Prayer

When I was still young and a fanatical Catholic, (as only a convert can be) I read what Paul wrote in Thessalonians 1 - 17 and 18:

Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I thought, "That makes a lot of sense. Obviously, if God is omnipresent, then I would want to be aware of Him all the time, asking Him every moment for help and guidance and giving thanks constantly. But how do I pray without ceasing and what do I ask for when I have already been given everything that I need?"

The answer was so simple that I missed it for years. That's because the answer was not intellectual. But of course I searched with my intellect and I searched only within the Catholic tradition. I had to leave the Catholic Church to find the answer.

There is an Eastern Orthodox tradition of praying ceaselessly. It's called the "Jesus Prayer" or the "Prayer of the Heart." The classical form of the Jesus Prayer is:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

But, when I first found it, it was in a book of "spiritual practices" which included yoga meditation and the wording was:

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me now and at the hour of my death."

And those are the words that I have used for the past 40 years.

Of course, in the Eastern Orthodox mystic tradition, one is meant to never stop saying that prayer. The history of the Jesus Prayer goes back to the early sixth century, with Diadochos, who taught that repetition of the prayer leads to inner peace much the same way that the repetition of a Hindu mantra does.

I'm not a saint or a yogi so I don't pray ceaselessly but those words have been a life-line for me whenever I've needed to become mindful of God in trying times.

Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words. It is enough to think, "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."

Since God already knows everything already, I seldom use words to pray anymore - except when I need to focus my mind.

Why even bother to pray? The word pray and praise may not come from the exact same etymological root but it's interesting that Paul's words are translated:

Pray without ceasing.

In every thing give thanks.

The other interesting thing is that the word "prayer" can refer to the words as well as the person who is praying. I figure that I am a prayer just by being alive - especially when I am giving thanks and singing God's praises. As Aldous Huxley said: "The nearest thing to heaven on earth is when you are filled with gratitude." And the best prayer is to sing (and dance) His praises.

But sometimes I need to say words to help focus my mind.

On Saturday night my blood pressure dropped so low that I had to lie down on the floor of my bathroom before I fell and hurt myself. Every time that I lifted my head, I started to black out. I started saying my prayer:

"Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me now and the hour of my death."

That calmed my mind enough to become aware of God. I lay there for about a half hour before Andy found me. He took my blood pressure and found that it was 57/33, the lowest it's ever been. It should be 120/80 so that was less than half of normal. I felt like I may die so I whispered to Andy to get Chas so I could say goodbye.

I didn't want to go to the ER as that is stressful for the boys as well as me. So, I waited. It took a few cups of teas before my BP finally climbed to 90/60 and I began to feel that I had passed the crisis. And I'm still here - and grateful for another day of life.