| An Orthodox Christian Study on Unceasing Prayer: Part I of III.
John K. Kotsonis, PhD (Physics)
PhD Candidate in Patristic Studies
St. Elias School of Orthodox Theology
Thesis: Unceasing prayer, as defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of the Church, expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature, is an extremely significant aid and a very efficient accelerator for our personal spiritual growth. As it develops, it engenders a direct, clear and constant relationship with God, which is a necessary and sufficient condition for our theosis.
This work focuses on the unceasing, continuous prayer, especially the �Jesus Prayer,� or �Prayer Of The Heart� - its origin, evolution, approach and results. The text mirrors the structure of the Thesis statement.
I. Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament, supported by the Fathers of the Church, expanded and explained in Orthodox Literature.
Prayer is our attempt to speak with God and establish a personal connection with Him. As Orthodox Christians, we know that we are expected to maintain a powerful, direct and personal relationship with God through prayer and receive the divine grace that flows from it. The union that follows is the ultimate gift from God and our birthright. In the words of St John Climacus: �Prayer is by nature a dialog and a union of man and God. Its effect is to hold the world together. It achieves a reconciliation with God.� (R14 p274).
Ever since the Fall, humans have tried to keep their connection with God alive and functioning through prayer[1]. However, an integrated prayer in God�s name could not be offered until His Incarnation (including His Crucifixion and Resurrection) was complete. After that point, the faithful can rely on His promise that He will make sure our legitimate, and properly placed, requests are fulfilled.[2] Christ has pledged that He will act on our behalf, that He will be our personal Intercessor[3],[4] which is something the prophets of the Old Testament never had. Our prayers are now blessed by the value of Christ�s human experience, including His sacrifice and victory over death and He has promised to respond to our requests made in His Name. We also know that prayer was a big part of Jesus� life and that He prayed very frequently, as we read throughout the New Testament. For example, the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 17, contains a deeply moving prayer that Jesus offered to His Father. This long prayer was tailored to the circumstances He was facing at the time, but it can also be seen as a grand template of a multi-faceted divine invocation that addresses many of the general issues and principles of His mission as a human[5].
In the following several paragraphs, the first part of the Thesis statement above is addressed, ie,
(a) Unceasing prayer is defined in the New Testament and supported by the Fathers.
Christ taught us to pray with faith, sincerity, and humility in our hearts. Having faith is perhaps the most fundamental Christian quality, because without it we cannot communicate with God, please Him or get anything back from Him. Words may be flowing, but they are empty because our deeper mind and heart are fighting and belittling this activity[6]. As logic is a good yardstick for our endeavors in this (created) universe, faith in God is our guide towards (and in) His uncreated sphere of existence. We must have faith in His love, His power, and His infinite wisdom[7],[8],[9]. A common expression, paraphrasing Christ Himself, is �All things are possible to those who believe.� Jesus stressed the value and power of prayer in faith as an integral part of His overall teaching[10],[11],[12],[13],[14]. In addition, our prayer should be sincere[15], and not like that offered by many Pharisees who did not pray from the heart[16] and whose lives were not lived in accord with their prayers[17]. This is an absolute requirement for successful prayer that He will respond to, because God must be approached in spirit and in truth[18]. As we know from the Old Testament, many of the Psalms demonstrate the urgency that the faithful feel when approaching God[19]. This deep desire and sense of urgency is also shown in the parable of the persistent friend[20] and in the desperate pleadings of the Syro-Phoenician woman on behalf of her sick daughter[21]. Last, we should be humble in praying[22], like any servant would be when asking for a great favor of a powerful master[23]. Sincere humility is expected[24],[25] from all Christians, and the difference between true, humble prayer vs. just bragging about our hypothetical goodness is aptly demonstrated in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18: 9-14). Jesus abhorred pride and arrogance because He is simple[26] and meek Himself. Humility[27] is the companion virtue of repentance and obedience[28], but is also very synergistic with a host of other key virtues[29],[30],[31].
Christ taught us to pray in obedience, repentance, and forgiveness for all, especially our enemies. Being obedient to His will is a very important sine qua non for good prayer[32],[33] as we must all gradually move our lives in the direction of our petitions[34]. In this way we honor God as our Lord[35],[36],[37]. Towards this goal, Christ urged us not to pray with arrogance but to first focus on keeping His Father�s commandments[38]. Of course, Jesus� personal example throughout His ministry on Earth, especially His deeply moving prayers towards the end of the Last Supper (Jn 17) and in the garden of Gethsemane[39] during the night of his betrayal and arrest, can serve as excellent guidelines here. With obedience comes repentance, which is another key requirement to successful prayer, as explained clearly in the parable of the prodigal son[40]. Because sin separates us from God, if we want to get closer to Him, we must turn back, repent[41],[42]. This is shown in both the Old and New Testaments[43],[44],[45]. Connected with repentance is confession[46],[47],[48] for our prayers to be heard and answered[49]. Christ was very clear that if we want forgiveness from God[50], He expects us, as a prerequisite, to forgive others who may have hurt us[51]; a requirement that is also clearly stated in the Lord�s prayer. In giving us this prayer, He wanted us to understand His fundamental rule and spiritual law: if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. Following His example in forgiving those who hurt us is the apex of our obligation to Him. As we forgive, we are truly His disciples[52],[53],[54],[55],[56], and many of Christ�s parables center on this important point[57]. On His Sermon on the Mount, Christ repeated that theme several times[58]. We are really like Him when we let go of negative feelings, and even forget, about other people abusing us. Forgiveness is the precursor to detachment, which is absolutely necessary for clear, effective prayer. Furthermore, the combination of forgiveness and detachment from passions (apatheia) grows into love for all, even for our enemies, which is the one virtue without which all others are valueless and useless[59]. In agreement with these points, several Fathers taught that humble, prayerful obedience[60] is the mother of all virtue, as will be discussed later on.
Christ taught us to pray in privacy, with fasting, and untiring persistence. In teaching the need of privacy in our praying, He told us not to pray at the street corners for others to see and admire us, but in our own room with the door closed [61]; and He also gave us several examples of Himself praying in solitude[62]. Fasting is another very useful practice, which enhances and confirms our lack of blind dependence on, even freedom from, our passions and the physical world in general. Christ often emphasized prayer augmented by fasting[63],[64],[65] because their combination is truly powerful, as mentioned in many passages of both the Old Testament[66],[67] and the New Testament[68],[69],[70],[71],[72]. Following this line of thinking, prayer added to fasting and obedience is even more powerful[73] because these virtues reinforce each other; and so on. He also taught us to pray with persistence[74], like in the parable of the friend asking for bread at midnight (cf footnote #20) and also in the parable of the unjust judge[75]. In the same way that Jacob did, we must pray until our prayer is answered[76], because, as we persist, the Holy Spirit gradually teaches us how to remove impediments (eg, pride, impatience, lack of faith) to true connection with God. For this reason, we need to stay the course[77] and He is happy to see us do that[78],[79]. Job, Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah, Bartimaeus and the Canaanite woman are excellent examples here. However, our prayers are not answered because of what we do (although, avoiding sin[80],[81] empowers them[82]) but because, seeing our effort, He extends His grace and accepts them, when He chooses. The need for persistence is also embedded in the Lord�s prayer (��give us this day our daily bread�� indicating that this prayer should be repeated at least once per day.)
Last, Christ taught us to pray in alignment with the Divine Will because when our human actions are in tune with His plans, all requests are granted[83]. We must desire only the Divine Will and not our own[84], both in asking for something good for our soul and in receiving what God decides to give in return. We should be moved to prayer because God desires us to pray and not because we have things that we need Him to provide. In this way, our main intent (in both our mind and heart) should be to unite our will with the will of Christ, obey Him in everything, and in no way attempt to bend His will towards our own. Our petitions must be for the glory of God[85], or else they are weak; selfish or evil desires must be shunned. We must have His mind[86] and act in accord with His will and in harmony with His commands[87]. As we live in communion with Him, our will is His will, which is the will of the Father[88], and our prayers are offered to the entire Holy Trinity[89]. One of the best ways to align our prayers with the Divine Will, is to use Jesus� name in them[90],[91],[92],[93],[94], like the Apostles who knew the power of using Jesus� name in prayer[95],[96],[97]. In using His Name, we show our frame of mind and we don�t just use a form of rote speech[98]. We show that we, on our own, have no right to ask for anything from the Father, but that the Son authorized our request. In addition, we must pray in the Holy Spirit[99],[100] (as elaborated in section IIIa) because in this way He is praying within (and through) us, establishing the conditions for the Holy Grace to be extended to us[101]. The Holy Spirit empowers and blesses true prayer that emanates from our spiritual essence, our heart, asking that we be accepted back in the place which God has already prepared for us. In this way, the Holy Spirit makes us sensitive to our weakness and sinful tendencies, and encourages the transformation (in repentance and humility) that strengthens our bond with God even further. As our mind clears up, our human, rebellious thoughts atrophy, slow down and stop. Then, our unceasing supplication to Christ rests in our heart, fully aligned with the Holy Spirit, and our Father in Heaven hears our silent prayer and makes Himself known to us[102].
The Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart, is comprised of the following statement: �Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.� This is a form of non-iconic[103] prayer[104] (ie, no visual representations[105] are allowed in our mind) which is easy to use unceasingly. It is also an authentically apophatic means to deification[106], in that it allows us to go beyond any preconceived[107], limiting notions about God[108] and helps us focus on an extraordinary goal: a direct, permanent and personal union with Him. Through it we don�t try to understand, but just accept Him, in His infinite strength, wisdom and variety.
The first two parts of the prayer combine our Orthodox Christian faith of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and of the Holy Trinity[109] in that they acknowledge the Father and the Son within the power of the Holy Spirit (in addressing Jesus as Lord.[110]) This is the �praise� part of the prayer. The words �have mercy on me a sinner� complete the picture in terms of our relationship with God, adding the surrender and petition part, which is meant to invoke God�s Holy Grace and to �energize� the prayer, turn it from �neutral� or �passive� to �active.� Prayer of the Heart really means cultivating the purity of our spiritual center or heart[111], a process that involves an unconditional surrender to His will, in all circumstances. Therefore, this short prayer integrates praise and penance very efficiently, as it acknowledges the greatness of God and asks for help, forgiveness and the extension of His holy Grace to us � ie, it addresses every key aspect of our life in faith. What�s more, it is highly practical in that it is designed to be repeated mentally, or even within our silent mind after it sinks into our heart, allowing us to carry out our various tasks and accommodating our need to interact with others and earn our daily bread.
The practice of praying continuously has extensive support in our Scriptures, eg,[112],[113],[114],[115],[116],[117], with St Paul as a major contributor: when he spoke of prayer, he most often used words conveying the meaning of �constant,� �always� and �continuously.� For him, prayer was as natural and as essential as breathing. Now, in order to appreciate how the phrase �Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner� took root, here are some references[118],[119],[120] of the many that are sprinkled throughout the Scriptures.
We should always pray, as St Paul instructs us: �Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.� (Col 4:2). In this way, God is inclined to listen to us, recognize our effort and dedication, and grant what we ask for. Actually, it was Jesus Himself Who taught us how to do this, in the parable of the widow who would not give up until she received her just request: �Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,�� (Lk 18:1). Given this, when we pray for something and think that God is slow in responding, we should continue to pray, trusting that He is listening. However, His response may be unexpected, as we often ask for things that are not good for us, while, other times, our prayer can only be heard when we have overcome spiritual impediments that we didn�t know were there. And yet, His giving us only gifts that are good for us and His helping us cleanse ourselves spiritually, are excellent rewards and blessings in return for our prayer. By keeping our prayer active past these two phases (that tend to be close to the start of our journey to Him) we stand a very good chance of overcoming all obstacles and eventually uniting with Him. Therefore, it is right for us to believe that prayer never goes unheard, and that we should always keep praying as best we can. We should also remember that the Church establishes all objective conditions for our theosis; the Prayer of the Heart helps us create the corresponding subjective conditions. In this way, the human-divine co-operation (sunergeia) functions in full force - the ultimate result being our accepting the Holy Spirit and entering into union with God.
(b) The Prayer of the Heart has been expanded, explained and commented on by a number of the Fathers[121] of the Church and other significant Orthodox writers.
Following the early days of the Church, a tradition of �pure prayer� was established around the fourth century and continued to our days. Some of the Fathers shaped it in their own way, but the fundamental concept of unceasing prayer focused on the Name of Jesus Christ has persisted through the centuries in the context of our Orthodox mysticism. St John Climacus expertly summarized (R3 p239) the whole process: �The beginning of prayer is to banish oncoming thoughts as soon as they appear. Its middle stage is to keep the mind contained in the words we say or think. The perfection of prayer is ravishment to the Lord [122],[123].� True prayer is never merely �mental� but emerges from the center of our being, our heart, a process which, if we are submissive to God, is constantly renewed and augmented by the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, we return to our heart and open its door to the presence of God, Who is the source of our being, and meet Him there by constantly calling out to Jesus, with faith and love. True prayer is not just a good religious pastime, but an open and humble attitude to faith, reverence, awe, trust, hope[124] and joy. These virtues fill our deeper self and tell us that we are in the presence of Christ, our God, Whom we get to know in �unknowing� and see in �unseeing�, by faith at first, and direct, mystical experience later.
There have been several short prayers taught by the Fathers of the Church. For example. St Cassian wrote that the most popular prayer in Egypt of his time was the first verse of Psalm 70: �Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!� On the other hand, St Joanniky repeated the following prayer, which is still part of our holy services: �The Father is my hope, the Son is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my protection, Holy Trinity glory to You.� Another form of a popular short prayer was: �Being a man I have sinned; but thou, being God the Compassionate, have mercy on me.� Starting from the first years of Christianity and gradually gaining momentum and widespread acceptance, the following prayer has become the most commonly used by a great number of spiritual seekers: �Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.� Indications of its use can be found from the fourth century on, with St Ephraim the Syrian, St John Chrysostom, St Isaac the Syrian, St Hesychius of Jerusalem, Sts Barsanuphius and John of Gaza, and St John Climacus. Later on it spread out widely and became very well known, especially with the influence of respected Orthodox writers, like St Gregory Palamas, and prestigious Orthodox books, like the Philokalia, whose message reaches a broad audience to this date.
In reality there are as many ways of praying as there are people, given that true prayer is a connection of two persons, God and myself. This connection is always expressed in a unique and personal way. But, while many short prayers are very helpful, the Jesus Prayer is considered to be the most effective because, in the context of acknowledging the Holy Trinity and admitting our sins, it unites us with the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the gateway to our Union with God, the ultimate aim and fundamental hope of our prayer: �I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.� (Jn 14:6). Therefore, when we practice it correctly with all our heart, we have behind us the full force of Christ�s Incarnation, in which our salvation rests. Here is a short passage on the Jesus Prayer from the renowned Orthodox book �The Way of a Pilgrim�, R8 p163 (but remember that most Fathers suggest extreme caution in using our imagination): �The constant inner prayer of Jesus is an unbroken, perpetual calling upon the Divine Name of Jesus with the lips, the mind and the heart, while picturing His lasting presence in one�s imagination and imploring His grace wherever one is, in whatever one does, even while one sleeps. This prayer consists of the following words: �Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!� Those who use this prayer constantly are so greatly comforted that they are moved to say it at all times, for they can no longer live without it. And the prayer will keep on ringing in their hearts of its own accord��
According to the instructions given to us by St Gregory of Sinai (R2 p275, R3 p74, 84), this is how to pray: �Sitting in your cell, remain patiently in prayer, according to the precept of the Apostle Paul.[125] Collect your mind into your heart and send out thence your mental cry to our Lord Jesus, calling for His help and saying: �Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me� until you are tired. When tired, transfer your mind to the second half and say: �Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon me!� Having many times repeated this appeal, pass once more to the first half. But you should not alternate these appeals too often through laziness; for just as plants do not take root if transplanted too frequently, neither do the movements of prayer in the heart if the words are changed frequently. Compel yourself by any means to do this work, for �the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force� (Mt 11:12) as the Lord said showing that this attainment demands severe labor and spiritual struggle. When you notice thoughts arising and accosting you, do not look at them, even if they are not bad; but keeping the mind firmly in the heart, call to Lord Jesus and you will soon sweep away the thoughts and drive out their instigators � the demons � invisibly scorching and flogging them with the divine Name. Thus teaches St John Climacus, saying: �With the name of Jesus flog the foes, for there is no surer weapon against them, either on earth or in heaven.�� These instructions sound simple, but St Gregory of Sinai has a clear warning (R14 p281) for those who may think that learning to pray is like anything else we learned before: �You cannot discover from the teachings of others the beauty of prayer. Prayer has its own special teacher in God, �He Who teaches man knowledge.� (Ps 94:10) He grants the prayer of him who prays. And He blesses the years of the just.�[126]
St Gregory of Sinai has given us a lot of guidance on this topic. For example, (R13 p69) he spoke of the effort involved in prayer, with words similar to those above: �No bodily or spiritual activity without pain or toil ever brings fruit to him who practices it, because �the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.�� (Mt 11:12). Here, theologians agree, the word pain means remorse and contrition of spirit. For those who are weak physically, weeping and mourning for our sinfulness take the place of physical effort. For people with stronger bodies, it takes physical discipline for the heart to acquire the peace needed for prayer: �to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak.� (1 Cor 9:22). He also stated (R13 p71) that the mind of those who are experienced in prayer must concentrate on the heart[127], �If your heart has opened.� This should be done with great fear of God, because the union of the mind and heart (which precedes our union with God) is granted by divine grace, at God�s discretion: �The great gift of prayer is usually preceded by some special sufferings and upheavals of the soul, which lead our spirit to realize the extent of our poverty and nothingness (as St Isaac the Syrian wrote.) To be worthy of this gift of Grace we need faithful humility and purity, shown by the rejection of every sinful thought at their first appearance. It is to the faithful, pure and humble that the gifts of the Spirit are given.� (cf Lk 16:10-12).
To learn how to pray effectively means to let go of hardness and torpor of the heart and grossness of the mind, traits due to spiritual arrogance and deeply rooted (perhaps subconscious) rejection of God�s will. Sometimes we don�t feel like praying - a trap set by the devil in the form of mental sloth and fear of spiritual scrutiny. Therefore, we should force ourselves to pray over and above the hesitation of our mind and resistance of our body, as stated before (in quoting Mt 11:12). This means that we will not be able to obtain salvation without persistence. If we see such difficulties in our praying, we should pray even harder, perhaps go back a level or two and start all over with the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ aloud, or with fasting, vigils and prostrations. As warm, heartfelt prayer returns, we should use this opportunity to remember our commitment to repentance, charity, spiritual humility and obedience to our spiritual father. And when the demons see our resolve and method of dealing with such problems, they tend to leave us alone from fear that the net result of their attacks might be additional good credit for us in heaven[128].
When we are ready to sit in prayer and ask God for a gift, we need to prepare ourselves with firm faith[129], against all traces of unbelief and doubt[130]. No one should ever expect to obtain from God anything that was asked with a doubting heart, as He Himself said: "And all things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive� (Mt 21:22) and �if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, �Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.� (Mt 17:20). However, to those who doubt, He will not grant their requests. Sometimes we are insensitive to the words used in prayer, because of unbelief[131] due to pride and lack of remorse for our sinful condition[132]. So, the more warmth, forgiveness, and contrition we feel in prayer, the better we are praying. During prayer, our attitude should be intentional, deliberate and extreme humility, because this is how we repulse the demons. Because of our hidden pride, we often think: �this sin is not one of mine, because I am good.� Only humility can get us out of that trap, especially with the help of a spiritual director. And always remember that, when practicing the Prayer of the Heart, we do not seek understanding or signs or visions or information of any kind, but are purely engaged in sacred invocation and supplication of our God. Pure prayer is neither some sort of abstract nor of analytical thinking but a direct and personal encounter with our Creator.
The essence of the unceasing Prayer of the Heart is the search for a valid, personal vision of God, granted to our whole being, not to the intellect alone. St Gregory Palamas worked long and hard at the doctrinal foundation of the fact that it is only the entire person that can receive grace, not any part (ie, soul, or mind, or body) acting alone. Therefore, he warns against corporeal visions (corporeal only!) or mental ones (mental only!). Both are demonic temptations that undermine the unity of our whole being, the unity that Christ came to re-invigorate by giving us immortality. Our body, mind or soul cannot receive the grace of Christ (that was put on us during Baptism) alone, but only in working together can they help us reach the goal of unceasing prayer, which is to obtain a true vision of God. This is discussed further in section IIa.
The Jesus Prayer follows closely our Scriptural model of our relationship with God, and is effective because it is centered on the Son of God Incarnate. This purely Orthodox tradition survived and prospered for almost two millennia, not because it was somehow imposed on the people, but because it is faithful to the substance of our faith. Therefore, we can see it as a direct outcome of the essence of our spiritual lineage. Yes, it does ask us to expend considerable effort, like many of the Fathers who went through extraordinary struggles to kindle the correct spirit of prayer. However, when it matures, it becomes self-sustaining, sinks into our heart, and develops into a strong and immediate link between us and God. Across that link, God�s divine grace flows to those that are ready, effecting the merging of the individual with God�s divine energies, a process called deification or divinization or theosis.
Many Fathers have written extensively about the meaning and significance of the Prayer of the Heart[133],[134],[135],[136],[137],[138],[139],[140],[141],[142],[143],[144],[145],[146]. The essence of their message is that, although we cannot force our mind to slow down and become idle, what we can do is simplify and unify its activity by introducing, and focusing on, the Jesus Prayer[147]. In the beginning, other thoughts will persist, but with the help of the prayer we can gradually detach ourselves from them and let them go: gently, repeatedly, just let them go. In their place, slowly at first but more assertively as time passes, the single, commanding and utterly satisfying thought of Lord Jesus emerges and takes over our mental workings[148], with all the spiritual happiness and fulfillment that that entails[149]. Then, we don�t rely any more on any of our own weak efforts, but accept with gratitude and relief the helping protection of the all-powerful Divine Name and the abundant Holy Grace that is generously offered to us.
To close this segment, let me quote our greatest mystical teacher, St Gregory Palamas, R8 p164, who said: �Not only should we ourselves in accordance with God�s will pray unceasingly in the name of Jesus Christ, but we are bound to reveal it and teach it to others, to everyone in general, religious and secular, learned and simple, men, women and children, and to inspire them all with zeal for prayer without ceasing.�
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