The Jesus prayer is from the Bible

Posted on by Dave

Over the last year or so I have prayed the Jesus prayer a lot, especially on my prayer beads. The Jesus prayer says, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”.

The Jesus Prayer is founded in biblical passages and popularized by the Desert Fathers in the 4th and 5th centuries.

Key scriptural influences include…

  • The cries for mercy from the blind man in Luke 18:38 (“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”)
  • The ten lepers in Luke 17:13 (“Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”)
  • The tax collector in Luke 18:13 (“God, be merciful to me, I am a sinner”).

The prayer also reflects the biblical call to “pray without ceasing” that is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

I tend to pray the words very slowly and deliberately. I breathe in and silently pray “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God”. Then I breathe out and say, “Have mercy on me, a sinner”.

For me it becomes a prayerful meditation.