Always beginning again

One of the fundamental things to grasp about our prayer lives is that we are always beginning again, always beginners on a path we have trodden countless times already. It ought to be one of the first things we learn, but somehow it never is—the penny only seems to drop after years of practice, years of expecting to "get somewhere".
 
Of course, God being infinite, God is always infinitely beyond our understanding, and so we can never really ‘make progress’ in the practice of prayer. We can only begin again, each time we sit. 
 
This is one of the things I most like about the Jesus Prayer, that it quite explicitly eschews the idea of progress, of levels of attainment and things like that. It is such a simple practice, open to anyone. You don't need to be ordained, or theologically educated, or have made a certain number of retreats, or have studied the right books: you just sit down and say, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." That's all. It takes about 12 seconds, and the rest of one's life, to pray that little prayer.
 
Grace and peace, 

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation