Jesus Prayer question

[jmjconder]

The Name is power, but a purely mechanical repetition will by itself achieve nothing. The Jesus Prayer is not a magic talisman. As in all sacramental operations, the human person is required to co-operate with God through active faith and ascetic effort. We are called to invoke the Name with recollection and inward vigilance, confining our minds within the words of the Prayer, conscious who it is that we are addressing and that responds to us in our heart. Such strenuous prayer is never easy in the initial stages, and is rightly described by the Fathers as a hidden martyrdom. St Gregory of Sinai speaks repeatedly of the ‘constraint and labour’ undertaken by those who follow the Way of the Name; a ‘continual effort’ is needed; they will be tempted to give up ‘because of the insistent pain that comes from the inward invocation of the intellect’. ‘Your shoulders will ache and you will often feel pain in your head,’ he warns, ‘but persevere persistently and with ardent longing, seeking the Lord in your heart.’ Only through such patient faithfulness shall we discover the true power of the Name.
This faithful perseverance takes the form, above all, of attentive and frequent repetition. Christ told his disciples not to use ‘vain repetitions’ (Matt. 6:7); but the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, when performed with inward sincerity and concentration, is most emphatically not ‘vain’. The act of repeatedly invoking the Name has a double effect: it makes our prayer more unified and at the same time more inward.

Jesus Prayer - The Power of the Name
by Bishop Kallistos - Ware

Peace

**Please know that I did not infer that the Jesus Prayer was some “magic talisman.” Every prayer lifted to the heavens will be heard - however it is the docility of the person as to the “true power.”

I would rather wish for a person to repeat the Jesus Prayer no matter where their spiritual life is - than not say it at all. I am a person of hope that at some point - their prayer will change their life. God always hears - one needs to be ready to respond.

The Jesus Prayer is one path to union with HIM.**

 

[1Tim215Mommy]

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ME a sinner.”

**A spiritual life focused on the Jesus Prayer, is a spiritual life focused on Christ our God while acknowledging in humility before Him that “me” is a sinner. **

Now, if on the other hand we decide during our prayer to boldly remind God that others are sinners too well then that’s a totally different mindset like saying, “hey I’m not that bad God, see others have sinned too, I’m not the only one who needs Your mercy so I must not be that bad afterall” rather than taking personal responsibility for our own personal sinfulness. It’s a lack of humility and that sort of spiritual focuses on others rather than on God. Plus, would telling God that our neighbors have all sinned be akin to gossip/slander?
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[melekali]

So I was talking to a friend today about the Jesus Prayer and he had a question that I really couldn’t answer…it goes like this:

If we primary focus our spiritual life on the Jesus Prayer, isn’t that being kind of selfish since we are only praying for ourselves “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ME a sinner.”?

Now I know that St. Seraphim of Sarov said “Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved.” but my friend asked that wouldn’t a deepening in the spiritual life necessarily make you change the focus of praying for yourself to praying for others?

How would one answer these questions? My friend is not against the Jesus Prayer, we just like to talk theology and philosophy and question each other.

No, I would disagree. When one truly becomes holy, one can change the course of history and hold back the wrath of God. Consider Moses among the many other holy men and women of God.

 

[Zekariya]

If we primary focus our spiritual life on the Jesus Prayer, isn’t that being kind of selfish since we are only praying for ourselves “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on ME a sinner.”?

I’d follow Christ’s example which focuses on mine own sinfulness. This passage is the basis for the Jesus Prayer:

Luke 18:10-14 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”