There is a very great deal of importuning God, or Jesus, to have mercy on us, or other people - I have done great deal of such importuning myself, such as the Jesus Prayer.
But I've come to believe that this is a bad idea, because it tends to fix a habit of supposing that God and Jesus are Not merciful, but need to be importuned to be merciful...
It's as if God, or Jesus, is the problem!
As if we must Always be reminding them, even begging them to do... what is of their nature to do, and they cannot do otherwise.
Anyway, asking for mercy now seems like a Bad habit, and I am trying to remember that my loving-God does not, Not Ever, need to be asked for mercy.
There is something wrong, a sad and actually offensive misunderstanding, that Christians ever suppose otherwise.
As if we have mixed-up the true nature of our Father, with some other god who is a tyrant that demands repeated, even continual, propitiation.
Well, we are all sinners, and we all make mistakes!
But it's time to apologize to God for this one.
Note: Of course in asking for mercy, people may and often do mean something else - the words may not be intended literally; indeed may have more of a mantra function, perhaps simply directing our attention Godwards or at Jesus... All are possibilities. But I have come to dislike the word, and what I perceive to be its gravitational effect.
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