A Pilgrim

Prayer is one of those concepts that is so hard to practice and yet so easy for us to do. Simply, it is talking to God. It is a conversation. It is a chair set out and a back and forth between two people...well, one person and one God.

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading and thinking about a new book. It's called The Way of a Pilgrim. This is a story of an anonymous pilgrim in Russia who is challenged by the concept of ceaseless prayer. A gem of a story, this book has challenged and pushed me to move deeper with prayer.

Set in 19th century Russia, the reader learns of a disabled wanderer who is on a constant pursuit of a deep spiritual life through prayer. He prays the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner," over and over.

At the beginning of chapter two, this pilgrim writes, "So I set out on my journey to Siberia and I continued to recite the Jesus Prayer vocally. After some time I felt that the Prayer was somehow entereing the heart by itself. The words of the Prayer seemed to be formulated according to the rhythm of the heartbeat, that is (1) Lord, (2) Jesus, (3) Christ, etc. I stopped vocalizing the Prayer and began to listen attentively as the heart spoke, and I remembered the words of my late elder in describing this joy. Then I felt a slight pain in the heart and such love toward Jesus Chrsit that I wished I could throw myself at His feet, lovingly embrace them, and thank Him for this great consoloation which He gives in His mercy adnd love to His unworthy and sinful creatures through His name." (17)

It is easy for us to sit before a meal and prayer, or two bow our heads during a worship service, but to grow into a life of ceaseless prayer really takes a lifetime. In this auto-biography, I have been challenged to go deeper. I have heard the words of Paul before, to pray without ceasing, but to live this Jesus prayer, to have it echo throughout all of my being in every action and thought and even in every heartbeat...wow, that takes work.

Still, I am on this journey.

From resting, to cooking, to playing a game, God is a deeply woven into all that we do. Prayer is our story of hearing, breathing and acting into all that God has for us.

Grace and Peace!

Micah