The Jesus Prayer is a simple prayer that involves petitioning our Lord in a repetitive, slow manner paying attention to the words and rhythm. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me a sinner.
“The history of the Jesus Prayer goes back, as far as we know, to the early sixth century, with Diadochos, who taught that repetition of the prayer leads to inner stillness. Even earlier John Cassian recommended this type of prayer. In the fourth century Egypt, in Nitria, short “arrow” prayers were practiced.”[1]
This prayer is based on the story of a blind man and the parable of the tax collector and the pharisee. Both the parable and story are found in Luke chapter 18.
This prayer is both a petition prayer and a meditative prayer. Let’s discuss how it is a petition prayer. When praying the Jesus Prayer, we are asking for God to have mercy on us. There are two forms of mercy we are asking for. First, we are asking for the obvious, forgiveness.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love;
according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
Throughout the day we sin, sometimes not even realizing it. The Jesus Prayer helps us to focus on Christ wherever we are and at any time of the day and receive His mercy fresh and anew.
The second is pity. The word mercy can also be taken as pity. It is a recognition of who we are. If we think we are something above what needs the pity of Jesus, then we need His pity more than anyone else! We are all lost and miserable. We get distracted, arrogant, offended, lazy and all of this before lunch! We need Him to have pity on us and help us. He is the Good Shepherd and He knows where to find us when we are lost. He knows how to pick us up and carry us to where we need to be. Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!
Let us review the meditative aspect. The Jesus Prayer is perfect for calming our busy minds. In times of anxiety, temptation or simply storms in our thinking where we can barely make heads or tails out of our thinking, the Jesus Prayer is perfect to calm our minds and help us focus on Jesus. The goal of the Jesus Prayer is focus on Jesus. In our crazy world, we are called to live in an inner silence. The storm will always try to bombard us, but Jesus helps us to keep the storm out there and not in us. With the repetition of this simple prayer, we can focus our thoughts on the Lord Jesus.
What is more beautiful though is that this prayer is not to be limited to being used only during the storms of life. Actually, this prayer can help us fulfill the command of the apostle Paul, to pray without ceasing.[2] There is not a time, there is not a place that we cannot pray the Jesus Prayer.
Let’s look at the Biblical roots of the Jesus Prayer.
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In this parable, we see the humility of the tax collector. We are all sinners in need of His forgiveness. Our self-righteousness will get us nowhere. The chief of all virtues is humility. I heard a saying and I am not able to credit the author for, but it goes something like this: There are none prideful in heaven and there are none humble in hell. We humbly come to the Lord Jesus.
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; 36 and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
I love this story of the blind man. We can all relate to him. We are all blind in one way or another. Only the light of Jesus can break through our blindness. This blind man did not care about who was around him, nor their admonitions to be quiet. Instead, he cried even louder, Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Can you imagine how his heart must have leapt when he heard the voice of the Savior. We must come to Jesus with all of our passion. We cannot be cold about Him. We cannot be half-hearted. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me a sinner.
This prayer is not a vain repetition, heaping up words hoping to be heard. We know He is there waiting for us to pray. We know He hears us. We are very purposeful in our words. If you have never prayed this prayer before, what are you waiting for? Call to Jesus.
Live repentance. Be zealous. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
May 23, 2025, Friday Fifth Week of Easter
[1] Saying the Jesus Prayer | St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
[2] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Be Zealous 
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