What About This Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer
Blog Post by Mary Katherine May

Who can any person change but themselves?  It is the result of the transformation within our self that changes others.  In matters of Christian faith, the transformation enacted to committed believer, a servant of the Lord, is performed by God.

So many Christians pray the Jesus Prayer. It is a blessing requested in order to be a blessing to, and for others.  It is an ancient prayer that when prayed we join the chant of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ throughout the centuries.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, 

have mercy on me, a sinner.

One sentence. 11 words of which the longest has six characters. The prayer can be carried with you in your heart and lips wherever you go. 

St. Hesychios the Priest on the Jesus Prayer
Source: The Philokalia, Vol. 1

The single-phrased Jesus prayer destroys and consumes the deceits of the demons.  For when we invoke Jesus, God and Son of God, constantly and tirelessly, He does not allow them to project in the mind's mirror even the first hint of their infiltration--that is to say, their provocation--or any form, nor does He allow them to have any converse with the heart. 

If no demonic form enters the heart, it will be empty of evil thoughts, as we have said; for it is the demons' habit to converse with the soul by means of evil thoughts and so deceitfully to pervert it.

Resources for the Jesus Prayer
Jesus Prayer, Prayer of the Heart from OrthodoxPrayer.org
Includes a downloadable trifold brochure

The Jesus Prayer at the Orthodox Church in America website, OCA.org

Orthodox Prayer Ropes from St. Paisius Monastery in Arizona.

Many books have been written on the Jesus Prayer and there are no-cost resources available on the internet.

Rick & Mary May own the Christian-based webstore, QualityMusicandBooks.com.

Praying for Others Using the Prayer from Paul in Colossians 1

source: Wikipedia.org

In his epistle to the Colossians 1:9-14 the Apostle Paul offers a beautiful, expressive prayer that with just a bit of adaption will be a prayer that may be used in both private and public prayer.  I do not wish to offend anyone by my slight alterations to Paul's words, only to put his words into a context that may be prayed for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Colossians 1:9-14 NIV-UK (United Kingdom): BibleGateway LINK

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

For One Person 

Lord, hear my prayer,

I pray that you will fill __________ with knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that he/she may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. I pray that ____________ will bear fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that he/she may have great endurance and patience, giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified him/her to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light, for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God. 

Amen.

For our Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the World or for a Group

Lord, hear my prayer,

I pray that you will fill your children (these brothers and sisters in Christ) with knowledge of your will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that we (they) may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way. I pray that we (your children) will bear fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might and may have great endurance and patience, giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified his saints (these saints) to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light, for he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in who we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God. 

Amen.

This blog post by Mary Katherine May.

A Lot of People Prayed Today Oh My God

God cares about you.

Oh, my God!

A lot of people prayed today. 

Did you hear them?  I did.

It's a popular prayer: "Oh, my God!" 

They think that when they say, "Oh, my Gosh!" they didn't pray.

But God may think they did.

OMG - Yup. That's a prayer too.

If they forget to say it themselves, you go ahead and say the "Amen" for them. 

Ah! Someone, somewhere, is praying this prayer right now.

Amen.

by Mary Katherine May

March 26, 2014