Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.
Dear all, in the previous sessions we tried to understand the three things that would aid us in our recitation of the Jesus Prayer. A 'soul friend' to guide us as we climb the mountain of prayer. A 'prayer rope' to keep us away from fidgeting and establish a regular rhythm in our invocation. And lastly 'praying with each breath'. But in the end we learned that it is not advisable to have vain repetitions of the prayer, but it should be recited with faith and love towards Jesus Christ.
Let us now understand the three levels of prayer. It is customary in Orthodoxy to distinguish three levels of any prayer: of the lips, of the mind, and of the heart. This three fold distinction applies in particular to the Jesus Prayer.
1. To begin with, the Jesus Prayer, like any other, is a prayer of the lips, an oral prayer.
2. Prayer said only with the lips is obviously not true prayer. The mind, with it's power of attention needs to be involved also. St John Climacus admonishes us thus: "Contain your mind within the words of prayer." So Jesus Prayer grows gradually more inward. Yet we are not to be quick in giving up the actual recitation of the words, whether spoken aloud or formed silently within us.
3. Finally, by the grace of God, the mind is united with the heart, so that our prayer becomes 'prayer of the heart' or, more exactly, 'prayer of the mind in the heart'.
In this context, by 'heart', Orthodox writers do not mean primarily the emotions and feelings, but the spiritual center of the total human being. The heart, as well as being a physical organ in our chest, represents symbolically the focal point of our person-hood as created beings in the image and likeness of God. The heart is thus the ground of our being, the root and source of our inner truth. It includes the emotions, but more significantly it comprises our will, our reason, and also the higher visionary faculty, whereby we apprehend the glory of God. In the words of St Theophan the Recluse, "The heart is the innermost self, or spirit. Here are located self awareness, the conscience, the idea of God and of one's complete dependence on Him, and all eternal treasures of the spiritual life."
As well as being the center of our created person-hood, the heart is also the point of encounter between each created person and the uncreated God. It is the gateway to self-transcendence, the place of divine dwelling. St Macarius states thus, "... The heart is Christ's palace: there Christ the King comes to take His read, with the angels and the spirits of the saints, and He dwells there, walking within it and placing His Kingdom there."
Therefore, in Orthodox writings, 'prayer of the heart' is prayer of the entire human person, prayer in which body, soul and spirit are all participating. Moreover, since the heart is the meeting place with God, prayer of the heart denotes not simply MY PRAYER but THE PRAYER OF CHRIST IN ME. In St Paul's words, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20).
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.
Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware
