Jesus Prayer

When we pray we try to look for the centre and the centre is always Christ.

The centrality of gesture, posture and movement in the act of prayer is a key focus for us as we try to draw nearer to God.

Outside of our daily prayers and services, we have a prayer, that came back into popularity, from the Hesychast (interior prayer) movement of the 14th century the Jesus prayer. This prayer has been with us since being introduced by the monks of the deserts of Egypt and Palestine of the fourth and fifth centuries.

This is the contemplation of God in uninterrupted prayer. Such prayer, involving the entire human being—soul, mind, and body It is when a great stress is placed upon the act of breathing or reciting the words of the Publican in Jesus’s parable.

“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”

When we pray the first part, we are encouraged to breathe in deeply filling the lungs. Doing this, symbolises the filling of the heart with the living presence of Christ, the placing of Jesus at the centre of all that we are.

At the conclusion of this first part of the prayer, we hold our breath for a brief period and an exhale while reciting the conclusion 

“Have mercy on me, a sinner “

This last part evokes the expelling of sin from the heart. In this way the double movement - breathing in and breathing out, is a sort of cleansing process, we bring in the Holy Spirit and let go of our transgressions.

The beauty of this prayer is that we can pray it at any time in any place and be filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and keep Christ at the centre of our day.

Fr Michael