Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

About this prayer

The Jesus Prayer is one of the oldest and simplest prayers of the Christian East. Its few words gather up the Gospel: the confession that Jesus is Lord, the Christ and the Son of God, and the cry for mercy of the tax collector in the Temple and of the blind man by the road to Jericho (Luke 18:13, 18:38). It became the heart of the Orthodox way of inner prayer, in answer to the call to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Pray it slowly and with attention. Many Orthodox Christians use a prayer rope, moving on one knot after each prayer. The counter on this page needs JavaScript.