The Jesus Prayer: Where It Comes From, How It Is Prayed, and How It Differs from a Mantra

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me." Orthodox Christians say these words in church, at home, on the prayer rope, on the road, and at the hour of death. Inquirers, and Protestants who find the prayer in a book or hear it from a friend, ask three questions: where does it come from, is it just Eastern meditation under another name, and is it safe? This article answers all three. The short answers are that it comes from the Gospels and the monastic Fathers, that it is a prayer and not a meditation technique, and that it is safe in the way every real prayer is safe: when it is prayed in humility, inside the life of the Church.

It belongs with how to pray at home, what a spiritual father is, our guide to prayer, fasting and the Jesus Prayer, and the defence of the Athonite hesychasts by St Gregory Palamas. See also our Why Orthodoxy page.

In brief

The Jesus Prayer is a short prayer addressed to Christ, whose usual form is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me," often with "a sinner" added. Its parts come straight from Scripture: the cry of Bartimaeus and the lepers, the publican's plea, and the Name at which "every knee should bow." The monks of Sinai and Gaza made it a prayer of the whole life, and the Orthodox Church has passed it on in the Philokalia and through spiritual fathers. It is unlike a mantra because it addresses a Person, names Jesus as Lord and Son of God, asks for mercy, and does not seek to empty the mind.

Thesis: The Name of Jesus is power because Jesus is God the Son, and the prayer bears fruit only by his grace, as an act of faith and repentance prayed within the Church. It is not a technique that works by sound, breath or repetition, and to treat it as the Christian version of Hindu or Buddhist mantra practice is to misunderstand both.

Where the words come from

Every phrase of the prayer is already in the New Testament. The blind Bartimaeus cried out, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me," and when the crowd told him to be quiet, "he cried the more a great deal" (Mark 10:47-48). Ten lepers "lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us" (Luke 17:13), and two blind men followed him with "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us" (Matthew 9:27). In Christ's parable of the Pharisee and the publican, the publican "would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner," and went home "justified" (Luke 18:13-14). The usual addition "a sinner" echoes this verse.

The Name is also the New Testament's own focus. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:9-11). "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). Christ promises, "whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do" (John 14:13). And the apostles prayed and worked in that Name: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).¹

The words of the prayer also confess the Creed. "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God" is the faith of Nicaea in four words: "And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten."² St Paul writes that "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3), and St John makes the confession a test of the spirits (1 John 4:2-3). Whoever says the Jesus Prayer says the Church's faith about who Jesus is.

Finally, St Paul's command "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) is the reason for repeating it. Christ warned against "vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking" (Matthew 6:7). The publican's single sentence was heard because it was true, and the Fathers distinguished carefully between repetition of faith and repetition of formula. Metropolitan Kallistos Ware writes: "Christ told his disciples not to use 'vain repetitions' (Matt. 6:7); but the repetition of the Jesus Prayer, when performed with inward sincerity and concentration, is most emphatically not 'vain'."³

How the Fathers handed it on

The prayer was not invented at one moment by one person, and we should not name an inventor. It grew in the monastic tradition from the fifth century onward, as monks sought obedience to "pray without ceasing."

• Diadochus of Photiki (fifth century), as summarised by Fr Georges Florovsky, teaches that "that glorious and much desired name, which by means of the mind's memory long abides in the warmth of the heart, produces in us the skill of perfectly loving his goodness."⁴ The remembrance of the Name is joined to love.
• The Elders of Gaza, Barsanuphius and John (sixth century), are quoted by Ware: "The remembrance of the Name of God utterly destroys all that is evil."³
• St John Climacus, abbot of Sinai, in The Ladder of Divine Ascent, writes in Archimandrite Lazarus Moore's translation: "Flog your enemies with the name of Jesus, for there is no stronger weapon in heaven or earth" (Step 21), and, "Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with each breath, and then you will know the value of solitude" (Step 27). The translator's note on "remembrance of Jesus" says that "This patristic expression denotes the Prayer of Jesus and not the simple remembrance of the Name of Jesus." On prayer itself he teaches: "Let your prayer be completely simple. For both the publican and the prodigal son were reconciled to God by a single phrase" (Step 28).⁵ (Other translations render the Step 27 line "be united to your every breath" and "value of stillness"; the sense is the same.)
• St Gregory of Sinai and the Athonite hesychasts of the fourteenth century taught the prayer as an ordered way, and St Gregory Palamas defended them against the attacks of Barlaam of Calabria; see our articles on the hesychast controversy and on Mount Athos and Orthodox monasticism.
• In the eighteenth century the Philokalia gathered these writings; in the nineteenth, Bishops Ignatius Brianchaninov and Theophan the Recluse wrote guidance on the prayer for laypeople and monks, much of it in letters, and their words were later excerpted in The Art of Prayer, an Orthodox anthology compiled by the Valamo abbot Chariton, translated by E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer, and edited by Timothy Ware (later Metropolitan Kallistos).⁶

The Way of a Pilgrim

Many people meet the prayer first in The Way of a Pilgrim. It is a good book, to be read with its limits in mind. Its translator, the Rev. R. M. French (1930), writes plainly: "Of the Pilgrim's identity nothing is known." The manuscript came into the hands of a monk on Mount Athos and, through an abbot at Kazan, was printed there in 1884; the events appear to belong to Russia before 1861.⁷ It is a spiritual narrative of a wandering pilgrim, not a rule of prayer, and its starets, who tells the pilgrim to say the prayer "three thousand times a day" and later to increase it, is one voice in a long tradition. French's own introduction notes that "not everyone will be in sympathy" with the hesychast method. Notice also what the starets says of the book that taught him: asked whether the Philokalia is "more sublime and holy than the Bible," he answers, "No, it is not that," and compares it to a piece of glass through which one can look at the sun that is Holy Scripture.⁷

{{strong: The Jesus Prayer is rooted in New Testament prayers and in the Name of Jesus, and was developed by the monastic Fathers from about the fifth century as a way of fulfilling the command to pray without ceasing.}}

How it is prayed

The prayer is said aloud, then quietly, then in the mind, and finally, by God's gift, in the heart. Bishop Ignatius writes that "Prayer is called 'of the mind', when it is recited by the mind with profound attention, and with the sympathy of the heart. Prayer is called 'of the heart', when it is recited by the mind united with the heart, when the mind descends as it were into the heart, and sends up the prayer from its depths."⁶ The "heart" in Orthodox use is the centre of the whole person, not the emotions. A knotted prayer rope, like the rosary the starets gives the pilgrim, simply counts the prayers so the mind need not.

Three points matter most.

• Attention, not mechanics. Theophan the Recluse: "Do not forget that you must not limit yourself to a mechanical repetition of the words of the Jesus Prayer. This will lead to nothing except a habit of repeating the prayer automatically with the tongue... The essential thing is to stand consciously in the presence of the Lord, with fear, faith and love."⁶
• Together with the Church. The prayer supports, and does not replace, the Divine Liturgy, the Mysteries, the fasts and daily prayers. It is learned, as the Pilgrim learned it, from a person who knows the way.
• Guidance. Theophan: "For the avoidance of errors, have someone to advise you, a spiritual father or confessor, a brother of like mind; and make known to him all that happens to you in the work of prayer."⁶

Is it safe? What the Fathers warn against

The Fathers, who loved the prayer, wrote at length about how it can go wrong. Their warnings are the best answer to those who suppose it is a technique anyone can use at will.

• It is not a talisman. "The Jesus Prayer is not some talisman. Its power comes from faith in the Lord, and from a deep union of the mind and heart with Him. With such a disposition, the invocation of the Lord's Name becomes very effective in many ways. But a mere repetition of the words does not signify anything" (Theophan). Ware says the same: "The Jesus Prayer is not a magic talisman."⁶³ The New Testament has its own warning. The seven sons of Sceva tried to use the Name of Jesus as a formula over a possessed man, saying "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth," and the spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:13-15). Christ himself says that many will say "Lord, Lord," and be told, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:21-23).
• No images. "Hold no intermediate image between the mind and the Lord when practising the Jesus Prayer" (Theophan). The prayer is not an exercise of the imagination, and the Fathers distrust visions and special sensations.
• No self-congratulation. Theophan: "when you hear an inner voice saying 'Ah! Here it is!' you should realize that this is the voice of the enemy, showing you a mirage rather than the reality. This is the beginning of self-deception." Bishop Ignatius describes delusion in just these terms: "it fires his imagination, encourages the rush of blood, brings him a certain tasteless, poisonous enjoyment, and flatters him insidiously, inspiring him with self-conceit."⁶
• No dangerous techniques. The older writers describe breathing methods and bodily postures. Theophan is blunt: "What is dangerous is only the mechanical techniques which were added later and adjusted to fit the recitation of the prayer: and these are dangerous because they sometimes plunge us into a dream world of illusion, and sometimes, strange to say, into a constant state of lust. For this reason we should advise against such techniques and forbid them. But to call on the most sweet Name of the Lord in simplicity of heart is something we can suggest and recommend to anyone."⁶

So the answer to "is it safe?" is that the simple prayer is, but not as a technique and not in isolation. The danger the Fathers see is not that the Name of Jesus harms anyone; it is pride, imagination, bodily technique and the loss of repentance and obedience.

How it differs from a mantra

Others use repeated sacred sounds, and the resemblance is real: all repeat a short phrase, many use beads. The differences are the point, and each tradition should be heard in its own words.

• Transcendental Meditation. Its own site says: "Your Transcendental Meditation mantra is a specific sound chosen for you personally by your TM Teacher. Unlike affirmations or other phrases rooted in meaning, your TM mantra isn't meant to keep your mind active or focused." The practice aims at "pure consciousness," and "doesn't depend on any religion, philosophy, or belief system."⁸ A meaningless sound, chosen by a teacher, used for a state of mind.
• The Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON). The maha-mantra is "a petition to God: 'O Krishna, O energy of Krishna, please engage me in Your service.'" This is devotion, but to a different object: Krishna as the supreme person of that tradition's Vaishnava theology, not the Trinity.⁹
• Pure Land Buddhism. The nembutsu, "Namu Amida Butsu," recites the name of Amida Buddha, trusting in what one summary calls "the Buddha's compassionate vow to save all beings." It, too, is an invocation, but of a different figure and for a different end.¹⁰

Against these stands the Jesus Prayer, in four ways. First, it addresses a Person, who is God the Son, and the phrase is a confession of who he is. Second, it is an act of repentance, a plea for mercy in the manner of the publican, not a way of reaching a state. Third, it does not empty the mind. The mind is kept in attention before God, and the Fathers treat blankness and imagination alike with suspicion. Fourth, it is prayed within the Church, alongside the Mysteries, the Creed, repentance, obedience and love of neighbour. Other traditions' mantras are not "neutral": they carry their religion's goals, and the Orthodox Church's teaching is that Christ is the only Saviour (Acts 4:12). The Church does not say that a Hindu or Buddhist who repeats his mantra is praying to Jesus, and she does not say that the Jesus Prayer is the "Christian" form of those practices. Krishna and Amida are not the living God, and these paths, however sincere those who walk them, do not lead to him. For the related questions, see our articles on yoga, Zen Buddhism, the Hare Krishna movement and the New Age movement.

{{strong: The Jesus Prayer differs from mantra practice in object, content, aim and setting: it addresses the Lord Jesus Christ as a Person, it asks for mercy, it does not aim at an emptied mind, and it is prayed in the Church.}}

Who may pray it?

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13), and nobody is turned away from crying "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." An inquirer or a Protestant friend can say those words honestly today. As a discipline of the heart, however, the Jesus Prayer belongs to life in the baptized Church: Baptism, the Eucharist, confession and the guidance of a priest. The Orthodox Church's invitation to those outside is not a prayer technique but faith in Christ and Baptism into him. Those who borrow the prayer without the Church, as one more spiritual practice among several, receive something much smaller than it offers.

What we can say confidently

• The words of the prayer are drawn from the Gospels (Mark 10:47; Luke 17:13; 18:13), and the Name of Jesus is the New Testament's saving Name (Acts 4:12; Philippians 2:9-11).
• The monastic Fathers from about the fifth century taught the remembrance of the Name as a way to pray without ceasing.
• The Fathers insist that the prayer is not a talisman, that imagination, visions and bodily techniques are dangers, and that a spiritual guide is needed.
• The Jesus Prayer is a confession of the Nicene faith and an act of repentance, and for that reason differs in kind from mantra practice in other religions.

What remains disputed

• The history of the exact formula, and when "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" became fixed, is a historical question; the Fathers use several forms.
• The identity and dating of the Russian pilgrim of The Way of a Pilgrim are unknown, and the place of the book in Orthodox teaching is that of a spiritual narrative, not authority.
• Orthodox writers differ on how far bodily methods (breathing, posture) may be used; the later guides cited here advise against them for most people.

Conclusion

The Jesus Prayer is the cry of Bartimaeus, the publican and the lepers, offered by the Church for two thousand years to the Lord who answered them. Its power is not in the sound but in the One whose Name it is: the Son of God, who was crucified and rose, and who hears. The Orthodox Church teaches it as a way to obey the command to pray without ceasing, within her sacramental life, under the guidance of a spiritual father, in humility. To those outside she says: call on him, and come into his Church. To see the biblical and patristic ground of that faith, continue to Why Orthodoxy.

Notes

1. Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (1769 text), checked against the KJV text served by this site's Bible reader (https://honestapologist.com/api/bible/connections/texts?v=kjv); words the KJV prints in italics are given without brackets.
2. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, as given by the Orthodox Church in America, "The Creed: The Symbol of Faith," https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/prayers/symbol-of-faith.
3. Kallistos Ware, The Power of the Name: The Jesus Prayer in Orthodox Spirituality (Oxford: SLG Press, Fairacres Publication 43, 1974; new edition 1986), text as posted at https://orthodoxprayer.org/Articles_files/Ware-4%20Power%20of%20Name.html. The posted page gives no edition, and Ware's English of the Climacus line differs from the translation quoted below.
4. Georges Florovsky, "The Teachings of Diadochos of Photiki," from The Byzantine Fathers of the Fifth Century, as reproduced at https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2017/03/the-teachings-of-diadochos-of-photiki.html. The quotation is Florovsky's English rendering of Diadochus; I did not check it against the Greek or the English Philokalia.
5. St John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Steps 21, 27 and 28, trans. Archimandrite Lazarus Moore (first published London: Faber and Faber, and New York: Harper, 1959), text as published at https://sermonindex.net/ebooks/t/the-ladder-of-divine-ascent.pdf (the PDF does not name the translator; its text matches passages published under Moore's name). The note on "remembrance of Jesus" is the translator's footnote to Step 27, 61.
6. Igumen Chariton of Valamo (comp.), The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology, trans. E. Kadloubovsky and E. M. Palmer, ed. Timothy Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1966), the sections "Not a talisman," "Mechanical repetition leads to nothing," "Avoid visual concepts," "Breathing techniques, illusion and lust," "Act always in great humility. The need for a spiritual director" (Theophan the Recluse) and "Prayer of the mind, of the heart, and of the soul" and "The illusions of the devil and the grace of God" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov), read in the scanned book at https://merton.bellarmine.edu/files/original/6ed24a9a1faf9b6c5cd78639e8c0a5b18cece01b.pdf.
7. The Way of a Pilgrim, trans. R. M. French (London: Philip Allan, 1930; 2nd impression 1931), the translator's Introduction (signed R.M.F.) and the First Narrative, as published by CCEL at https://www.ccel.org/ccel/p/philip_allan/pilgrim/cache/pilgrim.txt.
8. Transcendental Meditation, "Frequently asked questions about TM," https://www.tm.org/faq.
9. Krishna.com (ISKCON), "Maha-mantra," https://www.krishna.com/maha-mantra.
10. "Nianfo," Wikipedia (secondary source, used only for the form of the phrase and its meaning), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nianfo.

Bibliography

Scripture and creed

• The Holy Bible, King James Version (1769 text).
• The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. OCA text.

Fathers and Orthodox writers

• John Climacus. The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Trans. Archimandrite Lazarus Moore. 1959.
• Chariton of Valamo, comp. The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology. London: Faber and Faber, 1966.
• Florovsky, Georges. "The Teachings of Diadochos of Photiki."
• Ware, Kallistos. The Power of the Name. Oxford: SLG Press, 1974.
• The Way of a Pilgrim. Trans. R. M. French. London: Philip Allan, 1930.

Other religions

• Transcendental Meditation, FAQ (tm.org).
• Krishna.com, "Maha-mantra."
• "Nianfo." Wikipedia.