The Jesus Prayer - For Christ also suffered for sins once ... that he might lead you to God. 1 Peter 3:18

The Episcopal/Anglican prayer books helped give structure and added substance to my prayers but they didn't keep me in prayer long enough to really go deep with God.  And so I kept searching and began to read about and look into Eastern Orthodox Christianity and spirituality.  It was there that I encountered the Jesus Prayer which goes, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."  It is basically the tax collector's prayer recorded in the Gospels but addressed to Jesus.  And Jesus said of the tax collector in Luke 18, "¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (RSVCE)

It was a short prayer, easily memorized and it gave me hope.  As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (NABRE)   And the writer of Hebrews says in Chapter 4,
^"14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning. ¹⁶ Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (RSVCE)

And I was glad I learned it because I had a period of time that lasted a few months where I could not focus on the Scriptures, the Accuser was assailing me, my fear was crippling and words for prayer fled me except for the Jesus Prayer which I had memorized.  I repeated it over and over until each onslaught passed.

One fear that used to trouble me a lot was the fear of death, particularly if I was far from home or in a big city.  I was afraid I would have heart attack and die alone at the side of the road in my car.  And I would have panic attacks which felt like heart attacks.  I came up with a prayer of my own for those times.  "Lord Jesus, I belong to you so whether I live or die, I will be okay."  And it worked.  The fear would almost always disappear.

Eventually, I was led to start checking out the Catholic Church through the prayers set to music by John Michael Talbot and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song.  I will write about those next.