Continuous Prayer Print E-mail
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 00:44
Of all the commands in the latter portion of 1 Thessalonians 5 the one to "pray continuously" causes people to do a double-take.  How can one possibly pray continously?  If we want to adhere to this New Testament imperative do we have to give up the daily tasks of life and go live in a monastic community (not that there's anything wrong with that)?  Not at all.  As early as the 5th Century Christians had taken this imperative and formed a prayer practice designed to undergird all of life.  It's called The Jesus Prayer.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
have mercy on me,
a sinner.

This simple prayer affirms the identity of Jesus as the divine Son of God and our Lord, and also our need for mercy as we stand in front of this God-man we call, "Lord."  When learned well, this prayer becomes part of our heart and lives in our very breath - we literally will never stop praying.
The effects of this prayer are many.  After all, when we continously praying our own need for mercy before the divine Son of God it becomes more difficult to deny that mercy to others.  Given our short window for this discipline, here is how we'll practice the Jesus prayer for the remainder of Advent.

Practicing the Prayer

  1. Three times a day set yourself apart so that you can practice this prayer. Morning, noon-time, and evening are good points to do this - if you have children you can practice it after they go down for the night.
  2. Practice breathing.  Breathe in through your nose and then slowly breathe out through your mouth.  Do this for a minute or so before beginning to say the prayer.
  3.  Begin to say the Jesus Prayer.  Breathe in through your nose and then say each line as you exhale (in other words, take four breaths).  Say the prayer 20 times.
If you practice this prayer beyond the Advent Season you can increase the number of times you go through the prayer at your set times.  As the prayer becomes more embedded into your heart you may also want to start keeping a journal on how you are both experiencing God's mercy and offering it to others.

Next >
Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 December 2008 01:19