The Jesus and … Abiding Practice
Bringing What Is into the Loving Presence of Jesus
1. Establish the relationship
Become still enough to say the name sincerely:
Jesus.
Pause.
Let the name represent remembrance, companionship, trust, and willingness.
You may add:
Jesus, I am here.
Jesus, You are welcome here.
No particular feeling is required.
2. Offer the open invitation
Say gently:
Jesus and …
Then wait without searching.
Allow a word, feeling, person, memory, situation, or quality to arise naturally.
When something appears, complete the phrase once:
Jesus and fear.
or:
Jesus and Bill.
or:
Jesus and love.
3. Let both be present
Do not analyse immediately.
Rest for several breaths with:
Jesus … and fear.
Let Jesus be remembered. Let fear be acknowledged.
Neither force the fear away nor feed its story.
4. Notice what is here
Very lightly notice:
Tightness is here.
Sadness is here.
A memory is here.
Resistance is here.
Nothing particular is here.
Then return to:
Jesus and …
5. Allow, but do not demand, purification
Silently offer:
Jesus, let this be seen truthfully and held lovingly.
Let healing occur only as it is ready.
Nothing needs to be forced.
6. Listen for the next wise step
Ask:
Jesus, what does love require here?
The answer may be rest, patience, forgiveness, a conversation, a boundary, an apology, professional help, practical service, or no action yet.
Do not force an answer.
7. Close the practice
End with:
Jesus, hold what has arisen.
Let what is not ready remain safely at rest.
May this practice bear the fruit of love.
Feel your feet, look around the room, and return to ordinary activity.
9. Examples and their different meanings
| Phrase | Possible spiritual intention |
|---|---|
| Jesus and fear | Let fear be accompanied rather than suppressed |
| Jesus and anger | Bring anger into truth, restraint, and discernment |
| Jesus and resentment | Acknowledge hurt without letting resentment govern the heart |
| Jesus and loneliness | Hold isolation within spiritual companionship |
| Jesus and shame | Seek responsibility without total self-condemnation |
| Jesus and grief | Let sorrow and love abide together |
| Jesus and Bill | Hold another person prayerfully without trying to control them |
| Jesus and war | Bring collective suffering into compassion, prayer, and responsible action |
| Jesus and love | Receive and deepen love rather than focusing only on pain |
| Jesus and joy | Let goodness be fully received |
| Jesus and Ross | Bring the whole person into the companionship of Jesus |
| Jesus and what is | Include the full present moment without selecting or rejecting |
10. “Jesus and Bill”
When another person is named, the practice should honour that person’s freedom.
Jesus and Bill.
This does not mean:
Jesus, make Bill behave as I want.
It may mean:
Jesus, hold Bill in love.
Help me see Bill truthfully.
Purify my own fear, judgment, attachment, or resentment.
Show me whether I need compassion, communication, distance, or a boundary.
The first transformation may occur not in Bill, but in the way you relate to Bill.
A helpful extension is:
Jesus and Bill—held in love and freedom.
11. “Jesus and war”
This is a form of contemplative intercession.
You are allowing the suffering, fear, aggression, grief, and moral complexity of war to enter prayer:
Jesus and war.
This should not become passive spiritual distancing. After abiding, the question may arise:
What compassionate action is possible for me?
It might be prayer, informed understanding, support for relief efforts, peacemaking within one’s own relationships, or refusing dehumanizing language.
The purification may include the release of hatred within the person praying, while preserving moral clarity about injustice and harm.
12. “Jesus and love”
The practice should not be limited to painful material.
Purification also occurs by strengthening what is wholesome:
Jesus and love.
Jesus and gratitude.
Jesus and gentleness.
Jesus and beauty.
Jesus and laughter.
Jesus and friendship.
Sometimes spiritual practice becomes overly focused on what needs fixing. But relationship with Jesus may also deepen through receiving goodness.
Jesus and love
may mean:
Let love be recognized as already present.
Let me receive it without fear.
Let love become embodied through me.
13. When the practice becomes too intense
The best invitation is not:
Bring up everything hidden.
It is:
Let only what is ready and helpful arise.
Pause when the practice produces significant overwhelm, panic, confusion, compulsive repetition, or a sense that you must uncover something.
Then:
- open your eyes;
- feel your feet and the support beneath you;
- name several ordinary things in the room;
- return to natural breathing;
- say simply, “Jesus, be with me now”;
- seek trustworthy pastoral or professional support when difficult material continues to overwhelm you.
Traditional teaching about the Jesus Prayer likewise warns against forcing techniques, pursuing unusual experiences, or assuming that every inner image is spiritually authoritative.
My overall assessment
“Jesus and …” is spiritually coherent, psychologically gentle, and potentially very deep.
Its greatest wisdom lies in four qualities:
- Jesus comes first.
- Nothing human is automatically excluded.
- Nothing is forced to change.
- Whatever arises is invited to abide in relationship with Jesus.
I would define it this way:
The Jesus and … Abiding Practice is a gentle contemplative prayer in which a person first establishes a heartfelt connection with Jesus and then allows any emotion, person, memory, quality, or concern that is ready to arise to be included in that relationship. Purification is not demanded. It is entrusted to the loving, truthful, and transforming presence of Jesus.
Its central sentence could be:
Whatever is here may abide with Jesus.
And its simplest form remains:
Jesus and …
Pause.
Jesus and what is.