A Simple Prayer

“I lock my door to myself, and I throw myself down in the presence of my God. I divest myself of all worldly thoughts, and I bend all my powers and faculties upon God, as I think, and suddenly I find myself scattered, melted, fallen into vain thoughts, into no thoughts; I am upon my knees, and I talk, and think nothing.” Dr. John Donne 17th cent. Anglican priest

Reading this quote was, for me, like looking in a mirror.  I am so much like this.  Are you? Are your thoughts an undisciplined ramble careening from one idea to another?  Then maybe you ask the same question I ask. How am I supposed to pray unceasingly when I cannot even get myself to stay on course for a few minutes?

One man, an anonymous homeless wanderer from Russia, found his answer while on a ten year walking pilgrimage in search of God.

After hearing the words in a sermon, “Pray without ceasing” this man sold all he had and started a quest to answer the question of how it could be possible to do this when one had to “concern himself with other things also in order to make a living.”

After many disappointing encounters with religious men of many different faiths, he met a monk who shared with him the Jesus Prayer.  He said, “The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling on the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart while forming a mental picture of his constant presence, and imploring His grace...at all times.” The words he was to pray were: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”

First the monk told him to pray this three thousand times a day(!) This he found difficult, but eventually it became “easy and likable”.  The he was told to pray it six thousand times a day and then twelve thousand times a day.  The idea was to make this prayer a part of his very breath. The result was the pilgrim began to breath Jesus and life became new for him.

I want to breath Jesus too. And though I don’t think I will repeat this simple prayer thousands of times a day, I can repeat it when I am doing mundane chores, driving the car, or while I awake at night.

“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”