Pray the Jesus Prayer so that breath becomes Life centered in Him

God be merciful to me a sinner; Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. (Luke 18:13, 38; (see also Matthew 20:30).

Blind men, lepers and sinners cried out to God for the mercies of forgiveness and healing. They recognized Jesus as Messiah, the Anointed King, Son of David. Their faith revealed Him and received Him as the Son of God. Their simple prayer was of faith that “made them well.”

From earliest times the church has prayed the simple Jesus prayer, as easily as breathing in and out, in a short or longer form: “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Visit and heal my infirmities for your name’s sake.”

(The following is excerpted and edited from John Michael Talbot’s, The Ancient Path. He describes a way to “pray without ceasing.” I use a simple cross and beads to help me in the night, while driving, while sitting in a meeting, or watching a movie, etc. This practice helps me meditate on Him, intercede for others and overcome anxiety. If interested in beads or a cross ask me.)

The Desert Fathers had encouraged the use of aspirations, and Augustine had counseled a busy widow in his parish to imitate the Egyptian hermits in this way. Nor was devotion to the name of Jesus anything new. Saint Paul had long before told the Philippians: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (2:10). And the pages of the Acts of the Apostles are replete with the primitive Church’s devotion to the holy name (see, for example, 2:38, 3:6, 4:10, 8:12, 9:27, etc.). From the first generation, the Church had prescribed Jesus’s name for the expulsion of demons, the healing of ailments, and the correction of error.

A way to pray without ceasing in our busy lives

If our goal is to make Jesus the single focal point of life, and to make our prayer to him as constant as breath try this: 

Breathe in: Lord.

Breathe out: Jesus.

It’s not mechanical. It’s not magical. It’s love. People do heroic things for love. They give up drinking or drugs or gambling, but the way they overcome is by keeping their beloved in mind when faced with temptation. So they’re faced with a stark choice between the loved one or the vice. If our prayer is Jesus, we will have him always before us. We will have the habit of preferring nothing to him. And, like the apostles, we can do all things in him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) and in his holy name.

The Jesus prayer became a compact creed: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That simple formula includes elements of adoration, contrition, and supplication. It confesses Jesus’s divinity and our own sinfulness. It’s as hard as diamond, but it rises lightly as breath. It has sustained the inner life of ascetics and ordinary folk in the Eastern churches for well over a millennium…

300 knots of prayer

Eastern Christians sometimes pray the Jesus Prayer while they count the recitations on a string of beads or knots. Pastor Dennis Cole wears an elastic band of beads around his wrist to help him pray. I was showing my little string of beads to Bob Johnson, my spiritual director, and he agreed with how helpful it is, then he opened his desk and pulled out a string with 300 knots in it. It was a good reminder to me that I am a novice in prayer and not a spiritual giant.

How can we pray when there’s so much else we have to get done?

The Eastern Fathers offered a way to approach the problem. We can key our prayer to our every breath. The Eastern (Orthodox) Fathers tell us to invoke the name and person of Jesus with every breath we take. Think about it: breathing is the one thing we do without ceasing. If we’re living, we’re breathing. When we stop breathing, we’re dead.

I am learning to “ask for His grace to pray with His effect in me

I try to begin prayer times by asking God’s grace to help me pray and that my prayer have a good effect in me. I ask the grace to know Jesus, love Him and bring him glory to him in prayer and through the day. It is humbling to admit that I need supernatural and present assistance to praise, worship, pray and read the Scripture into my mind and heart. Paul wrote that prayer is a work of the Spirit (Rom 8:26-27). Prayer is not something we could do on our own. God is transcendent. He is wholly “other” from us. But he gives us his Spirit to pray within us, so we can say with Jesus, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:14; Gal 4:6).

In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for “breath” and “Spirit” is one and the same—in Hebrew, ruah; in Greek, pneuma. Prayer is possible because we have the breath of God. The Fathers tell us to unite every breath to God.

Preparing a room for God or for sin

John Michael Talbot learned that he could not keep parts of life “purely for himself, apart from God. If I did that, I was preparing a room for sin. If I could pray from the heart, if I could pray with every breath, I would leave myself no opportunity to build a reservation for self and sin. I would sooner stop breathing. I would sooner die.”

The Lord is Speaking to Us

We pray to hear and obey what the Spirit is saying to the church. Here are several prophetic words received this week in our congregation:

1. On Sunday Dwight gave a word that Holy Spirit was standing as it were beside us waiting for us and to receive his help and direction instead of us trying to do things on our own. He paid for the grace and freedom that comes when the Holy Spirit is Lord.

2. Karen Gale later shared that she had received a picture that morning of the Holy Spirit as if he were a person walking behind us, laying his hands on each of us, yet we were not even aware of him nor responsive to him.

3. This week Kendra received a verse from Deuteronomy 6 while praying about the sale of the building. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. (‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭23‬ ESV)

4. At the same time Dwight had a picture of the "mixed multitude" exodus from Egypt. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. (‭Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭38‬ ESV)

Share dreams, words and impressions with Richard so we can pray for interpretations and applications.

An Update

Specific prayers for our mission team (Casey, Danny, Jeffrey, Alan and Linda Grizbowski, and PD: 

We pray for fruitful labor, protection and traveling mercies, and grace to be a strength and blessing to the Camenisches, Moises and Kate with their parents, and for Ari Camacho. 

We also pray for skill (Ex 36:1-3) in painting especially for the mural Casey will draw on Elena’s school, and for us as we lead and teach on worship. 

We pray according to Eph 6 that we who travel and to whom we minister, along with all our families and congregation at home to be clothed with the armor of God,  and we all be kept in the peace and unity and love of God (Eph 4:I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.) 

Pastoral needs while PD is out of country: please relate needs and concerns to Pastor Richard during the next two weeks since PD will have little access to the internet and no ability to take or make phone calls. 

We continue to pray for God’s will as we await the response from the Church of Pentecost. We will not go to court against brothers so we offered terms that would allow us to partner together for up to a year while we consider other options, like trying to partner with the Hispanic congregation in a new location. A signed contract with Whiz Kids will ensure perpetuity without any hindering change. And we asked for continued use of the building for as long as needed, up to a year, for the Trail Life and American Heritage Girls. We have the peace of Christ in going forward and again have place all in God’s hands.

We thank God for the offerings of both supplies and money which we will be able to take to the Camenich and Diaz families, as a pleasing offering to God. God bless you for your giving.

CLC finances and giving: Since we have experienced a large shortfall this year we pray for God to continue to move our hearts in freewill giving and tithes. In Exodus 36 Moses had to restrain the people from giving for the new thing that God was going to do in their midst. Ex 36:5-7 The craftsmen said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

In the passage below from an intertestamental book we find words from Moses which are echoed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (give from heart for God loves a cheerful giver) and the writer of Hebrews 13:16 (do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God).

Ecclesisticus 35:1 One who keeps the Law multiplies offerings; one who follows the commandments offers communion sacrifices. 2 Proof of gratitude is an offering of fine flour, almsgiving a sacrifice of praise. 3 To abandon wickedness is what pleases the Lord, to give up wrong-doing is an expiatory sacrifice.4 Do not appear empty-handed in the Lord's presence; for all these things are due under the commandment.5 The offering of the upright graces the altar, and its savour rises before the Most High.6 The sacrifice of the upright is acceptable, its memorial will not be forgotten.7 Honour the Lord with generosity, do not stint the first-fruits you bring. 8 Add a smiling face to all your gifts, and be cheerful as you dedicate your tithes.9 Give to the Most High as he has given to you, as generously as your means can afford; 10 for the Lord is a good rewarder, he will reward you seven times over.11 Do not try to bribe him with presents, he will not accept them, do not put your faith in wrongly motivated sacrifices;12 for the Lord is a judge who is utterly impartial.

"House" Cleaning

Our soul tends toward living in a "house" of its own making. Our memories and our beliefs about our experiences acts as a gatekeeper at the door of our hearts—filtering what happens and how others treat us. The house that our senses of intellect, emotion and will have constructed often re-frame true REALITY into our own "realities" (what we believe and feel is real).

 "Guard your hearts for it is the wellspring (gateway) of the issues of life." "As a man thinks in his heart so is he." Dennis Peacocke wrote, "The mind justifies what the heart has chosen."

Holy Spirit comes to renew (make new) our mind and conform our sense interpretations to God's mind and will and his set of values. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Word of Scripture in our hearts as our will is surrendered to God.

But if we do not "soak" our minds in God's word through meditation and if we do not chose to bend and frame our thoughts on God to acknowledge and worship Him in spirit and truth then we continue to be "stuck" in the "ruts" of our own little realities.

A prime example is how we see church. Our minds have been "mapped" into patterns of behavior that see church as something quite different from what Jesus meant in Matthew 16, as the ecclesia which He would build. We think of what is familiar to us—good meetings, a building provided for us, a time and place that fits into our already crowded lives. The world has largely rejected this model of church. It has little impact or appeal. Bob Mumford called it the scaffolding and shadow of Reality but it is not really "Christ in Session." Bob wrote that three things are needed for the Reality of Christ to be in session in the church.

1. Christ's authority:  recognition of and submission to spiritual authority (that would include things like tithing and making ourselves accountable and correctable).

2. Christ's power: small groups as well as large meetings that manifest the power of Holy Spirit through grace given gifts and miracles confirming the preaching of God's kingdom.

3. Christ's character: a people who demonstrate the love and humility and fruit of the spirit of Christ in their unity and conformity to Him.

I would add that to the degree these three are present we will be filled with the Pentecostal power of Christ in mission as his witnesses.

On the other hand, to the degree that our buildings and committees and meetings and programs that serve our own senses and wills and agendas are constructs of our own hearts and minds and are basically empty of the Holy Spirit and Christ in Session and Mission. We are like "Clouds without rain" and "land that drinks water without producing" and "bread and water that does not satisfy."

On the other hand, if we empty ourselves and our "house" and seek to be filled with Him ("the fullness of Christ filling the church and the world") then we may yet be conformed to His REALITY and the world will see our love and unity and power is all in Christ. Then their lite "realities" will be challenged by the LIGHT OF CHRIST.