The Jesus Prayer – A Cry for Mercy
“Lord, have mercy”, “Kyrie eleison” or “Kurielaison” is found in the liturgical worship from at least the 4th century and it’s use in Christian prayer may well be ancient. To ask for divine mercy is not to be seen as something gloomy and exclusively penitential. While the cry for mercy certainly involves sorrow for sin, it speaks also of divine forgiveness. It affirms that God’s loving kindness and compassion are greater than my brokenness and guilt.
