for mercy as holiness meets sinfulness, divinity meets humanity, strength meets weakness, love meets scorn.
As the pray-er recites the words of the prayer, the hope is that an inward journey takes place. At first it is an oral prayer as we encounter for the first time the words and recite them allowed. The second is the prayer of the mind as we analyze and explore the meaning of the prayer we are reciting. The final movement is the prayer of the heart where we begin to become the prayer.
My friend, Jerry Flora, often tells a story of a prayer retreat that he attended many years ago. He was struck at how the prayer gathering began. The woman leading closed here eyes, paused for a few minutes of silence, and then proclaimed, “We are sinking into prayer.” Prayer wasn’t so much a formality to begin a meeting as it was likened to a giant, overly-stuffed chair that enveloped him that day.
Brennan Manning in his latest book, The Furious Longing of God, writes:
When the night is bad and my nerves are shattered and the waves break over the sides, Infinity speaks. God Almighty shares through His Son the depth of His feelings for me, His love flashes into my soul, and I am overtaken by mystery. These are moments of kairos — the decisive in-break of God’s fury into my personal life’s story.
It is then I face a momentous decision. Shivering in the rags of my seventy-four years, I have two choices. I can escape below into skepticism and intellectualism, hanging on for dear life. Or, with radical amazement, I can stay on deck and boldly stand in surrendered faith to the truth of my belovedness, caught up in the reckless raging fury that they call the love of God. And learn to pray. (pp. 130-131)
His words bring tears to my eyes. It seems that I have been misunderstanding this prayer thing all along. I should not come to prayer because I should but because I must. Prayer is not encountering an omnipresent, narcissistic deity. Instead, prayer is crawling into the lap of my Dad. I may ramble, I may fall asleep…but my Dad just loves when I come to Him.
The Jesus Prayer just might be the great reminder to the church through the centuries that prayer is more than a transaction of sins for righteousness. It’s not a rags to riches story. It’s not a laundry list of demands and requests.
Prayer is a becoming. Prayer is a belonging.
The Jesus Prayer reminds me that I am becoming more and more like Him with every day that I surrender my life and will to Him. With every decision of every second, I look at my dear friend, Jesus, and decide whether my decision will honor our friendship, will promote His Lordship, and will allow me to experience the deepest of intimacies from God’s parenthood over my life.
The Jesus Prayer reminds me that I belong. I belong to a passionate, wild, reckless, extravagant, hilarious, steadfast, committed, stay-at-home, out-on-the-street, head-over-heels in love Daddy who would love nothing more than to woo His children back into His arms. Oh that I could hear His heartbeat and feel the warmth of His embrace! The tears that would be shed as Abba/Daddy whispers to me, “I’m proud of you, little guy…I will always love you.”
The Jesus Prayer reminds me how simple it really is. The Gospel is not in need of vast textbooks or great exposition. It is more than a relationship…it is two lovers meeting and upon their encounter find it unable to take their eyes off of one another. As close as my next breath is the desire for God to meet with me. As close as your next breath is the desire for God to meet you. Are you meeting Him? Can you feel Him? Does He bring life to your weary soul? Does He provide moisture and sustenance to your dry, and brittle bones?
Take the next week and practice the Jesus Prayer as you live each day.
INHALE: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God…”
EXHALE: “…have mercy on me a sinner.”
Inhale His goodness, completeness, love, mercy, renewal, and passion. Exhale your failures, doubts, insecurities, trivial lusts, pains, sorrows, wrongs, hurts. May each breath be a reminder of the Gospel, the good news for everyone. May the good news begin transforming you!
Tags: America, Anthony Bloom, Christ, Christian, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Orthodoxy, God, Great Britain, Ireland, Jerry Flora, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John Chryssavgis, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord. The, Matthew, metropolitan anthony bloom, Moscow, Paul, Prayer
I am nodding my head in agreement as I read this: prayer was always meant to be so much more natural and essential than we’ve made it. I wonder what would happen if we’d call it “conversation” instead of prayer. Or, maybe Jesus’ word “abide” says it even better. What if we had “abide meetings” instead of prayer meetings? Maybe that would capture the idea that being in God’s presence isn’t pumping Him with words and titles. It is letting Him be God and allowing Him to allow us to be worthy to be with Him…which takes us back to the Jesus prayer.