The Jesus Prayer

Join Meredith from Methods in this contemplative meditation on the Kingdom of God. In this episode, we explore an orienting prayer, as well as a practice known as The Jesus Prayer, or prayer of the heart. The early desert fathers thought this is what Paul the apostle had in mind when he said things like, "pray without ceasing". After constant repetition, the prayer absorbs you into itself, and you find it humming along with you everywhere you go.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to Methods,

An online experiment and guided prayer and meditation brought to you by The Restoration Project.

Each episode will focus on a different prayer practice or method,

But we hope to provide you with opportunities to praise,

To wonder,

To give thanks and confess,

And to contemplate the depths of God's goodness and mercy and mystery.

To aid in this process,

We invite you to silence your notifications and to find a comfortable place to sit and reflect on God's presence.

Episode 2 In our time of prayer and meditation,

We will begin to become conscious of our bodies,

Especially our breathing.

Therefore,

Before we begin,

Let's take a few cleansing and centering breaths.

And now,

Hear and thoughtfully consider the words of this orienting prayer.

O gracious and holy God,

Give us diligence to seek you,

Wisdom to perceive you,

And patience to wait for you.

Grant us,

O God,

A mind to meditate on you,

Eyes to behold you,

Ears to listen for your word,

A heart to love you,

And a life to proclaim you through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

As we begin,

Take a moment to pray for strength and concentration,

And focus as we set about the work of reflective prayer and meditation.

Amen.

We may be coming to this time weighed down by our own sin and recalcitrance.

Hear the words of this confession and use them as a template for our personal confession and request for forgiveness.

Merciful God,

We confess that we have sinned against you in thought,

Word,

And deed,

By what we have done and by what we have left undone.

Take a moment to confess these sins to the Lord.

We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength,

And we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

Trust upon your failed commitments and missed opportunities and confess them to the Lord.

In your mercy,

Forgive what we have been.

Help us amend what we are and direct what we shall be,

So that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name.

We pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The primary method that we will utilize in this episode is an ancient prayer practice called the Jesus Prayer.

In his book,

The Sacred Way,

Tony Jones retells a story of a young Russian pilgrim who was determined to find out if it was truly possible to pray without ceasing.

His quest was set in motion due to difficult circumstances in his life,

The death of his wife,

And the lack of work that followed him from an injury to his hand.

While wandering through the Russian countryside,

The young traveler was met by a monk.

Acknowledging the monk's wisdom and experience,

He posed this question,

Is it possible to pray without ceasing?

The monk answered simply,

Yes.

The pilgrim's next question was if the monk could teach him,

And again he answered affirmatively.

As the story goes,

The monk gave him a book by the Desert Fathers that included what is known as the Jesus Prayer.

This prayer appears in various forms,

But one version is this,

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

The monk then told the pilgrim to go home and pray this prayer 3,

000 times a day.

When the pilgrim accomplished this,

He returned.

The monk then told him to pray the prayer 6,

000 times a day.

When the pilgrim accomplished this,

He returned again,

And the monk told him to pray the prayer 12,

000 times a day.

To use Jones's words,

The prayer became the air that the grieving pilgrim breathed.

The prayer,

Which will come up in the morning,

Had overwhelmed him during the day,

And he dreamed about it at night.

Every recitation was pure joy,

Filling him with both emotional and physical light.

He began to feel love for everyone he met,

Considering each his brother or sister.

Eventually,

The monk died,

And the pilgrim began to wander the countryside.

The prayer,

However,

Never left him.

It became one with him.

As I mentioned,

This practice has its roots not with the Russian Pilgrim in the 19th century,

But with the ancient Desert Fathers.

As such,

It has served the community of faith well for centuries,

And over the next few minutes,

We too will engage in this method of prayer.

This is how it works.

Every time we inhale,

We voice,

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

And when we exhale,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

We will provide you with time to become accustomed to this practice.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

The sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Continue this practice,

Being mindful of your breathing,

And also the content of your request.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Son of God,

Have mercy on me,

A sinner.

As we near the conclusion of this episode,

Let us give thanks to God our Father,

For all His gifts so freely bestowed upon us.

After each prompt,

Find your own words to give thanks for those many blessings,

For the beauty and wonder of your creation in earth and sky and sea.

Thank you for watching!

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,

Revealing the image of Christ.

Thank you for watching!

For our daily food and drink,

Our homes and families,

And our friends.

Thank you for watching!

For minds to think,

And hearts to love,

And hands to serve.

Thank you for watching!

For health and strength to work,

And leisure to rest and play.

Thank you for watching!

Thank you for watching!

For the brave and courageous,

Who are patient in suffering,

And faithful in adversity.

Thank you for watching!

For all valiant seekers after truth,

Liberty,

And justice.

Thank you for watching!

For the communion of saints in all times and places.

Thank you for watching!

Above all,

We give you thanks for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To him be praise and glory,

With you,

O Father,

And the Holy Spirit,

Now and forever.

Amen.

We will end our time of prayer and meditation with a profession of faith known as the Apostles' Creed.

We believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

And in Jesus Christ,

His only Son,

Our Lord,

Who is conceived by the Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified,

Dead,

And buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

The Holy Catholic Church,

The communion of saints,

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body,

And the life everlasting.

Amen.

Go in peace,

To love and serve the Lord.

Thank you for participating in this episode of Methods.

Prayers and readings included selections from the Worship Sourcebook and Tony Jones' helpful work,

The Sacred Way,

Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life.

Until next time.

Reviews

♥️

Very excellent! But please please could you speak slower to usher us into a quiet place of calm more easily.

Awesome! Thank you for that guided meditation of the Jesus prayer. The entire practice is well done, spirit led, the perfect guided practice for everyday use. I will return to this practice quiet often. Peace 🙏🏾🛐☦️

This so nicely paced and left me feeling so greatful to God!

Fantastic so happy I have found this . God Bless You xxx

I just love 💕 everything that
Methods are about 😊 I always have a grand sense of accomplishment, enlightenment and joy after meditation with their guidance. Thank you so very much 🥰💓

the apostles creed was a most welcome bonus. thank you.

Wonderful! Thank you so much for this beautiful meditation 💛

Beautiful and powerful. Thank you.❤️

this is my favorite. Praying without ceasing. I do that at my walks and everything... I shall pray this every day 10 thousands time or more a day!!!

Wow. This is an answer to a prayer. Thank you as this is exactly what is needed today for our world to heal that is, a genuine simple & Catholic guidance on how to center on our father~

Beautiful, relaxing, deep.

Beautiful prayer meditation

Thank you. I much valued your prayers and words.

Answering exactly what I need

Meditar e ainda elevar meu espírito a Deus foi muito bom para começar o dia!

Thank you 🙏🏻 my soul needed that ❤️

Everyone needs this!!!😇🙏🤗

Amazing! The most beautiful, uplifting, spiritual, authentic guidance into a perfect meditation session. I will bookmark & return to daily. Just what I've been looking for & aligns with me personally. Thank you so much. Loved this & so helpful. 🙏💖💕

Omgoodness!!! I absolutey loved this!! Iim amazed at how this meditation moved me!! Thank you so very much!!!