Keeping Prayer Simple
Saturday of the First Week of Lent – February 28, 2015
BROTHER JOHN KLIMAKOS said, “Keep your prayers completely simple. Both the tax collector and he prodigal son were reconciled to God when they spoke one simple idea. The tax collector said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Luke 18:13). The prodigal son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you’ (Luke 15:21).”
[Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert, p. 384.]
Those who persevere at prayer over many years almost always find that their prayer becomes simpler, not more complex. It doesn’t become more verbose and eloquent. It becomes quieter, even non-verbal. A glance, a thought, a holy moment . . . these become the most profound experiences of prayer.
You might want to try simplifying your prayer for two or three days. Sit in silence one day.
On another day, choose a phrase from the Psalms or the Gospels, and simply repeat it over and over as a breath prayer.
On yet another day, take a single word (something like “mercy,” or “love”) and whisper it quietly. Consider different people in your life and whisper that word over the people you are thinking about. Do the same for situations that concern you in the world . . . whispering “mercy” or “love” into them.
BROTHER JOHN KLIMAKOS said, “Keep your prayers completely simple. Both the tax collector and he prodigal son were reconciled to God when they spoke one simple idea. The tax collector said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Luke 18:13). The prodigal son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you’ (Luke 15:21).”
[Bernard Bangley, By Way of the Desert, p. 384.]
Those who persevere at prayer over many years almost always find that their prayer becomes simpler, not more complex. It doesn’t become more verbose and eloquent. It becomes quieter, even non-verbal. A glance, a thought, a holy moment . . . these become the most profound experiences of prayer.
You might want to try simplifying your prayer for two or three days. Sit in silence one day.
On another day, choose a phrase from the Psalms or the Gospels, and simply repeat it over and over as a breath prayer.
On yet another day, take a single word (something like “mercy,” or “love”) and whisper it quietly. Consider different people in your life and whisper that word over the people you are thinking about. Do the same for situations that concern you in the world . . . whispering “mercy” or “love” into them.
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