The Jesus Prayer is a mysterious group of words. “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy.” Or as some say it, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I do it both ways. Either one brings you to a mysterious silence.

The silence hums. It offers nothing as you offer it your own mess of sins. It doesn’t do anything at all. It lets you stop your own doing for a few moments. But in those few moments you know eternity and how it works.

It works in total surrender to what must be, what cannot be changed by man. Man may invent things but he cannot invent peace.

We cannot contain the silence that the Jesus Prayer offers. We can just bathe in it briefly. That is why we say it thousands of times over, just as we breathe in and out.

In time the prayer yields up its fruit but it will be beyond words.

I say it during good times and bad. Then I forget to say it. That’s okay; I will remember it again at some point. The prayer does not rebuke me.

This prayer is stronger than the current of fear in which you struggle to find peace and solace.

It is a workhorse, an open door, a flight home, a space for light, an admission of sin and the cleansing of the ego.

That and more.

Vicki Woodyard