Contemplative Prayer for a Busy Mind
Jesus told a parable of two men who go to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. The first stands and says to God for all to hear, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” This first prayer is all about the man praying and how he deserves God’s blessings.
The second man stands off to the side, head down beating his breast. His prayer is one from the heart and he cries out to God, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And it was this second man, in Jesus’ parable who is justified in God’s eyes, for he lays his whole life before God and asks only for mercy.
This prayer of the humbled tax collector forms the basis for The Jesus Prayer-a prayer central to the Orthodox understanding of Christianity. The Orthodox churches, such as Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox were separated by political divisions from Christianity in the west for more than 1,000 years. There is within the Orthodox understanding of Christianity vast depths of wisdom which many of us who live West of Constantinople have never experienced. I want to offer this decidedly Orthodox form of prayer-The Jesus Prayer-as a possible new avenue for you in your life of personal prayer.
The prayer itself is the utmost in simplicity. Merely seven words: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. That’s the whole prayer. This prayer takes as its pattern, the prayer of the tax collector who said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” There is a longer form of the prayer used sometimes which is “O Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” But the most common form is the shorter, seven-word version. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
The way I do this is to breathe in while thinking Lord Jesus Christ, and then exhale while thinking have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Try this prayer with me. I’ll write the words. You just think them and breathe in and out with the words.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
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Over time I have come to see that “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” says the same thing to me as “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” The Jesus Prayer is a prayer for whatever our Lord has for us. Not a prayer demanding some set solution, but a prayer open to whatever is God’s mercy.
Praying this prayer for others
Once I came to see that, I started to use the prayer in a way I have never seen written or discussed. Yes, I know that The Jesus Prayer is an interior prayer, a prayer for contemplation. Yet I started to use the prayer to pray for others. Sitting at the bedside of my wife’s dying grandmother, Hulda. I was grieving myself and all out of words, so I matched my breathing to hers and prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on Hulda.” Her breath, my breath, one prayer. Since then, I have prayed that way at other bedsides, in waiting rooms and courtrooms. “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on” and then I add the name of the person for whom I want to pray.
Deep Wisdom
But mostly I use the prayer as it has been used for centuries and I have found that here is deep wisdom in it. A deeper understanding of God in being humble enough to stop giving God the answers we are seeking, and instead just seeking the God who answers the prayers we don’t even know how to put into words.
This form of prayer will not be for everyone who reads this. But if this seems like something God might be challenging you to try, then be sure not to forget the advice of Nicephorous the Solitary who said, “patiently continue with this activity for some time, and a way to the heart will be opened for you without any doubt. We have learned this by experience.”
-The Rev. Canon Frank Logue, Canon to the Ordinary
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