“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”

The Jesus Prayer is a sublime prayer rooted in the Gospel and in the ancient monastic traditions of the Orthodox churches.

The biblical sources for the prayer are two-fold:

• Matthew 21:30: Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
• Luke 18:13: But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The practice of frequent repetition of the prayer can be traced to the early fifth century. Through repetition, aloud and in quiet, the early desert fathers brought their attention in each moment to the reality of God as God is made manifest in Jesus Christ.

Over time, with intentional and consistent practice, many of these monastics came to the awareness that the Jesus Prayer was being prayed within their hearts. It was as if the Spirit of God was praying in them, that they were experiencing what Paul had described to the Romans, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26).

The brothers and sisters in the desert found themselves lead by the Spirit into an ever-deepening communion with God. The desire to pray and the attraction to this prayer is the work of God. On the one hand, the ascetical practice of praying the prayer is the monk’s response to the invitation of God. On the other hand, the prayer going on in the heart of the one who prays is the gift of God and the activity of God. The Jesus Prayer is the joint activity of the human and the divine.

Through the merciful action of God, and through their own assent to that activity, the brothers and sisters came to experience the holiness of God and the life of the Trinity within themselves.

Within the Orthodox traditions, the Jesus Prayer is not merely a monastic practice. The use of the prayer is taught and encouraged among all the faithful. In recent times, the practice is coming into increasing use in the West and is becoming known among the Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches.

There are devotees of the Way of Jesus the Christ who are practicing this prayer today in New York City. They are consciously praying the Jesus Prayer throughout their day - while rising in the morning, commuting on the subway, working and playing, dealing with distraction and temptation, striving to be kind and compassionate to all they encounter, and drifting off to sleep at night. Through this practice, they seek a participation in the Life of Love and an awareness of the reality of the Reign of God now.

This site is maintained by one of these followers. It contains some of his experience with the Jesus Prayer and with living the spiritual life in New York, as well as some dialogue with a spiritual director (Francis) and with others on this Way.