kύριε ἐλέησον

As discussed before, Mercy is God not giving us the punishment that we deserve.  When we say "Lord have mercy", we greet the Lord in confident prayer, welcoming the king, trusting in the ruler to provide for our need, recognizing that he is showing us mercy.

Psalm 51:1
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

The prayer is simultaneously a petition and a prayer of thanksgiving; an acknowledgment of what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will continue to do. It is discussed further in the Parable of The tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), "God, have mercy on me, a sinner", which shows more clearly its connection with the Jesus Prayer.


Luke 18:9-14
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”