Many years ago in the fall of 1850  a Russian peasant was attending church and the scripture reading for the day was “Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thess. 5:17. The peasant’s heart was gripped. How was it possible to pray without ceasing? He set out on a pilgrimage to discover the answer.

After many failed attempts he found an old monk who said, “Ah, I know a way to pray without ceasing.” He pulled an ancient book off his shelf from the Orthodox Fathers and read to the peasant about the Jesus Prayer.

This prayer’s origin was from the gospel of Mark and the cries of Blind Bartimaeus as Jesus passed by. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The peasant took this prayer to heart, got a summer job tending a local garden, and practiced the Jesus Prayer all summer until he worked up to 12,000 repetitions a day. The prayer filled his mind, his heart and his dreams.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

I have found that sometimes the content of this prayer works fine for me, other times It doesn’t express my heart and I prefer to adjust it slightly.

One of my favorite recent adjustments is:

Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your _____. I fill in the blank with words like love, joy, power.

Let’s select the word love right now and give it a try for a few seconds. Please join me either silently or out loud. Let’s begin.

• Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your love

• Lord Jesus Christ, fill me with your love. . . .

Add Intentional Breath

The Jesus Prayer has traditionally been combined with intentional breath. Breath has been a tool used by Christians throughout history to assist us in  becoming quiet and open to the heart of God.

Intentional breathing is a great prayer tool because it is:

1. Always available, whether we are resting or running.
2. Easy to use.
3. A powerful link between our thoughts and feelings, and our body.

To use breath with the Traditional Jesus Prayer, you split the prayer up into phrases that fit with a breathing pattern. It works like this.

• Inhale: Lord Jesus Christ

• Exhale: Son of God

• Inhale: have mercy on me

• Exhale: a Sinner.

For our adjusted prayer it’s simpler

•  Inhale: Lord Jesus Christ

• Exhale:  fill me with your love.

Let’s get that one a try.

Prayer Time

 I invite you to select a word that you want to fill in the blank with. Perhaps you will select love or another one.

What word would you like to use today? 

For our Prayer Project today let’s take a slightly more extended time of about a minute to combine breath with prayer. I will pray mine quietly and provide some background sound for you here. Got your word in mind? Let’s begin!

Inhale: Lord Jesus Christ — exhale: fill me with your ______  inhale . . .

I started playing with this prayer method sometime in my 20s. My most memorable use was in the process of birthing my daughter Terese. I combined it with the Lamaze breathing method. Many people have told me they also have found this prayer helpful in stressful situations like medical procedures.

I continue to use this prayer when I do repetitive activities or find myself lying awake at night.

Thank you for joining me for our Prayer Project #1 The Jesus Prayer.