What is the “Jesus Prayer” or the “Prayer of the Heart”? A few years ago I was listening to a Princeton podcast about prayer. One of the participants talked about the Jesus Prayer, or the Prayer of the heart. This is a prayer that seems to be very ancient, coming out of the desert in the early Christian church. Two interesting links about this prayer can be found at Wikipedia and http://www.prayerofheart.com/.
Apparently, the practice of meditation and repetition of this simple prayer has been useful to induce an altered state of reverence and communion with God. When I heard the podcast I recognized the words as being approximately what Alma “the younger” cried while in his altered state of pain, anxiety and despair. While listening to the most recent talk by Elder Holland I was reminded of this prayer. Near the end of this address, full of the deepest emotion I feel Elder Holland experienced while giving this talk, he repeated the words of Alma.
I find it fascinating that Alma the Younger uttered nearly the identical words and was delivered from captivity. What is it about these words, uttered from a completely broken heart, that have the power to deliver one from “…the pains of a damned soul” racked with “…inexpressible horror” to a state of “…remembering my pains no more” “being filled with “…joy, marvelous light”?
Your thoughts are welcomed.
3 comments:
I really liked the post. Last year I read The Way of a Pilgrim, an anonymous Russian text on the Prayer of the Heart. In it a peasant seeks to follow Paul's injunction to pray without ceasing, and with time and training he engages in the Prayer of the Heart all the time. It has been a while since I read it, but I do remember that in time the actual words of the prayer fade into the background, so to speak, and in its place there is a continual feeling of universal love.
I tried reciting the Prayer of the Heart on my bicycle trip last year, but it was very difficult for me to keep my focus for more than a minute or two.
I believe the Prayer of the Heart distills into the fewest words the essence of Christianity. It is a mistake to lump this type of practice in with the "vain repetitions" Jesus warns of. It is simply a way to focus and clear your thoughts of everything unnecessary.
The Way of a Pilgrim is probably available on the internet somewhere. It's a short read, and I highly suggest it.
Do you think that "vain repetitions" are wrong because they are repetitious or because they are vain?
What constitutes vain any way? I appreciate your thoughts.
Dad
I looked up the definition of "vain" in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, which is "having no real value; idle, worthless." Vain Repetitions, then, must be unsatisfactory to God (and to ourselves) because they lack value. It cannot be because they are repetitious. Think of the repetitious nature of the ordinances, for example.
A typical temple worker speaks and hears the same phrases over and over, perhaps thousands of times. We all know old people who spend a lot of time in the temple who find that these words become less tired, less worn out, less tedious with time; more familiar, more true, more meaningful.
I believe that the substance of the Prayer of the Heart is so valuable that a life lived according to its simple and steady tempo must be rich indeed.
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