Jesus Prayer: The Perfect "Constant Prayer"

 One of the questions I have often asked myself is how: how do we pray constantly, as St. Paul exhorted us to do in the New Testament.  It seems that this was quite important to him, because he mentions it 4 times in his letters, and to 4 different faith communities:

* the Romans: "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (12:12)

* the Ephesians: "...praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication." (6:18)

* the Colossians: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." (4:2)

* the Thessalonians: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing." (I. 5:16-18)

The desert fathers of the 4th century and onward asked themselves the same question, looked within the Scriptures for an answer, and found it, based on the following 5 gospel-stories:

* the Canaanite woman who says "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." (Matthew 15:22)

* the ten lepers: "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." (Luke 17:11-19)

* Bartimaeus the blind, begs "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." (Mark 10:46-48)

* a desperate father pleads "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers greatly." (Matthew 17:14-15)

* the tax collector who says "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." (Luke 18:13)

Based on St. Paul's exhortations, and the examples given in Scriptures, the desert fathers then came up with various versions of a prayer.  Here are the main variations:

Lord have mercy!

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

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

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

But the one that has stood the test of time, the one that has stuck not only in the Orthodox Church, but is used by Christians of many other stripes also, goes as follows:

Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

It's the simplest of prayers, really, and covers the whole of the Christian gospel: it proclaims Jesus as Lord, it proclaims Him as the Christ of God, it points to our need for healing, it implies awareness that we cannot heal ourselves, and trust that God in Christ can!

The prayer can be used in virtually any context.  It can be a(n):

* declaration of faith

* act of praise

* act of confession

* act of submission

* act of centering (our hearts on Jesus)

* cry for help


Whatever version we choose for ourselves, each of the them is short and to the point, allowing for easy memorization and therefore, constant repetition throughout our day, no matter where or when.  And there you have it: there's the "constancy" that we're looking for.  Constant prayer.

It's the perfect prayer, really: it's biblical, theological, spiritual, historical, flexible, short, contextual, and portable.

Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!