— an elder of Mt. Athos

Have you ever thought of prayer as exercise?

Yes; it’s worship, it’s love poetry, and it’s petition — but it’s also a workout for your soul. Greek Christians actually have a word for it: askesis, which implies an intense struggle.

Fortunately, like any area of work, God has provided numerous tools for our aid. In a previous article I offered a few meditations for the mind, and now I’ll share some practical tools that have helped fortify my own prayers.

1. Attach your prayer to a physical experience.

A friend of mine who lives on the fourth floor of an apartment building sees the daily climb as an opportunity to pray for those she loves. She says the name of a different person with every step, which means that she prays for 55 acquaintances at least twice a day.

Creative thinking can transform any physical experience into an opportunity to commune with God. Say you have a headache — take the opportunity to pray for everyone else in the world currently suffering from a headache. Or if you’re hungry, use the pangs as a reminder to pray for all the starving people in the world. Stress, loneliness, sadness — all can be used for the good of others. Ask God to show you small ways in which you can embody your petitions, and you’ll start to see opportunities for short little prayers all around you.

2. Traditional prayers can be a great aid to expressing the soul’s longings.

Some people claim that to repeat words someone else has written is to be disingenuous — that prayers should only flow spontaneously from the heart.

In my experience, though, repetition is anything but rote or insincere. Reading prayers that have come from the hearts of others is like reading classic love poems to my husband. To repeat — and so bring to life — words that others have penned is to renew the spark that prompted their composition in the first place.

Traditional prayers also speak deeply to our needs, because they transcend our own time and circumstances. They help us to both find our voice and join it with those of the millions of Christians who have gone before us. Our prayers unite us with the “great cloud of witnesses” referred to in Hebrews 12:1.

Here’s just one example of a traditional prayer that captures more than my heart has the gift to express spontaneously. A friend gave it to me on a slip of paper two years ago, and I have treasured it ever since:

Prayer for the Acceptance of God's Will —

O Lord, I know not what to ask of you. You alone know what are my true needs. You love me more than I myself know how to love. Help me to see my real needs which are concealed from me. I dare not ask either a cross or consolation. I can only wait on you. My heart is open to you. Visit and help me, for thy great mercy's sake. Strike me down and heal me, cast me down and raise me up. I worship in silence your holy will and your inscrutable ways. I offer myself as a sacrifice to you. You have said, O Lord, “A man’s mind plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Do not forsake me, O Lord, for I have put all my trust in you. I have no other desire than to fulfill your will. Teach me how to pray. Pray you yourself in me. Amen.

3. Every prayer is kindling for the fire of your heart; increasing prayer results in an ever-deepening love of God.

The chorus of one of my favorite praise songs begins, “Light the fire in my soul; fan the flames, make me whole.” The love of God has often been compared to an inner fire. When you become a Christian, a tiny flame flickers into being. But just as a match needs kindling and logs to start a heartening blaze, your heart needs prayer and grace in order for the love of God to warm every atom of your being.

If prayer is the kindling of the heart, then frequency of prayer is integral to keeping a fire burning. Though this may sound overwhelming to accomplish, it’s really not. We have thousands of thoughts every day that can be turned into prayers — negative thoughts that can become petitions, positive thoughts that can become praise. And, delightfully, the more your heart is warmed up to God, the more often you will naturally direct your thoughts into prayers offered unto him.

One phrase that has been particularly helpful to me is called “the Jesus Prayer,” and it is centuries old, beloved by many Christians:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

In the book Franny and Zoey, by J. D. Salinger, this prayer plays a key part. My husband was first introduced to the prayer through that book, which then compelled him to read a nineteenth century Russian classic called The Way of the Pilgrim, which Salinger references. In this account, a Russian peasant begins a quest to live out Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” The peasant is taught the Jesus Prayer (which can take on varied forms — “Lord, have mercy,” or even “Jesus, help!” also work great). Eventually, his soul becomes so saturated with the prayer that it continuously flows from him, keeping him in a state of constant communion with Christ. Though this is an advanced spiritual state, with the help of grace and a little practice “the Prayer” can become the background music of anyone’s heart, in much the same way a favorite song repeats itself in the back of one’s mind.

The components of the prayer are simple: an acknowledgement that Christ is Lord and that I am not. That’s the fundamental message of Christianity, and it is summed up beautifully in this single-phrase prayer. To repeat it is to both remind us of our fallen state, and to fill our hearts with Christ’s love — because when we humbly knock on the door of God’s mercy, it always opens unto us.

This “Jesus Prayer” stuff may sound superstitious to some, but as the hymn says, “There is power in the name of Jesus” — it’s the “name above all names.” The words Jesus Christ have driven demons from their haunts, healed the sick, and revived the dead. The repetition of Christ’s name cleanses our hearts as the tide washes the beach — purification is the end result.

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Prayer doesn’t have to be fancy. A verse in Ecclesiastes especially humbles me: “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth; do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

God is happy with our most fledgling efforts. He is delighted by our love for him. Every parent can attest to the beauty and power of the word papa or mama coming from their child’s mouth. How much more is Christ’s heart moved when we call on him?

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