Pray Always
I don’t know the full history of the Jesus prayer, but recently I keep tripping over it. The first reference I read was years ago. A Russian peasant seeking wisdom and peace is told to pray “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” He travels for years seeking understanding, only to discover that reciting the prayer unceasingly was his source of peace.
Recently, I stumbled over it again, and the writer questioned, “how does one pray without ceasing when we are constantly interrupted by everyday life?” Mystics have written about it. More recently, I read a week of Father Richard Rohr’s meditations on it.
How does one pray without ceasing?
As I sit writing this, the sun is rising over my backyard. The beans in my garden are climbing poles as the sunlight glistens on the dew that covers all. Perhaps the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray for is like the dew that covers everything I see.
Sometimes I think to myself I would like to work in the yard now, but I will get soaked. I tell myself I should wait. I see it as a problem. I hesitate as if it is something bad.
Perhaps the dew is a beautiful blessing that I should let soak me through and through because the love and mercy of Christ is shining through it and everything I touch. What if the dew is a blessing and not a curse? What if my perception that something seems difficult, or unpleasant, or inconvenient is the curse, because it keeps me from seeing the light of Christ’s mercy on me? What if by hesitating I am failing to share mercy and light with all that I encounter?
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Give me the strength to recognize the blessings and your love that is in everything I see, and touch, and am. May your light shine on me, through me, from me. Lord, give me the strength to pray unceasingly and never hesitate. Lord Jesus Christ HAVE MERCY ON ME!
This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Greta Smith.
Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.
If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.
First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.
[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to Grace for All, a daily devotional podcast produced by the people of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. Today, in keeping with our July theme of "Pray Always," we feature a devotional written about the Jesus prayer, a traditional meditative prayer, often prayed as a breath prayer, with the address, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, repeated on the inhale, and the request, have mercy on me, a sinner, repeated on the exhale. As you go through this day, endeavoring to pray always, perhaps you might practice the Jesus prayer as a reminder of God's grace and mercy. This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Greta Smith. The Jesus prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I don't know the full history of the Jesus prayer, but recently I keep tripping over it. The first reference I read was years ago, a Russian peasant seeking wisdom and peace is told to pray, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. He travels for years seeking understanding only to discover that reciting the prayer unceasingly was his source of peace. Recently, I stumbled over it again, and the writer questioned, how does one pray without ceasing when we are constantly interrupted by everyday life? Mistics have written about it. More recently, I read a week of Father Richard Roor's meditations on it. How does one pray without ceasing? As I see it writing this, the sun is rising over my backyard. The beans in my garden are climbing poles as the sunlight glistens on the dew that covers all. Perhaps the grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ that we pray for is like the dew that covers everything I see. Sometimes I think to myself, I would like to work in the yard now, but I will get soaked. I tell myself I should wait. I see the dew as a problem. I hesitate as if it is something bad. Perhaps the dew is a beautiful blessing that I should let soak me through and through, because the love and mercy of Christ is shining through it and everything I touch. What if the dew is a blessing and not a curse? What if my perception that something seems difficult or unpleasant or inconvenient is the curse, because it keeps me from seeing the light of Christ's mercy on me? What if, by hesitating, I am failing to share mercy and light with all that I encounter? Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Give me the strength to recognize the blessings and your love that is in everything I see and touch and am. May your light shine on me, through me, from me. Lord, give me the strength to pray unceasingly and never hesitate. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. [MUSIC PLAYING] In 1740, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement, preached a sermon in Bristol, England, in which he proclaimed, the grace or love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is free in all and free for all. 283 years later, we're humbled to proclaim that message through this Grace for All podcast. Thank you for listening to today's message of grace. I'm Jonathan Jonas, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee, where the Grace for All podcast is written, edited, and produced by our lay members. To know more about our congregation and its ministries, please visit our website at firstchurch.org. That's the number one ST, C-H-U-R-C-H-D-O-R-G. [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle music)
