“𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:17
This ancient edict of Paul, to pray continuously throughout our lives, seems at first, daunting. “The Prayer” or the “Jesus Prayer” was the Church’s answer to this command.
Most commonly practiced in the Eastern Orthodox circles of Christianity, the Jesus Prayer is a simple invocation that’s repeated throughout one’s day:
“𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫.”
Like most good ancient practices of the Church, the prayer’s origins can be traced to the Desert Mothers and Fathers. Today, a “prayer rope” is a common way to accompany praying the Jesus Prayer. Functioning similar to a Rosary, one can count the number of prayers via the knots on the rope.
Some pray this very formulaically (think: ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ on the inhale and ‘have mercy on me upon exhaling’). Another fascinating prayerful exegesis is the practice of revealing inner states via this prayer. Some Eastern theologians claim that whatever parts of the prayer are unconsciously stressed reveal our inner dispositions.
However practiced, the Jesus Prayer is an “ever ancient, ever new” way of practicing one’s faith.
Catholicism Rekindled 