The Jesus Prayer 

 

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The Jesus Prayer is one of the earliest breath prayers, traceable back to the Desert Fathers and Mothers in the 3rd to 6th centuries after Christ. Practice it as long or short as you like, but give yourself and your whole being time to be aware of the Presence of God.

 

Practice

  1. Get into a comfortable sitting position with your hands in your lap.

  2. Breathe slowly in and out through your mouth. Be conscious of taking the air in and filling your lungs, and then slowly let it out.

  3. As you inhale, pray “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God”

  4. Then, as you exhale, pray “have mercy on me, a sinner.”

  5. Continue for a set time or until you feel the peace and presence of God.

 
 

Pray along with this video

Thank you to Jeff Johnson for allowing us to share his original video with us.

Henri Nouwen on the Jesus Prayer

Henri Nouwen signature.png
 

Stock photos by Vecteezy

 

 The Jesus Prayer, or any other prayer form, is meant to be a help to gently empty our minds from all that is not God, and offer all the room to him and him alone. But that is not all. Our prayer becomes a prayer of the heart when we have localized in the center of our inner being the empty space in which our God-filled mind can descend and vanish, and where the distinctions between thinking and feeling, knowing and experience, ideas and emotions are transcended, and where God can become our host. “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), Jesus said. The prayer of the heart takes these words seriously. When we empty our minds from all thoughts and our hearts from all experiences, we can prepare in the center of our innermost being the home for the God who wants to dwell in us. Then we can say with St. Paul, “I live now not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Then we can affirm Luther’s words, “Grace is the experience of being delivered from experience.” And then we can realize that it is not we who pray, but the Spirit of God who prays in us.

 
 

 Take a moment to reflect on your time here

extra

A longer guided meditation in the Christian Orthodox tradition approx 15 min