Nov 2005
The Jesus Prayer and Orthodoxy - again...
28/11/05 11:33
Orthodox Church in America on the Jesus Prayer
On the Prayer Rope
On practising the Jesus Prayer
St. Theophan the Recluse on Prayer
|
The Jesus Prayer and repetition...
22/11/05 15:24
Is using the Jesus Prayer 'heaping up
empty phrases'? When Jesus' followers asked him to teach them to
pray, Jesus said: 'When you are praying, do not heap up empty
phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard
because of their many words.' (Matthew 6:7)
I thought it might be helpful to explore this issue and so I asked Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward, joint author of Praying the Jesus Prayer Together
for his comment
and he kindly replied:
If you look up 'vain repetion' in its context in Jesus' teaching you will see that it is associated with 'heaping up phrases' and wanting to be heard not by God, but by other people, to impress them!
The Pharisee in the Temple was uttering vain repetition in this sense, Jesus's sense. The Tax Collector 'repeated' one sentence over and over 'God be merciful to me, a sinner' and daren't even lift up his head to God. Jesus comments, 'I tell you this man went home justified rather than the other'.
Short prayer pierces heaven and if it is repeated out of an overwhelmed heart, if it carries all the weight of an inexpressible prayer as praying in tongues can also do. It is like the short phrases that we utter and repeat when we feel more than we can ever say, be it 'Thank you, oh thank you!' or 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry' which convey our heart's fullest feeling which can be beyond all words.
The Jesus Prayer helps us to concentrate our thoughts beyond any words and to express our gratitude, love and longing all at once. And the name repeated itself, the name above all names, miraculously invokes the presence and love of the One named.
Jesus' teaching about prayer has so much to do with the sincere desire of the heart, and if we want to want to have a sincere love for Him, however distracted we are and however faint and feeble our longing, He will reach out and lift us up to Himself.
The Jesus prayer then becomes a way into 'hesychia', stillness in the presence of the one 'Lord Jesus Christ' who leads us to the Father, 'Son of God' and through whom in the power of the Spirit the love of God is poured out into our hearts! 'Have mercy upon us!' even if we feel or know ourselves to be unworthy - that love enfolds us utterly - 'Have mercy upon me, a sinner.'
The prayer of longing to long more fully, like the Tax Collector's or blind Bartimaeus's prayer can never be in vain! Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift to us in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Love and Prayers +Simon
I thought it might be helpful to explore this issue and so I asked Bishop Simon Barrington-Ward, joint author of Praying the Jesus Prayer Together
for his comment
and he kindly replied:If you look up 'vain repetion' in its context in Jesus' teaching you will see that it is associated with 'heaping up phrases' and wanting to be heard not by God, but by other people, to impress them!
The Pharisee in the Temple was uttering vain repetition in this sense, Jesus's sense. The Tax Collector 'repeated' one sentence over and over 'God be merciful to me, a sinner' and daren't even lift up his head to God. Jesus comments, 'I tell you this man went home justified rather than the other'.
Short prayer pierces heaven and if it is repeated out of an overwhelmed heart, if it carries all the weight of an inexpressible prayer as praying in tongues can also do. It is like the short phrases that we utter and repeat when we feel more than we can ever say, be it 'Thank you, oh thank you!' or 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry' which convey our heart's fullest feeling which can be beyond all words.
The Jesus Prayer helps us to concentrate our thoughts beyond any words and to express our gratitude, love and longing all at once. And the name repeated itself, the name above all names, miraculously invokes the presence and love of the One named.
Jesus' teaching about prayer has so much to do with the sincere desire of the heart, and if we want to want to have a sincere love for Him, however distracted we are and however faint and feeble our longing, He will reach out and lift us up to Himself.
The Jesus prayer then becomes a way into 'hesychia', stillness in the presence of the one 'Lord Jesus Christ' who leads us to the Father, 'Son of God' and through whom in the power of the Spirit the love of God is poured out into our hearts! 'Have mercy upon us!' even if we feel or know ourselves to be unworthy - that love enfolds us utterly - 'Have mercy upon me, a sinner.'
The prayer of longing to long more fully, like the Tax Collector's or blind Bartimaeus's prayer can never be in vain! Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift to us in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Love and Prayers +Simon
New Scientist on Meditation
16/11/05 16:05
Steve Wynkoop has noticed an article reporting that
scientists have found meditation does more than help us feel good
and calm down - it helps us perform better and alters the structure
of the brain: see New Scientist article. Intrigued, I noticed an earlier article
suggesting that practising
spiritual
meditation helps people relax more
and be better able to withstand pain than people performing
secular meditation: see article. I've
found I get restless and unsettled if I don't pray or meditate for
a while - I wonder if any of my readers have noticed
health and wellbeing
improvements as a result of prayer
and meditation? Andrew
the seamless garment of silence...
15/11/05 23:42
From
Celtic Daily Prayer
comes
this:
'There is a contemplative
in all of us,
almost strangled
but still alive,
who craves the quiet
enjoyment of the Now,
and longs to touch
the seamless
garment of silence
which
makes us whole.
comes
this:'There is a contemplative
in all of us,
almost strangled
but still alive,
who craves the quiet
enjoyment of the Now,
and longs to touch
the seamless
garment of silence
which
makes us whole.
(Alan P. Tory)
The Jesus Prayer and Orthodoxy
08/11/05 11:58
While away on Lindisfarne I met a
group of Orthodox pilgrims - it dawned on me that there aren't any
links or references to the Jesus Prayer on this site relating to
the Orthodox
church - what an omission! Do you know a good Orthodox site
with accessible teaching on the Jesus Prayer I could link to? Let
me know in a Comment. Andrew
Poll: prayer beads/ropes/cords
05/11/05 11:43
Around 500 people visit anamchara each
month - I thought it would be interesting to find out how many of
you are new to the concept of prayer beads/prayer ropes as an aid
to prayer and meditation? Maybe like me, you already use one?
Please vote in the new Sidebar Poll (you also might be interested
to see the results so far - they pop up after your vote...) I look
forward to hearing from you: Andrew
Back from a thin place...
01/11/05 10:54
In truth, I found it hard to relax on
this trip - what have I learned from that? I think maybe it's about
living a lifestyle of peace and sensible relaxation at home and not
saving up all those expectations for a time away - I'm determined
to experiment with ways of living a more balanced life now at home.
Is that something we all struggle with? The BBC TV programme:
'THE MONASTERY'
showed that the monastic lifestyle was dramatically able to meet the needs of contemporary people - there were lasting lifestyle and faith changes. Here are five tips for Meditation from Worth Abbey - to help you find a place of sanctuary in the day.
'THE MONASTERY'
showed that the monastic lifestyle was dramatically able to meet the needs of contemporary people - there were lasting lifestyle and faith changes. Here are five tips for Meditation from Worth Abbey - to help you find a place of sanctuary in the day.