The Jesus Prayer: A Cry for Mercy, a Path of Renewal - Hardcover

Talbot, John Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0830835776 ISBN 13: 9780830835775

Publisher: IVP Books, 2013

Synopsis

An ancient prayer for every day: "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner." These words have strengthened and comforted believers for centuries. The Jesus Prayer comes to us from the Eastern Christian tradition. In these pages, John Michael Talbot explores more of the roots of the prayer along with the theological and practical meaning of each word in the lives of believers today. Readers are invited to meditate on the twelve simple words that lie at the heart of the Christian East. Complete with historical context and exercises for self-reflection, this book shows how a single prayer could sustain the spiritual life of a civilization. Each chapter ends with a brief practice using the prayer.

About this title

About the Author:

John Michael Talbot is an award-winning Christian musician, writer, television presenter, motivational speaker and itinerant minister to churches and parishes around the world. An early pioneer of contemporary Christian music, Talbot grew up performing in a country-rock band with his brother Terry before embarking on a spiritual journey that led him through Native American religion and Buddhism to Christianity. At this point he and Terry joined the Jesus Movement, recording the album Reborn on the Sparrow record label. He is now recognized as Catholic music's most popular artist with over fifty albums and four million copies sold. His songs are published in hymnals throughout the world. A member of the Jesus Movement in the early 1970s, Talbot converted to Roman Catholicism in 1978 after immersing himself in the life and teaching of St. Francis of Assisi. He then founded his own community, the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, at Little Portion Hermitage as an "integrated monastic community" with celibate brothers and sisters, singles, and families. Talbot is also the author of numerous books bringing the Christian monastic tradition to contemporary life, including The Jesus Prayer, Blessings of St. Benedict, The Way Of The Mystics: Ancient Wisdom For Experiencing God Today and The Music of Creation: Foundations of a Christian Life.

Review:

"Any university library, whether state-funded or private, whether having Catholic heritage or not, would find Talbot's work quite helpful. Its brevity and style makes it an excellent introduction for any reader to the Jesus Prayer." (Garrett Trott, Catholic Library World, Vol. 84, No. 3)

"The Jesus Prayer is decidedly practical, not only instructing readers about the background and rich history behind the prayer but also devoting entire chapters on words or phrases from the actual prayer and going into depth about them. But perhaps most valuable, especially for Protestants who may be skeptical of The Jesus Prayer and its roots in Catholicism and Eastern Christianity, is that Talbot speaks as one who sees both sides. Talbot is indeed a Catholic steeped in the monastic tradition, but he began his Christian walk as a Protestant during the heady days of the early 1970s Jesus Movement." (CCM Magazine, Fall 2013)

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0830835776
• ISBN 13: 9780830835775
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 156