The Jesus Prayer - Three Things to Help us - 2

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Dear all, in the previous session we covered two of the three things that would help us in the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. By the grace of God, let us now continue onto the last method.

PRAYING WITH EACH BREATH

To reinforce our offering of the Jesus Prayer, we should coordinate the rhythm of the Prayer with the tempo of our breathing. St Gregory of Nazianzus said, "Remember God more often than you breathe". If we synchronise the words of the Prayer with the act of inhalation and exhalation, this will render the invocation more constant and continuous. The simplest way of doing this is to recite the first part of the Prayer, " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God", as we breathe in, and the second part, "have mercy upon me, a sinner", as we breathe out. At the same time, the speed of our breathing should be slowed down.

The practice of controlling the person's breathing can be found in the Hindu Yoga and among the Sufis of Islam. It has many parallels but we should not overlook the distinctively Christian character of the Jesus Prayer. It is not simply a rhythmic mantra, designed to enhanced concentration, but a personal invocation addressed specifically to the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, that is, to the one who was born in Bethlehem, who died on the cross and rose from the dead, and whose second coming we await. What matters is not just HOW we pray but TO WHOM.

In any case, the breathing technique is no more than external aids, useful to some but in no way obligatory upon all. They do not constitute the essence of the Jesus Prayer. For the true and full practice of the invocation of the Holy Name, no other technique is needed except a living faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God and Saviour, and an active love for his ever-present Person.

These two things, faith and love, are indeed indispensable. There is sacramental grace present in the Holy Name, but the Jesus Prayer is not a magic talisman. "A mere repetition of the words does not signify anything" said St Theophan the Recluse. Jesus warned us against the use of "vain repetitions" in prayer, against the heaping up of empty phrases (Mat. 6:7).

But the Jesus Prayer is not a "vain repetition", if it is recited, as it should be, with fear of God, and with faith and love.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.

Reference: The Jesus Prayer - Bishop Kallistos Ware