The shortest prayer
ord Jesus! — This is exactly how Stephen called upon the Lord in the face of imminent death (Acts 7:59). In that desperate moment, he looked into heaven, saw the living Son of Man standing at the right hand of God, and cried out with a loud voice (Acts 7:56, 60). We too can call upon Him in the same way, in times of deep need and sorrow as well as in times of joy.
“O Lord Jesus!” is the shortest prayer in the Bible.
Very often the sudden, desperate circumstances in which a person finds himself leave him no opportunity to turn to God with a long prayer. Therefore, the Lord has prepared for man the simplest and shortest way to Him — calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus out loud.
Instant salvation
“Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” — This is how one of the criminals crucified together with Jesus prayed (Luke 23:42). He had neither the time nor the opportunity to compose a long prayer. But the Lord Jesus immediately answered: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Why was it possible for such a criminal to receive the Lord's salvation so quickly and so simply? Because the Lord has prepared everything!
- He died for the sins of sinners (1 Cor. 15:3), freeing all who believe in Him from eternal punishment.
- He rose on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4), becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b), to enter into the spirit and the heart of everyone who calls upon Him with faith.
Calling on a living Person
In the original language in which the New Testament was written, the word translated “call” in Romans 10:13 literally means “to cry out loudly,” “to call aloud.”
Since Jesus rose from the dead, He is alive today. Calling upon Him is not merely a silent ritual or a quiet ceremony; you are addressing a living Savior who is right beside you, exactly where you are. When you find yourself in sudden danger or in despair, with no way out, it is completely natural to cry out, to call for physical protection, and the Lord hears your voice. But His promise of salvation goes far deeper than the salvation of the physical body alone.
The moment you open your mouth and call out loud, the Holy Spirit will enter your human spirit. You will be born of God and become a child of God. Regardless of whether the Lord preserves your physical life in today's circumstances or takes you to Himself, the moment you call upon His name, you will receive an eternal salvation that no earthly circumstance can ever touch.
The Bible assures us
For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom. 10:12-13
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom. 10:9
How simple! How wonderful! All of God's salvation prepared for man is now contained in these words: O Lord Jesus! “And there is salvation in no other, for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved!” (Acts 4:12). “And no one can say, Jesus is Lord! except in the Holy Spirit,” the apostle Paul emphasizes in his epistles (1 Cor. 12:3). The moment you open your mouth to call upon the Lord, you are already in the Spirit! The apostle also writes that we can call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ “in every place” (1 Cor. 1:2).
In whatever circumstances we find ourselves, whatever oppression we experience, however weighed down we may be, we can always open our mouth in this shortest prayer:
O Lord Jesus!