Contact Us

Directions to the Church: From I-71 take exit 22 and go south on Hwy 53 toward Ballardsville. Go 1.4 miles and turn left on Prestwick Dr.(across the street from Eagle Creek Golf Course), and take the next left up the hill to the church.

FEEDING OUR SPIRITUAL HUNGER: The Prayer of the Heart

Over the years we have taught that there are six basic prayers. You can remember them through the acronym ACTS In Communion. The prayers are Adoration, Confession of sin, Thanksgiving, Supplication, Intercession, and Communion with God (listening for God‟s will). There are many other kinds of prayers, and one I would like to write about today is a simple prayer that has become known as the “Prayer of the Heart.” Through the centuries, beginning with the monks and mystics of the Catholic church, the prayer of the heart was prayed over and over and over again, that it might affect the soul of the person praying, to the depths of their soul. The prayer goes like this, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.” This prayer has all the components of the basics of our Christian faith. As Henri Nouwen writes, “In the expression „Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me,‟ we find a powerful summary of all prayer. It directs itself to Jesus, the son of God, who lived, died and was raised for us; it declares him to be the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one we have been waiting for; it calls him our Lord, the Lord of our whole being; body, mind, and spirit, thought, emotions and actions; and it professes our deepest relationship to him by a confession of our sinfulness and by a humble plea for his forgiveness, mercy, compassion, love and tenderness.” (From Reaching Out by Henri Nouwen, pp. 105).

In I Thessalonians 5:17 Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. I believe one of the ways we can come closer to understanding how to pray this way is to have the prayer of the heart on our lips regularly and often. I have used this prayer, and other one-line prayers in my prayer life and have found that the more I pray it the more I will pray it, so much so that the words will flow through me often without thinking about it. This is not to replace the other prayers we offer to God in our day to day life like ACTS In Communion, but deepens our prayer life. If you have not tried praying the prayer of the heart over and over again I invite you to do so. I believe it will deepen your experience of God‟s constant presence in your life and help you to live the life of prayer without ceasing.