Lord Jesus Christ, Be Present with Me

Pilgrim Series: The Sixth Meeting—Unceasing Prayer and Salvation

Source: The Pilgrim Continues His Way, author unknown, translated by Olga Savin, Shambhala, 2001

In the Sixth Meeting of The Pilgrim Continues His Way, the Skhimnik speaks with the Professor and the Pilgrim about unceasing prayer and salvation. Salvation occurs as we seek God through prayer and our union with God is restored.

When I think about seeking God, I remember the words of Jesus:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

My first step toward God was realizing that I needed God. I could not fill my own hunger or satisfy my own thirst. I needed mercy. I needed grace. I needed love greater than my failures, fears, wounds, and limited understanding.

As I have grown older and gained more experience, I have come to believe that another petition belongs within my practice of the Jesus Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, be present with me.

God is already present, of course. This prayer does not summon a distant God into the room. It awakens me to the presence I so easily overlook. It is my way of saying, “Slow me down. Make me attentive. Help me recognize that you are already here.”

Be Still and Know

The Psalmist tells us:

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

Prayer is not always saying words.

When I took the class With Christ in the School of Prayer, taught by Professor Laura Belle Barnard, we would sit in silence for a long time. At the time, I did not fully understand what was happening. I may have wondered whether sitting silently was really prayer at all.

Over the years, I have come to understand.

When I stop and listen, I begin to recognize that God is present. The silence is not empty. It creates room for me to notice the presence that my hurried thoughts, anxious questions, and constant activity often conceal.

To pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, be present with me,” is to invite God into the conversation—but it is also an invitation for me to remain in the conversation.

Too often, my prayers have resembled a Gatling gun: a rapid list of requests directed toward God, followed by a few last-minute “Hail Mary” appeals before I say “Amen,” shut everything down, and run out of the room.

I tell God what I need, what I want, what I fear, and what I believe should happen. Then I leave without becoming still enough to listen.

There is nothing wrong with bringing our needs to God. Jesus taught us to ask, seek, and knock. But prayer is more than presenting a list, and it is certainly more than dictating to God how every situation should be resolved.

Prayer is being with God.

Prayer is remaining in the room.

The Vine and the Branches

In John 15, Jesus describes our union with God through the image of a vine and its branches:

“I am the vine; you are the branches.”

A branch does not visit the vine occasionally, offer a list of needs, and then hurry away. The branch abides in the vine. Its life depends upon that continuing connection.

Separated from the vine, the branch withers. Connected to the vine, it receives the life it needs to grow and bear fruit.

The branch does not dictate to the vine how life should flow through it. It remains connected and receives.

That is what I am learning about prayer.

Prayer is not my opportunity to dictate to God what I need, what I want, or how I think every difficulty should be resolved. Prayer is a time of restoration and redemption. It is where I become still long enough to receive the oxygen of God’s mercy, grace, and love.

Just as my body cannot continue without breathing, my soul cannot flourish apart from the presence of God.

I breathe in mercy when guilt weighs upon me.

I breathe in grace when I do not have the strength to change myself.

I breathe in love when rejection, fear, or loneliness makes me feel that I am alone.

The breath of God does not always remove the road ahead of me. It does not necessarily resolve every problem or answer every question immediately. It gives me the life and strength to take the next faithful step.

Receiving the Breath of God

I need the presence of God. I need the very breath of God continually flowing through me and producing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I cannot manufacture those fruits through determination alone. They grow as I remain connected to the Vine.

Through the presence of God, I am slowly given the power to live in loving relationship with God, with other people, with myself, and with all creation.

This is salvation as restoration. It is my relationship with God being renewed. It is what has become weary receiving new strength. It is what has been wounded receiving healing. It is what has become distorted being drawn back toward love.

Unceasing prayer does not mean that I must speak religious words every second of the day. It means living with an open heart—returning again and again to the awareness that God is with me and I am held within God’s love.

I breathe.

I listen.

I remain.

I receive.

Then, by grace, I take the next step.

A Pilgrim’s Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
be present with me.

Quiet the noise within me.
Slow my hurried words.
Turn off the Gatling gun
of my anxious requests.

Teach me to remain in the room,
to listen in the silence,
and to recognize
that you are already here.

Breathe your mercy into my guilt,
your grace into my weakness,
and your love into my loneliness.

Restore what has grown weary.
Redeem what has been broken.
Renew what has begun to wither.

Keep me connected to the Vine.
Let your life flow through me,
producing love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.

Give me the breath I need
to take the next faithful step.

Lord Jesus Christ,
be present with me.

Teach me to abide.

Amen.

—The Curious Pilgrim