This Wednesday at “The Well” at church our topic will be ‘pray without ceasing,’ that short little phrase that Paul sneaks into his First Letter to the Thessalonians.What does it mean to pray without ceasing? How could you ever do that? Well, through the centuries holy people have grappled with the idea.
The Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner which has been embraced for centuries by the Eastern Church, gives one answer. The Philoklia, a book of writings on prayer, offers numerous commentaries from hesychasts, individuals from the mystical tradition of prayer who practicedthe Jesus prayer. The 19th century book, “The Way of A Pilgrim,” follows the journey of a pilgrim in Russia searching to understanding what it means to pray without ceasing.
I love this prayer. It starts with praise for God and ends with humility on the part of the human being. It is about humility; it is about mercy; it is about opening my heart.
“The Prayer of the Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament.[1] St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus' Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesu. (Wikipedia)
Pray the Jesus Prayer with out ceasing. Here’s how it goes.
1. The oral prayer (the prayer of the lips) is a simple recitation, still external to the practitioner.
2. The focused prayer, when "the mind is focused upon the words" of the prayer, "speaking them as if they were our own."
3. The prayer of the heart itself, when the prayer is no longer something we do but who we are.
The Jesus Prayer, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me, a sinner which has been embraced for centuries by the Eastern Church, gives one answer. The Philoklia, a book of writings on prayer, offers numerous commentaries from hesychasts, individuals from the mystical tradition of prayer who practicedthe Jesus prayer. The 19th century book, “The Way of A Pilgrim,” follows the journey of a pilgrim in Russia searching to understanding what it means to pray without ceasing.
I love this prayer. It starts with praise for God and ends with humility on the part of the human being. It is about humility; it is about mercy; it is about opening my heart.
“The Prayer of the Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament.[1] St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus' Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesu. (Wikipedia)
Pray the Jesus Prayer with out ceasing. Here’s how it goes.
1. The oral prayer (the prayer of the lips) is a simple recitation, still external to the practitioner.
2. The focused prayer, when "the mind is focused upon the words" of the prayer, "speaking them as if they were our own."
3. The prayer of the heart itself, when the prayer is no longer something we do but who we are.
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