О молитве Иисусовой

The Jesus Prayer is of enormous importance in the life of a Christian. This is the shortest path to achieving the Kingdom of Heaven, although this path is not easy, and having embarked on it, we must be prepared for sorrow. True, other prayers are also of considerable importance, and a person who goes through the Jesus Prayer listens to prayers and hymns in church, and performs the obligatory cell rules. And yet, it is the Jesus Prayer that, more than others, brings a person into a repentant mood and shows him his weaknesses, therefore, it brings him closer to God. A person begins to feel that he is the greatest sinner, and this is all God needs. Our evil enemy tries in every possible way to divert a Christian from this prayer; he fears and hates it most of all. Indeed, the power of God keeps a person who always prays this prayer unharmed from the devil’s snares. And so the evil spirit instills various thoughts to confuse the foolish, saying that prayer requires concentration, tenderness, and so on, and if this is not the case, then it only angers God. Some listen to these arguments and abandon prayer to the delight of the enemy. One who begins the Jesus Prayer is like a high school student who has entered the first grade of a gymnasium and put on his uniform. One might think that he will later graduate from high school and maybe go to university. But then the temptations of the first lesson pass, for example, the student did not understand arithmetic, and his thought says to him: “I did not understand the first lesson, much less will you understand the second, and then, you see, they will call you. It’s better to say you’re sick and stay at home.” If the student has wealthy relatives, then there are even more temptations, the same seductive voice says: “Your grandfather and uncle are rich, why should you study, stay with them.” A high school student listens to these speeches, stops studying, wastes time, and after a few years grows up to be a worthless idiot. Time has passed, what kind of teaching is there - and they expel him from the gymnasium. The same can happen with prayer. You should not listen to tempting thoughts, you should drive them far away from yourself without being embarrassed, and continue your prayer work. Even if the fruits of this labor are unnoticeable, even if a person does not experience spiritual delight and tenderness, still prayer cannot remain ineffective. She silently does her job. The Jesus Prayer is divided into three, even four steps. The first stage is oral prayer, when the mind often runs away and a person needs to use great effort to collect his scattered thoughts. This is a labor prayer, but it gives a person a repentant mood. The second stage is mental-heart prayer, when the mind and heart, mind and feelings are at the same time. Then the prayer is performed continuously, no matter what a person is doing: eating, drinking, resting - the prayer is still being performed. The third stage is creative prayer, which is capable of moving mountains with one word. For example, the Venerable Hermit Mark the Thracian had such a prayer. One day a monk came to him for edification. In the conversation, Mark asked: “Do you now have prayer books that can move mountains?” As he said this, the mountain they were on shook. Saint Mark turned to her as if she were alive: “Stay calm, I’m not talking about you.” Finally, the fourth step is such a high prayer that only Angels have and which is given, perhaps, to one of all humanity. Peace, light and strength must be sought in God, through the Jesus Prayer. It will become very difficult for you, darkness will surround you - stand in front of the image, light the lamp, if it was not lit, kneel down if you can, or even so, say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!” Say it once, twice, three times, say it so that not only your lips pronounce this prayer, but it reaches your heart. However, the sweetest name of the Lord will certainly reach the heart, and little by little melancholy and sorrow will disappear, the soul will brighten, and quiet joy will reign in it. Only those who have experienced it can understand this wonderful effect of the Jesus Prayer. Imagine that some person has never tried honey and starts asking what it is. How can I explain it to him? You will say: it is sweet, it is prepared by bees, the honeycombs with honey are taken out of the hive, cut into pieces... It is unlikely that he will understand anything. Isn’t it easier to say: if you want to know honey, try it. So it is with the Jesus Prayer. Many, having learned its sweetness and meaning, devoted their entire lives to it in order to become close to it, to merge with the sweetest name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You might be interested in: