The Jesus Prayer

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Yes reminds me of Our Lady in Medjugorje who says we should pray with the heart. <3

Many of us dont know how to acheive that yet it is something that can not be achieved by our own standards but that of grace. Yet we wont reach it unless we strive for it.
 
Stephentlig said:
Yes reminds me of Our Lady in Medjugorje who says we should pray with the heart. <3

Many of us dont know how to acheive that yet it is something that can not be achieved by our own standards but that of grace. Yet we wont reach it unless we strive for it.
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That is why praying the Jesus Prayer should be done with a Spiritual Father capable of guiding one into growing in the Jesus Prayer. One cannot just start praying the Jesus Prayer and hope to reach that “top level”
 
Lisa44 said:
As a former Buddhist, I can tell you that the Jesus Prayer as done by Orthodox monks is almost exactly like Buddhist monks pray. They say the prayer so fast it becomes like a humming noise.
Should Christians pray as pagans do? Its just a question. What about repetitious prayers? This question is just food for thought. Be careful lest you too become an incoherent babbler.

This is just my opinion. But its also one of the reasons I didn’t go to the Orthodox church. As a former Buddhist I did find it disturbing.😦
If I had a nickel for every person who thought something wonderful would happen if they repeated something ad nauseum.:o

Do you really think that God is impressed with your ability to say something fast 1,000 times!😃

Is that how we get into Heaven? Is that what Jesus said?

Please, use your head and your intellect because God gave it to you, in order to know him and follow him. Where do we see Jesus doing repetitious prayers fast?

Buddhism predates Christianity, and I am sure that when he said don’t pray as the heathens do he was referring to those pagans who thought that by their numerous repeated prayers they would get into Heaven.

But is that THE WAY Jesus preached?

Please, think before you copy others behaviors. Repeating things over and over again is really easy. But the way that Jesus led us to is not easy. Be careful with how much time you waste. Read the bible instead and get to know Jesus.

If you feel that you must repeat a sentence over and over again then just make sure you read the gospels for 10 or 15 minutes first.😉 Try and understand what Jesus wants you to do.
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[BIBLEDRB]1 Thessalonians 5:17[/BIBLEDRB]
 
jcunningham352 said:
In the book, the pilgrim says that after praying it 12,000 times a day for a while, that it became incessant. I was wondering if anyone was living like this.
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It is always recommended to confer with your spiritual father about this and to be obedient to his direction.
 
ConstantineTG said:
That is why praying the Jesus Prayer should be done with a Spiritual Father capable of guiding one into growing in the Jesus Prayer. One cannot just start praying the Jesus Prayer and hope to reach that “top level”
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Yes having a spiritual father is a bonus but not neccesary, at least not for all those people the guy met in the book ‘‘The Way of a Pilgrim’’.

If someone has a desire to lead the spiritual life of perfection then by all means they should seek a spiritual father. But praying the Holy Rosary or Jesus prayer does not require a spiritual father yet can be handy to have.

If the Holy Rosary or Jesus prayer required a spiritual father for every person who set out to do it, there would not be enough to go around. My poor advice is to just go ahead and pray it and start off small on 33 knots a day or 50knots whilst reading the great direction we already have from the fathers in the likes of the Philokalia.

Too many people get spooked off from saying the prayer just because they are told they need a personal spiritual director and not every person can aquire one. People create so much hype about the need of a director that few people are led into just praying the prayer.

There are plenty of books out there. Read St.John of the Cross ‘Dark night of the soul’’ and read the philokalia as well as your book the way of a pilgrim and you’ll be good to go.

God bless
Stephen
 
Stephentlig said:
Yes having a spiritual father is a bonus but not neccesary, at least not for all those people the guy met in the book ‘‘The Way of a Pilgrim’’.

If someone has a desire to lead the spiritual life of perfection then by all means they should seek a spiritual father. But praying the Holy Rosary or Jesus prayer does not require a spiritual father yet can be handy to have.

If the Holy Rosary or Jesus prayer required a spiritual father for every person who set out to do it, there would not be enough to go around. My poor advice is to just go ahead and pray it and start off small on 33 knots a day or 50knots whilst reading the great direction we already have from the fathers in the likes of the Philokalia.

Too many people get spooked off from saying the prayer just because they are told they need a personal spiritual director and not every person can aquire one. People create so much hype about the need of a director that few people are led into just praying the prayer.

There are plenty of books out there. Read St.John of the Cross ‘Dark night of the soul’’ and read the philokalia as well as your book the way of a pilgrim and you’ll be good to go.

God bless
Stephen
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That is not the advice I have received. Sorry, I can’t take yours. I mean, I’ve been praying the Jesus Prayer unguided and I can say that at this point, I am lost. I hope to find a good spiritual father who can help me grow.
 
ConstantineTG said:
That is not the advice I have received. Sorry, I can’t take yours. I mean, I’ve been praying the Jesus Prayer unguided and I can say that at this point, I am lost. I hope to find a good spiritual father who can help me grow.
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I see what you mean Constanine. But not everyone has the liberty of finding a spiritual father. Perhaps unguided praying of the Jesus prayer coupled with the desire to seek spiritual father or help is a good method.

St.Anthony the Great just dropped it all one day and headed into the mountains. He had no personal spiritual direction.

I also recall reading ‘‘mysteries of the Jesus prayer’’ one nun stressed your position for the need of a spiritual father and another Elderly monk stressed my point of view to just pray it and wait for God to respond.

So my advice for the OP is just to go ahead and pray the prayer and dont be getting spooked out by all this spiritual father talk nor let it put you off. If you have the liberty of having a good prayerful priest close at hand then seek him out. But if not then seek out the direction of the fathers in the philokalia and books of the Saints while praying the prayer alone and wait for God to respond to your efforts.
 
Stephentlig said:
I see what you mean Constanine. But not everyone has the liberty of finding a spiritual father. Perhaps unguided praying of the Jesus prayer coupled with the desire to seek spiritual father or help is a good method.

St.Anthony the Great just dropped it all one day and headed into the mountains. He had no personal spiritual direction.

I also recall reading ‘‘mysteries of the Jesus prayer’’ one nun stressed your position for the need of a spiritual father and another Elderly monk stressed my point of view to just pray it and wait for God to respond.

So my advice for the OP is just to go ahead and pray the prayer and dont be getting spooked out by all this spiritual father talk nor let it put you off. If you have the liberty of having a good prayerful priest close at hand then seek him out. But if not then seek out the direction of the fathers in the philokalia and books of the Saints while praying the prayer alone and wait for God to respond to your efforts.
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I know, we have a limited number of clergy, no monasteries, no seminaries. Its very, very limited indeed. But I hope to meet one soon, I pray to God he sends me one soon.
 
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