The Jesus Prayer

The Jesus Prayer

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:22-24

The story is told of an elderly priest who had to undergo very serious, delicate surgery. Many friends didn’t expect him to survive the surgery and recover. In the last moments of consciousness before the anesthetic took effect, the priest heard his surgeon repeating in a whisper, “Gospodi pomiluy, Gospodi pomiluy, Gospodi pomiluy,” which in Russian means, “Lord, have mercy on us.” How comforted he was to hear that prayer from the lips of the man who would be cutting into his body. The priest did survive the surgery and served God for several more years.

Ancient Christians called this short, powerful prayer the Jesus Prayer, and they often prayed it in the rhythm of breathing: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. This prayer covers a lot of bases. It can cover the mercies we need for our marriages, our own physical problems, our mistakes. We can pray it for others: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on my friend who is in her last weeks of life.” “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on my nephew who is in a destructive lifestyle.” And we can pray it for ourselves: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me in my point of need today.”

When we pray for God’s mercy, we can do so in confidence, for we are asking the Lord to manifest the very essence of his being. He is the God of mercy and compassion who, Scripture tells us, dispenses new mercies every morning and at every point in our lives. —CHERI

Thank you, Father, that your mercies begin afresh every day. You have a portion of mercy to grant me each day if I will but ask. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

God’s mercy is boundless, free and, through Jesus Christ our Lord, available to us now in our present situation.

—A. W. TOZER (1897–1963), AMERICAN PASTOR, PREACHER, AND AUTHOR