Saying the Jesus Prayer and Other Sentence Prayers

Prayer is not Optional!  It is Required for the Christian. We need our longer times of prayer, but sentence prayers have an important place in our prayer lives.

Recenlty, at a workshop, we were told about the power of simple sentence prayrs.  There is a classical form of prayer called the Jesus Prayer that dates back to at least the sixth century, A.D. It is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The actual words of our short prayers can vary. We might say the classic version of the Jesus Prayer, or we might say, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." We may say, "Lord Jesus, have mercy." Or, we might say a Psalm verse, or a Bible quote, or some other prayer.

Monks of old said, "Lord, make haste to help me. Lord, make speed to save me," all day long.  I often say "God help me!" or "Lord, help me!"  Or "Jesus, Praise You and Thank You!" as sentence prayers.

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 (aimed at a target quickly) were practiced.

Abba Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words. It is enough to hold out your hands and say, "Lord, according to your desire and your wisdom, have mercy." If pressed in the struggle, say, "Lord, save me!" or say, "Lord." He knows what is best for us, and will have mercy upon us.