The Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer is a seven-word prayer of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, increasingly prayed across Christian traditions. It is short enough to pray on every breath, deep enough to last a lifetime.
The prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
History & tradition
The Jesus Prayer goes back to the Egyptian desert monks of the 4th century and was systematized in Eastern monasticism. The classic spiritual text 'The Way of a Pilgrim' (19th-century Russian) tells the story of a peasant who learns to pray it unceasingly. In Hesychast tradition, it is paired with the breath: inhale on 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God' — exhale on 'have mercy on me, a sinner.'
When to pray it
Pray the Jesus Prayer when words run dry — on the train, while walking, when you cannot sleep, when grief overwhelms. Pray it slowly, syllable by syllable, ten times. Then twenty. Eventually it begins to pray itself.
Three short alternatives
The Publican's Prayer (Luke 18)
'God be merciful to me a sinner.' (Luke 18:13.) Jesus held it up as the model of true prayer — short, honest, without religious pretense. The Jesus Prayer expands it slightly; this is the original.
Kyrie Eleison
'Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.' Greek for 'Lord, have mercy' — one of the oldest cries in Christian worship. Pray it slowly, three times, when you have no other words.
Maranatha
Aramaic for 'Our Lord, come' (1 Corinthians 16:22). One of the oldest Christian prayers. Pray it on the breath: 'Ma-ra' (in) — 'na-tha' (out). A two-syllable invitation to the returning Lord.
Pair it with daily practice
Set a Quiethaven prayer timer for ten minutes and pray the Jesus Prayer on the breath. The bell at the end. Nothing else. See our guide on praying when you have no words.
"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." — Luke 18:13 (KJV)
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