‘On the 24th Sunday
after Pentecost I went to church to say my prayers there during the Liturgy.
The first Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians was being read, and among
other words I heard these – “Pray without ceasing”. It was this text, more than any other, which
forced itself upon my mind, and I began to think how it was possible to pray
without ceasing, since a man has to concern himself with other things also in
order to make a living… “What ought I to
do?” I thought. “Where shall I find someone to explain it to me?”
This is how the pilgrim starts
his story in the Russian spiritual classic Way
of a Pilgrim and there came a day seven years ago when his question of how
it is possible to ‘pray without ceasing’ became my own which led me to welcome the
gift and task of the Jesus Prayer.
In Way of a Pilgrim we read how the pilgrim goes first to ‘a gentleman
who had long been living and seeking the salvation of his soul… He was silent
for a while and looked at me closely. Then he said: “Ceaseless interior prayer
is a continual yearning of the human spirit towards God. To succeed in this
consoling exercise we must pray more often to God to teach us to pray without
ceasing. Pray more, and pray more fervently. It is prayer itself which will
reveal to you how it can be achieved unceasingly; but it will take some time’.
In the narrative the pilgrim continues on his journey asking the same question
of various holy people and finally gets the advice to adopt ‘the continuous
interior Prayer of Jesus…a constant uninterrupted calling upon the divine Name
of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart; while forming a mental
picture of His constant presence’.
Through his call to pray
unceasingly, and the advice he receives, the pilgrim sets himself to
continuously repeat these words: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on
me a sinner’.
How can I live a simpler
Christian life?
Is there a summary of faith that’s clear, memorable and portable? A biblical aid to praying at all times? A
means of Holy Spirit empowerment to bypass a distracted mind? Is there an instrument
of Jesus Christ useful to carrying his worship into life and vice versa?
The Jesus Prayer of Eastern Orthodoxy, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me a sinner’ is such an instrument. Thoroughly biblical, carried
forward by the faith of the church through the centuries, it stands as unique
gift and task.
As part of our prayer exploration fortnight I want to give a personal
commendation of this Prayer, its simple good news and capacity to empower, with
a little practical guidance on how to welcome and use it along with
encouragement to attain the simplicity of life it offers.
‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me a sinner.’ The Lord Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s
love who, as both God and a human being, can fully sympathise with our sorrows
and joys. Though life in this world is fragmented and fragmentary the wholeness
of Christ draws us into himself to so that our hurts are consoled and our joys
shared. In the Jesus Prayer we are given
grace to counter the gravitational downward pull of sorrow and sin so as to
achieve lightness of spirit. The struggle with relationships and insecurities
and even faith pulls us down, as into quicksand. As Christians we welcome the
upward pull of Jesus that lifts us when we are down. In repeating the Jesus
Prayer we put faith in God who is rich in mercy and we see the powerful impact
of that mercy is as it responds to heartfelt prayer.
‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’.
Where does the prayer come from?
The Jesus Prayer comes straight from the Gospels
and is a one line expression of the good news of Christianity. It affirms both
the coming of the Saviour and our need for his salvation. Based on incidents in
the life of Our Lord it combines Peter’s act of faith in Jesus ‘You are the Son of God’ in Matthew 16v16 with the
cry of the Publican ‘have mercy upon me a sinner’ in Luke 18v13.
It exalts the name which is above every name to use Paul’s words in Philippians 2v10. You
can’t repeat the name of Jesus with a good intention without touching his
person, God’s person. It’s a form of Holy Communion without bread and wine
though it comes into its own in my own experience as an extension of
sacramental communion.
As the Orthodox writer Bulgakov expresses
it: The Name of Jesus, present in the
human heart, communicates to it the power of deification…Shining through the
heart, the light of the Name of Jesus illuminates all the universe.
‘God loves me! What joy! And I
truly love him too!’ is a paraphrase of the Jesus Prayer which is a simple
sentence declaring simple yet awesome truth. As the prayer continues within me
it puts faith in God’s love for me and for all that is, minute by minute, day
by day and for all eternity. It announces Jesus who came and died long ago to
be my living Lord and saviour this day, by whose mercy I exist and by trust in
whose mercy I can fully prosper. Jesus, who came to bring life and bring it to
the full, is placed before me by the act of faith expressed in this Prayer. It
is a touching of the Lord who fills my hour by hour inner emptiness as I reach
up to him. There is no more precious knowledge on earth than that you are loved
immensely, and will be so loved, for all eternity.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. This
prayer is said in both formal and free settings, which is its very power
Simple, memorable and short it’s a form of prayer that can be made part of
one’s formal prayer time whilst being offered in freer fashion as you get on
with life outside set prayer times.
This is
how I pray the Jesus Prayer in the morning. I have an Oratory in the Rectory
where I spend the first hour of the day. Half of that I spend reciting the
Jesus Prayer and the other half I use to say liturgical Morning Prayer,
which includes psalms and scripture readings, and to make intercession for
my family, parish and for the world.
Then on
with my life and my priestly work engaging with worship, sermon preparation, e
mails, people’s sorrows and joys, the farmer frustrated by the weather, the
lady with so many troubles, the sullen youth, the burdened church officer, the
couple preparing for marriage, the lonely pensioner - all of these I engage with trying to let
the Jesus Prayer run in me, and not my own thoughts, so any words I utter will
have the Lord’s weight. The Prayer is nothing magic. It requires my
active cooperation both to pray it in my circumstances and to let it guide my
counsel.
For me – and this sermon is very personal so take its spirit but
take it or leave it in terms of emulation – for
me the Jesus Prayer looks to be an all encompassing devotion. I can’t claim
I have either encompassed or been encompassed by it sufficiently at all.
At least I have got somewhat into the habit of saying sorry if I forget for
long stretches of time to pray as I have intended.
One sign
I have been so forgetful is when I find myself agitated by things around me,
since gladness of heart seems inseparable to surrendering oneself to God’s will
in every circumstance, and lack of such surrender, and of the Prayer, seems to
fit times when I find a loss of joy.
The eucharist is our
great opportunity for such self-surrender and re-orientation, whether you pray
the Jesus Prayer or not.
As we return to
worship, once I take my seat I’ll lead
you into silence by repeating the prayer six times after which you might like
to continue repeating for a minute or two in the silence of your heart.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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