The Jesus Prayer – Prayer & Silence
Prayer is God – it is not something that I initiate but something in which I share; it is not primarily something that I do, but something that God is doing in me: St. Paul’s phrase, ‘not I, but Christ in me’ (Galatians 2:20). The path of inner prayer is exactly indicated in St. John the Baptist’s words about the Messiah: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). It is in this sense that to pray is to be silent. ‘You yourself must be silent; let the prayer speak’ – more precisely, let God speak. True inner prayer is to stop talking and to listen to the wordless voice of God within our heart; it is to cease doing things on our own, and to enter into the action of God.
