Paths to Contemplation - 24

The proper attitude for the Jesus Prayer

Because God is so exalted and humans are so sinful and small in relation to God, there is a profound sense of  poverty of spirit in daring to offer prayer of any sort to God.  As one Orthodox saint, Isaac the Syrian phrased it, “When you turn to God in prayer, be in your thoughts as an ant, as a serpent of the earth, as a worm, like a stuttering child.”  Lest this seem a bit extreme, remember that many of the greatest saints, having experienced God as fully as one can in this life, thought of themselves as nothing in comparison with God, and often as the greatest of sinners.

Approaching God in prayer deserves nothing less than our complete attention.  One would not dare speak to the President of the United States or the head of a large corporation without a certain amount of fear and without giving the matter careful thought and total concentration on what we are about.  As another Eastern saint expressed it, “we ought to stand prayerfully before Him in deepest reverence . . . directing toward Him all our attention, concentrating in our attention all the powers of the reason, heart, and soul, and rejecting distractions and vain imaginings, whereby we diminish alertness and reverence, and violate the correct manner of standing before God, as required by His majesty.”  Distractions and an agitated state are, therefore, inconsistent with the proper recitation of the Jesus Prayer.  To quote again an Orthodox source, “The Hesychia must be accompanied by lack of worries, watchfulness of guarding of the mind, and unceasing prayer to gain the true union with God.”

The basic premise behind the Jesus Prayer is that vocal prayer said with the proper intention and concentration will turn into mental prayer, and mental prayer will lead to an even higher form of prayer called the “prayer of the heart.”

We note that the prayer itself has power.  It is not merely our concentration on saying it, or its constant repetition, that is effective.  The very mention of Jesus’ name is enough to scatter the demons that might be tormenting us; the call on the mercy of God brings down on the pray-er the mercy of God.  The admission that one is a sinner brings forgiveness and grace to avoid sin in the future.

As was noted with regard to Centering Prayer, any conscious effort to avoid distractions will make the pray-er even more distracted.  Therefore, one using the Jesus Prayer must expect that progress in reaching a quiet state of mind will be reached only over time.  In a sense, the cliche from Alcoholic Anonymous, “Fake it ‘til you make it,” is suggested here.  One prays the Jesus Prayer as best one can with the intention of yielding oneself to God and, over time, the pray-er will find that his relationship with God will deepen as will his mode of praying.

As one might suppose then, using Hesychastic prayer involves strict discipline.  One cannot expect results in a day, or a week, or even over a long period if the pray-er devotes herself to this prayer only a few minutes each day.  The Jesus Prayer is meant to permeate one’s life, to be recited constantly even while one is engaged in other activities.  The Jesus Prayer and an ascetic life-style are meant to go hand in hand.  Thus, Hesychasm implies a monastic mentality even if one is living outside a monastery.  It is not a prayer for those who wish to dabble in prayer.