“to keep silent as you should and to be sober in your heart without effort, let the Jesus Prayer cleave to your breath – and in a few days you will see it in practice.” – Hesychius of Jerusalem
“Let the remembrance of Jesus be present with your every breath. Then indeed you will appreciate the value of stillness.” – John Climacus
By the remembrance of Jesus, he’s talking about the Jesus Prayer. And he’s talking about combining it with every breath. This is the basic principle of my personal devotional practice.
Following the directions of the anonymous author of The Way of the Pilgrim, I combine the Jesus Prayer with my breathing. When breathing in I say, “Lord Jesus Christ.” And when breathing out I say, “Have mercy on me.”
You can whisper it as first, but eventually you want to pray it mentally. Although during times of trouble it may be best to whisper it. I say whisper it because it is hard to talk while breathing in.
To help keep my mind focused, I am also aware of the feeling of the breath coming in and going out of my nostrils. This helps concentrate the mind.
Usually I use this as a mental prayer. I am saying the Jesus Prayer in my head. I am synchronizing the words with the breath. Being careful to begin the phrase at the moment of inhaling and at the moment of exhaling. This is important to build attentiveness.
This Prayer can be used throughout the day to recollect the mind. You can use it in moments of temptation. It can be the last thing to think before going to sleep, and it can be the first thing you pray when you wake up. It is a way to practice the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
Although there are other forms of the Jesus Prayer, I recommend to stick with “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” The longer version, used by Eastern Orthodox monks, is “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” It is a great prayer, but it does not synchronize with the breath.