Day 25: The Jesus Prayer

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“As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”
~Mark 10:46-48 




Jesus heals a blind man.

To be honest, at this point in the Gospel of Mark, I almost find myself shrugging it off:
                                                                       “So Jesus heals a blind man...again. What’s the big deal?”
...but that’s my perspective; my selfish, short-sighted, type-A personality perspective.

Jesus saw it differently (thank God).
Jesus doesn’t open his calendar and grumble about “this blind guy” being another interruption… And he doesn’t flip to his inventory of recently-completed miracles (sixteen so far) and whine that he has “already done enough.”

No…. Jesus stops. And waits. to listen and to heal.
Amid the crowd,
Amid the noise,
Amid the journey to the cross,
Jesus waits to hear those who cry out…
God wants to hear...

 



Prayer Practice:
Scripture tells us time and time again to pray—to call out to God—‘constantly’ and ‘without ceasing’. Like Bartimaeus who would not be silenced, Christians have been repeating and repeating “The Jesus Prayer” (see above) since the 6th century.
Try it—as often as you think of it—today.
Better yet, write it on sticky notes or notecards around your home or office.
Remind yourself to call out to God.


The following video is about ten minutes of the prayer beautifully sung in  Greek:
(add the prayer in English while you listen)
or hit 'play' while you do dishes and let the prayer sink in....
 

(The Jesus Prayer sung by Sr. Tereza Vodjana)

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