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Prayers

Orthodox prayers against jealousy and envy

Prayers against jealousy and envy, for when someone else’s life, gifts or success eat at you and you cannot stop comparing.

Picture: Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, The Mariakerk in Utrecht, 1638

3 prayers

When others seem to have it all

Whom have I in heaven (Psalm 73)

When my heart grew bitterand I was pierced deep inside,I was foolish and did not understand;I was like a beast before You.

Yet I am always with You;You hold me by my right hand.You guide me with Your counsel,and afterward You will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?And besides You, I want nothing on earth.

My body and my heart may fail,but God is the Rock of my heartand my portion for ever.

Traditional wording, 1611

Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before Thee.

Nevertheless I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand.Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Asaph envied the proud when he saw them prosper (Psalm 73:3). Then he went into God’s sanctuary and saw how they would end (Psalm 73:17), and these verses are his prayer afterwards.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Hebrew, with the King James Version beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: The King James translators, The King James Version, 1611.

Where it comes from, and the original

When envy blinds you or someone you love

Prayer of St John of Kronstadt for the envious

Lord, enlighten the mind and heartof this servant of Yours, (name),to know Your gifts, great and countless,past all searching out,which they received from Your boundless generosity.

For in the blindness of their passionthey forgot You and Your rich gifts,and felt poorthough rich in Your good things.And so their eye is deceivedwhen it looks at the good things of Your servants,which You, O Goodness beyond all words,give generously to all,to each according to their strengthand as Your will intends.

All-good Master,take the devil’s veilfrom the eyes of Your servant’s heart.Give them heartfelt contritionand tears of repentance and of gratitude,so that the enemy, who has caught them alive to do his will,may not gloat over themor tear them from Your hand.

Lord, enlighten me, Your servant,in mind and heart,to know Your gifts, great and countless,past all searching out,which I have received from Your boundless generosity.

For in the blindness of my passionI have forgotten You and Your rich gifts,and felt poorthough rich in Your good things.And so my eye is deceivedwhen it looks at the good things of Your servants,which You, O Goodness beyond all words,give generously to all,to each according to their strengthand as Your will intends.

All-good Master,take the devil’s veilfrom the eyes of my heart.Give me heartfelt contritionand tears of repentance and of gratitude,so that the enemy, who has caught me alive to do his will,may not gloat over meor tear me from Your hand.

Traditional wording, 1897

Lord, enlighten the mind and the heart of this Thy servant,that he may recognise the great, innumerable, and unsearchable giftswhich he has received through Thy boundless generosity;

for in the blindness of his passion he has forgotten Thee and Thy rich gifts,and although enriched with Thy benefits, yet he reckons himself poor,and looks enviously upon the blessings which Thou, O our unspeakable Benefactor,hast bestowed upon each one of Thy servants,even against their own will, but in accordance with Thy purpose.

Take away, Most Gracious Master, the devil’s veil from the eyes of the heart of Thy servant;grant him contrition of heart, tears of repentance and gratitude,so that the enemy who has ensnared him alive in his toilsmay not rejoice over him and may not wrest him from Thy hands.

St John of Kronstadt wrote it for anyone eaten up by envy, and you can pray it for yourself or for someone else. It asks God to open the eyes of the heart to the gifts that envy has made us forget.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Church Slavonic of his diary, with E. E. Goulaeff’s English of 1897 beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: E. E. Goulaeff, My Life in Christ, 1897.

Goulaeff has God giving “even against their own will”. Azbyka’s Russian rendering of the Slavonic reads “by the measure of his strength”, and the plain wording follows it.

Where it comes from, and the Church Slavonic

Ask God to drive envy out

Thanksgiving of the Liturgy of St Mark

We thank You, and more than thank You,Lord our God,Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ,for everything, through everything and in everything,because You have sheltered us, helped us,upheld us and led usthrough all our life until now,and brought us to this hour.

And we ask and implore You,good Lover of mankind:grant that we may spend this holy dayand all the time of our life without sin,with all joy, health and salvation,with all holiness and the fear of You.

O God, drive away all envy,all fear, all temptation,every work of Satanand every plot of wicked people,from us and from Your holy, catholicand apostolic Church.Give us what is good and what will help us.

If we have sinned against Youin word or deed or thought,be pleased, as You are good and love mankind,to overlook it.O God, do not abandon us who hope in You.Lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one and from his works,by the grace, the mercies and the love for mankindof Your only-begotten Son,through Whom and with Whombe glory and power to You,with Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit,now and always, and for ever and ever.Amen.

Traditional wording, 1886

We give Thee thanks, yea, more than thanks, O Lord our God,the Father of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ,for all Thy goodness at all times and in all places,because Thou hast shielded, rescued, helped, and guided us all the days of our lives,and brought us unto this hour …

We pray and beseech Thee, merciful God, to grant in Thy goodnessthat we may spend this holy day and all the time of our lives without sin,in fulness of joy, health, safety, holiness, and reverence of Thee.

But all envy, all fear, all temptation, all the influence of Satan, all the snares of wicked men,do Thou, O Lord, drive away from us, and from Thy Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.Bestow upon us, O Lord, what is good and meet.

Whatever sin we commit in thought, word, or deed,do Thou in Thy goodness and mercy be pleased to pardon.Leave us not, O Lord, while we hope in Thee;nor lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one and from his works,through the grace, mercy, and love of Thine only-begotten Son.Through Whom and with Whom be glory and power to Thee,in Thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit,now, henceforth, and for evermore.Amen.

This prayer from the Liturgy of St Mark begins by thanking God for sheltering and leading us all our lives. Then the first evil it asks Him to drive away is envy.

Plain English by Wiser Walk, from the Greek of the Liturgy of St Mark as F. E. Brightman printed it in 1896, with George Ross Merry’s translation beside it. How the wording is made. Traditional wording: George Ross Merry, Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, 1886.

Merry’s “for all Thy goodness at all times and in all places” is a free rendering. The Greek thanks God for everything, through everything and in everything, and so does the plain wording.

Where it comes from, and the Greek

Scripture for this

6“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

Genesis 4:6-7 Cain grew angry when God favoured his brother Abel’s offering. God warned him that sin was crouching at his door, and he must master it.

A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart gives life to the body, while envy eats away at the one who feels it.

13But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? 14Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Matthew 20:13-15 In Jesus’s parable the workers hired first grumble at the owner’s generosity to the last. He asks if they are envious because he is generous.

21When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!”

John 21:21-22 Peter asked Jesus about another disciple’s future. Jesus told him that was not his concern, and that he was to follow Him.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:15 Paul urges Christians to rejoice with those who rejoice, the very thing envy cannot do.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

James 3:16 James warns that where jealousy and selfish ambition take hold, disorder and every evil practice follow.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.

A psalm for this

Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.

Psalm 37:1

St Athanasius advised saying this psalm, to yourself and to others, when the wicked prosper and you are tempted to envy them.

Psalm 37 Read the whole psalm, with St Athanasius’s advice on when to pray it.

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Berean Standard Bible