Prayer is a fundamental element in the spiritual realm, given it offers believers the platform to communicate their wants and needs to a supreme being. Different denominations have varying prayer practices transcending from a rich history that contributes to the current framework. The act of prayer has multiple modes, which Christianity exemplifies, considering the different denominations. Despite the variations, various prayers are prominent in the Christian faith. One is Jesus Prayer, which is predominant in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its functions suggest growing a believer's faith contributing to their spiritual journey through the Hesychast method, its opposite in practice, and preventing susceptibility to temptations.
Communication with a supreme being is an essential part of the religious realm which informs the necessity of prayer. According to Bradshow and Kent, "prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication" 1 . It translates to supplication or intercession with a higher deity as the target and, in other cases, a deified ancestor. Human beings face tribulations as they go about their everyday business. Every individual running an operation meets the element of uncertainty propagated by a lack of knowledge concerning what may occur in the next minute or generally te future. Such futuristic grey areas facilitate the need to talk to a supreme being with the faith that the deity who goes beyond basic human understanding has answers for tomorrow. Prayer can, therefore, have multiple functions such as thanksgiving or praise. The former involves rendering gratitude experienced in livelihoods while the latter entails exalting the deity. Comparative religion closely relates prayer to abstract meditation forms accompanied by chanting (spells) and other religious instruments like spells. Prayer takes different ways like rituals or sets liturgy, and people may perform them in an individual capacity or as a group. According to Bradshaw and Kent, other forms of prayer include incantation, singing in "hymns, incantation, formal creedal statement, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person" 2 . In the mentioned avenues, individuals express themselves to a supreme being, which may make demands while concurrently appreciating the positives. Therefore, prayer offers believers a route to direct communication with a supreme being making it significant in spiritual growth.
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Prayer has a rich history that alludes to total surrender and supplication, transcending from non-believers to believers. According to Brown, "the traditional posture of prayer in medieval Europe is kneeling or supine with clasped hands, in antiquity more typically with raised hands" 3 . On the other hand, the early Christian prayer posture involved standing while staring into heaven glamourized by a bear head and outspread arms. The practices later developed to factor a kneeling stance accompanied by clasping hands at the start of the high medieval period. Early methods involved communication with the spirit world in animism that a shaman facilitated to access the spirit world and reveal the realm's thoughts to the people using a trance. Others utilized astrology, fortune tellers, or healers resembling the prayer ideals, although different in a literal sense. The growth and development of religions from ancient spiritual believers like the Egyptian transcending to Ancient Greek religion and Roman religion expressed the origins of addressing deities using liturgy. They equally applied highly formulaic and ritualized ceremonial prayer. As ancient polytheists, faiths equally exemplified the need for communicating with supreme beings using lengthy praises and devotions. Some old beliefs, such as the Romans, accompanied God's supplication with sacrifices imagined as standard bargains between a deity and the worshipper. Such practices occurred in holy grounds consecrated for the purpose, facilitating efficient reach-out to a higher being to respond to an individual's wants and needs. Therefore, prayer has a rich history involving gradual growth and development, fortifying communicating with God with specific targets.
The act of prayer entails multiple modes depending on the occasion or the reasoning behind talking to God, magnifying differences in spiritual traditions, especially for Christians. Different religious practices offer a wide range of devotional acts depending on the set standards in lessons or teachings from the holy book. In Christianity, believers consider prayer a weapon that informs the wide variety of actions in various spiritual traditions. For example, a Christian may offer morning or evening prayers depending on personal afflictions or adhere to different timelines. In other cases, a Christian would say graces following meals consumption, and the individual may apply different reverent physical gestures. For the latter, some bow their heads and fold their hands when communicating to God while others speak at heart, although with a pensive look. The Christianity case differs for other spiritual traditions such as Native Americans who dancing acts as a prayer form while Sufis whirl and Hindus engage in vehement chanting. Jews bow as they sway back and forth; Muslims do the former accompanied by kneeling and prostration while Quakers practice silence. Standardized rituals and liturgies equally guide specific religious outfits as others trust in a combination of the two to facilitate the act of prayer. In all these forms, prayer is doable individually and privately or as a group whereby worshipers congregate to communicate their needs to a supreme being. It becomes a culture when inculcated into an individual's daily life. Many Christian denominations place prayer as fundamental for spiritual growth and development, although lack means for enforcement. They advocate for audible experiences from epiphanies, while some demand outward acts such as anointing with oil and a less notable fasting case. Therefore, the act of prayer differs across different religious traditions; however, they involve communicating wants and needs to God.
The prayer act illustrates the wide range of variations in such communication with prominent dominations having specific denoted pieces to reach out to God. The variations in modes of praying transcend to complete spontaneous communication or reading from a text. The Lord's Prayer informs the most common prayer for Christians recorded in the Bible as to how Jesus taught his followers to pray effectively. The framework of the Lord's Prayer exudes adoration, confession, and petition. Christians generally appreciate the trinity, which involves God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit with all prayers directed to the first who they consider a supreme being with qualities such as omnipotence, omniscience, and forgiving, among others. The last cluster informs the supreme being's capability to listen to the wants and needs of specific individuals, groups, or regions, thereby duly respond. Some Christians like Catholics and Orthodox go beyond praying to God the Father and ask those considered righteous and dwell in heavens such as saints or Virgin Mary to pray on their behalf, which acts as intercessory prayers 4 . Generally, it is common for Christians to apply closing remarks such as "through Jesus Christ your son" or recognize the holy trinity. According to Pestroiu, protestants usually utilize "In Jesus' name, Amen" or "In the name of Christ, Amen," although "Amen" is the common closing remark across the board 5 . Roman Catholic tradition goes beyond essential prayer to offer specific communication with God and devotions as reparation acts with the target of restoring spiritual sanctity for atrocities performed by others. The other prayer forms for the denomination include meditative and infused prayer with the rosary as a common rite. For the Eastern Orthodox Church, Jesus Prayer is heavily significant frequently repeated for "meditative hesychasm" as a culture.
Just like other prayers, Jesus Prayer is a highly effective form of communication to God for the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is also known as The Prayer. According to Hovorun, Jesus Prayer is "a short formulaic prayer esteemed and advocated especially within the Eastern churches: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" 6 . The piece's dominance explains the fame it has in the Orthodox Church's realms as a widely taught and discussed communication mode to God throughout the faith's history. The Prayer is fundamentally the same as it was during the past; however, the ancient and original form lacked the words "a sinner," which would be later inculcated for completion. Believers often recite the prayer in repetition as a fundamental part regarding individual ascetic practice, with its application paying homage to the eremitic prayer tradition of Hesychasm. According to Hovorun, Eastern Orthodox Church members offer Jesus Prayer high reverence with the silent treatment owed to the faith that it has the power to clean and open the mind 7 . Spiritual fathers of the tradition apply the prayer to achieve the mentioned attributes leading to opening the heart. The path conceptualizes the Prayer of the Mind or the Noetic Prayer followed by the Heat Prayer, with the latter considered an unceasing prayer advocated for in the New Testament in the scriptures issued by Apostle Paul. Some believers such as Theophan the Recluse thought of The Prayer as a formidable force in the realms of prayers due to the consideration of the Holy Name of Jesus, which is influential in Christianity. Therefore, Jesus Prayer relates to other prayers to communicate with a supreme being; however, its prevalence in the Eastern Orthodox Church is epic.
Jesus Prayer has a rich history that shows ties with other Christian denominations; however, its tradition based on the past has much to do with believers from the East. As mentioned earlier, prayer informs a significant part of Christian faith to communicate personal requirements to God with Christianity bearing many epic supplications that assist believers in achieving the mentioned fete. Jesus Prayer, just like the Lord's Prayer, is a highly significant and equally highly regarded prayer by believers. The former's tradition based on historical grounds belongs to Eastern Catholics, evident in the number of Latin Catholic texts factored in the compilation. Despite the inclusion, practicing Jesus Prayer never achieved dominance in Western Christianity compared to Eastern Christianity, with an exception in the Anglican rosary, which factors its recitation. There were reservations concerning the prayer despite its distinction from others, a common practice among believers when offered a new way of carrying out faith. "Orthodox theology of the Jesus Prayer enunciated in the 14th century by Gregory Palamas was generally rejected by Latin Catholic theologians until the 20th century, but Pope John Paul II called Gregory Palamas a saint" 8 . The praise cited the contributions of Palamas as an epic writer and a professional in the theological field with the power to influence believers in their spiritual journey positively. Scholars and theological masters in Christianity consider Jesus Prayer as an Eastern counterpart of the rosary, which has a high regard in the Christian West. Therefore, the prayer's rich history directly relates to other Christian dominations, although influence from the East acts superior.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Jesus Prayer plays a significant role in traditional practice with high consideration, given it centers around the name of Jesus. Believers or Eastern Orthodox Christians prominently apply Jesus Prayer when communicating to God, which attests to the mode of prayer as the most typical unceasing prayer form. Hovorun posits that the Eastern Orthodox Christians use it as a form of invocation, especially for those practicing mental prayer (the prayer of the heart) 9 . They commonly recite "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner," which is fundamental in the theological and realm. The wording arises from the scriptures therein has a spiritual meaning which may be total surrender to God and accepting human nature that propagates following short of spiritual excellence. However, more fundamental is the choice of wording centering around the name of Jesus that Christians believe God highly exalts with origins from God the Father. Using Jesus' name applies to Christian teachings with the scriptures requiring believers to use his name when making any kind of prayer. The address to Jesus mentioning him as Lord, Christ, and Son of God bears high significance given he is the premise of Christian faith as declared by God the Spirit. In Christianity, Jesus is the Christ, and he is Lord and believing in that forms the basis of the religion with the ability to proclaim it facilitated by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Prayer is significant as it calls on Jesus as the Son of God, which acknowledges God the Father, portraying an indwelling Spirit for a believer. It equally tells of acceptance as a child of God, drawing the Spirit of God into the heart of man. Lastly, Jesus Prayer recognizes that all men are sinners, and therein require to acknowledge the fact and seek forgiveness from God, making it a full atonement for wrongdoings. Therefore, by centering around the name of Jesus, the prayer is highly-valued meeting the spiritual needs of Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The first use of Jesus Prayer involves revealing the in-depth foundation of a believer, also known as the Hesychast method. It applies the verse that communicates "prayer of the heart," usually practiced in silence as a Hesychast prayer mode. The person praying sits alone in a bodily position and ensures the head bows with the face facing the chest or stomach. The "prayer of the heart" is repeated with every turn, feeding off aspiration and breath. The target involves pushing the believer to concentrate unwavering attention to the heart. To facilitate the process, a believer must release any thought wavering across the mind, thereby release all rational thoughts accompanied by discursive reasoning. The mind must turn into an empty page lacking any image. With a lack of imagination following the achievement of the most significant and concentrated attention, the believer repeatedly recites Jesus Prayer in silence (which is the meaning of hesycha). The goal is to unite the Christian to God and facilitate Christ's indwelling in the Spirit. Fathers posit that the prayer's faithful practice ensures a journey of unwavering divine guidance from God with unimagined hoy to the soul. At the end of the course, one becomes a firm servant of God. Therefore, the first function of Jesus Prayer for Eastern Orthodox Christianity tells the high valuation.
The Hesychast prayer method requires a believer to go beyond basic spiritual practices to achieve an in-depth relationship with God; however, it faced hurdles in the past. Its practice mandates having a spiritual guide with attributes such as genuine humility and sanity accompanied by wisdom and peace as a requirement for success. Lack of any of the mentioned factors may lead to spiritual disaster given enacting the mode of prayer draws decadent temptations. According to Pop, many abused the procedure by failing to adhere to the set standards leading to recent centuries curtailing the application in historical times 10 . There was an argument that the bodily postures and breathing techniques hurt the body in ruining lungs instead of acquiring God's Spirit. The position magnifies the challenges of Jesus Prayer's first function faced. However, the reservations leading to abortive uses, although considered genuine and richly rewarding, were opposed by Saint Gregory Palamas, who felt tradition was unquestionable. Evidence from the 14th century suggests the futile utilization of the prayer given lack of intent and personal interest. The latter facilitated idolatrous results in the spiritual technique leading to admonitions. The Hesychast method from its historic huddles attests to the basis of being human, thereby requiring going beyond typical faith to achieve spiritual excellence.
The second use of Jesus Prayer in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is opposite to the Hesychast method, although targets connecting a believer to God just like any other prayer. It involves constant and continuous repetition of the prayer without applying any bodily postures alongside breathing techniques. Also known as The Way of the Pilgrim, Saint Gregory Palamas taught believers the procedure during a short discourse regarding means of practicing unceasing mental prayer, which is the duty for every Christian believer 11 . According to Pop, the prayer method's goal and result involved continually uniting humanity with a higher deity using persistent memory of his presence 12 . The second method facilitated the perpetual invocation of God the Father's name with the hope of forging a firm believer in His service. It has ties to the scriptures that reveal humankind's ultimate purpose is to serve God. To achieve such a fete efficiently requires a believer to express Christ's virtues, accompanied by the Holy Spirit's fruits. The second method, thereby, directly relates to everyday Christian prayer that creates an avenue for believers to recognize God's power in their lives. It is directly opposite to the Hesychast method in practice; however, the target is more-or-less in propagating spiritual growth and development.
The final method of applying Jesus Prayer recognizes the human nature of high capability to fall short of spiritual excellence, thereby attempting to offer positive communication results with God. It involves unaltered readiness for tempting moments with Saint John Climacus stating that temptations are an enemy for spiritual nourishment. The name of Jesus has the power to fight against as the most potent weapon in heaven and earth. The third method operates best when a believer applies prayer without ceasing and unwaveringly calling out on Jesus. It is a continual "prayer of the heart" with the organ a prime target for sin that can only be defeated through grace. The final method appeals to remedying human beings' fundamental nature, whereby they face temptations daily from what they see, hear, or feel. One can't live in the universe without facing trials and tribulations, and when they come, there are only three possible results. An individual may yield to sin or may try to ward it off using personal might. Lastly, the person may utilize Christ's power that exists in the heart to defeat temptation. The final function considers human nature emphasizing faith as a means to ensure soul nourishment therein filling a believer with the grace and the power of God that renders temptation as futile efforts. It propagates one becoming the child of God, born by the spirit and bred by the Church, withholding susceptibility to sin through continual prayer. Therefore, the third use of Jesus Prayer directly relates to the other two in preventing sin, contributing to achieving spiritual excellence.
Jesus Prayer attests to the function of prayer involving affecting communicating with God. It is a predominant prayer mode in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, contributing to spiritual growth and development by preventing sin, heart purification, and mental health preservation. The functions reflect the fundamentals of prayer, especially in Christian faith, by calling on Jesus's name.
Works Cited
Bradshaw, Matt, and Blake Victor Kent. "Prayer, attachment to God, and changes in psychological well-being in later life." Journal of aging and health 30, no. 5 (2018): 667-691.
Brown, Rachel Fulton. Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in Medieval Christian Life and Thought . Columbia University Press, 2017.
Hovorun, Cyril. "Eastern Christianity and Meditation." In The Oxford Handbook of Meditation . 2019.
Pestroiu, David. "THE CONCEPT OF” THE PRESENCE OF GOD”-A LINK BETWEEN MISSIONARY THEOLOGY AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY." ICOANA CREDINTEI. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Scientific Research 5, no. 10 (2019): 21-30.
Pop, Simion. "‘I’ve tempted the saint with my prayer!’Prayer, charisma and ethics in Romanian eastern orthodox Christianity." Religion 47, no. 1 (2017): 73-91.
Siecienski, A. Edward. Orthodox Christianity . Oxford University Press, USA, 2019.
