IconsgrHandmade Christian Orthodox Greek Komboskoini, prayer Rope 100 knots with Red Bead

Beautiful; should immediately

The quality is not the best, it started to lose some tassles and the tassle tie came off but all the resy of the knots from the cross and up are still very good!

This Komboskoini is beautifully made. The black color reminds the prayer that one is seeking forgiveness and repentance. I know some have complained regarding the size of the knots, but this forces the one praying to focus on each knot. As my προπαππούς (great grandfather) taught. This is done in steps. The Jesus Prayer is Spoken, then whispered, then said silently and finally it becomes one in your heart. For those simply collecting it is a beautiful religious piece. For those of us of the faith I over you the Greek prayer: Κύριε Ιησούς Χριστός, Υιός του Θεού, με έλεος, αμαρτωλός. For those wanting to learn the Greek pronunciation Kýrie Iisoús Christós, Yiós tou Theoú, me éleos, amartolós. In English: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Whether a collection piece or a honest use for repentance. I hope it serves you well and brings you whatever it is you seek.

Seems well made. I gave it as a gift. So I don't know how it will hold up.Prayer (is from the Latin word precari "to ask earnestly, beg, entreat") is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication.The prayer rope is to remind you to pray, and to help you pray.Sometimes you are instructed, by those trying to help you advance your faith, to pray at certain times, certain prayers, or even a set number of prayers. The knots and the beads help you keep track.Many who use the rope recite the "Jesus Prayer" "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."In the Bible,KJV, Matthew 6:7 it says, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." this is NOT what the Jesus prayer is about.When repetition is used with the rope, the point is not to just repeat the prayer a certain number of times. When used in this way it is to facilitate something like meditating, to help you block out the world, and your own thoughts so that your mind is open to God, and not occupied with your own thoughts and wishes. This prayer is to help you reach a "silence" in yourself, so that you may hear what God has to speak to you. If you wish to know more about praying the Jesus prayer this link may help, [...] . This site has a great deal of information about prayer, I highly recommend it.Sometimes BREATH PRAYERS are used for each knot. Small bits of scripture that you can say in a breath, that have particular meaning for you, that help you and give you courage...Psalms 142 "teach me to do thy will, for thou are my God"Mark 9:24 "Lord I believe, help thou mine disbelief!"Why pray so much, so often?"Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!" (Matthew 26:41, NLT)How to pray.First, pray(ask) God for God's help in guidance in your prayers. Lord open my heart, soul, mind and will to you. Help me be honest with you, and myself. Help me grow in knowledge of you and in belief. Teach me oh Lord, guide me my Lord, in your loving kindness help me pray. (amen, means "so be it.")You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13, NIV)With your whole heart. When you do this come with your heart open, with truth and honesty, nothing hidden, asking not directing. When you have really reached into your heart and mind to communicate with God, sometimes it is as if the doors open, you may get flashes of understanding, or peace, or you may cry..for any number of reasons: the beauty of what is happening, the love given to you that you do not deserve but are gifted with, your sorrow at not being more...Sometimes you are stuck and don't know what to pray.A simple way to start is to start to pray with anything you are afraid about, or anxious over. Or there is a method called Lectio Divina. (reading divine literature) You start reading scripture, until something strikes your heart and mind and opens up emotion in you. Then you stop and think and pray about that with God.How do you know if it is God speaking, and not your own self?Who does what you hear benefit? If it benefits you, then it may be yourself you hear. Often God give you what some call, a "gentle leading." Often God tells you over and over what God whats you to hear. God inspired the scriptures, but also created nature, and people. Sometimes you may hear others say the same word or phrase to you over and over again, about some issue you have been praying to God about.Sometimes you pray and feel nothing. It feels as if God is not listening to you.When this happens, examine yourself. God never leaves you. Often when this happens there is something you have done or are doing in your life that separates yourself from God. It is not that God is not listening to you, but that you are not listening to God. Something you are not willing to give up that you should; perhaps resentment, anger, a lie, a hurt...About the prayer rope.The prayer rope is sometimes called the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. This can be because in Ephesians it says that the word of God is the sword of the spirit. Also because prayer that is HEARTFELT and has accessed the Holy Spirit's inspiration (which prayer often does when you finally can make your prayer come from your heart....and often the tears from your eyes), is a weapon that defeats Satan.The belt is truth,the armor is righteousness,the shoes are the gospel of peace,the shield is faith,the helmet is hope,the sword is the word of God (Eph 6.14-17).Different colors are sometimes used. Red for the blood of Christ. White for purity. The BLACK COLOR signifies REPENTANCE.The word repentance, comes from the word that means to turn or TO CHANGE. When we repent we review our thoughts and feelings and feel sorrow for anything that we have done wrongly. (sin is anything that is contrary to what God wants. To sin is to step off the path towards reuniting with God.) We commit to a personal change, and actively think about and pursue a better, more responsible, more loving and humane life.Just a side note... if, you know or you discover in your prayers that you have wronged someone and desire to try to make it right with them; repentance is more than JUST saying you are sorry. You may ONLY be sorry, or have some regret for what you have done, or you may be upset because what you have done has disrupted your life and you want it to be easy again. Without a true expression of repentance, most people find it hard to honestly forgive something that has seriously hurt them.To offer a TRUE apology, it must show true repentance. To do this you should be prepared to do the following:1.) fully acknowledge what you have done. This means you should show them that you understand the pain and evil you have done. By what you tell them it should show that you have given it serious, deep thought; not just why you did what you did, but that you have considered what it means to them and their life and their ability to trust you. They deserve this, it helps them heal, it validates what they have paid for the evil you have done to them.2.), you must be, and show that you are in true pain, realizing the pain you have caused. You must be willing to suffer, as you have made them suffer. You must abase yourself and not become offended at their anger towards you and desire for you to be humiliated. In effect you are abasing yourself to them, giving them permission to judge you in a way that may cause you more pain. If sincere, you do not have the right to be mad at them when they open up their feelings and it hurts you. You must be prepared to forgive THEM, just as you are hoping they will forgive you.3.) You must be and show that you never intend to do this again. Often people don't confess or apologize because they don't think that they will be able to never do the behavior they did in the past again. This is hard. Many repeat the harm to themselves and others that they now need to ask forgiveness for. That is one way prayer can help you truly repent. Pray when tempted to sin. When tempted imagine God and or Jesus are standing right there with you. Few would act as badly in front of Jesus as when they feel hidden from him.4.) You must try to repair the damage you have done to them. This may mean being openly honest not only to the victim but to others and justifying the victim. This is hard. It is hard enough to admit your error to yourself, then to the victim, but then to have everyone know. YES it is hard. That is one reason why being TRULY sorry is rare, and why so many apologies are not accepted. Perhaps it means monetary reparations, maybe it means time and work and effort over quite a long period of time. Maybe it means repaying that injury to those that the injured party left behind.BEING TRULY CHRISTIAN is hard. Being truly repentant is hard. But, Jesus did not say following him would be easy, or quick, or let you keep all your toys or friends.That is why you need as much help as you can get. Prayer, scriptures, meditation, contemplation, fasting, good works, giving, worshiping God are tools to help you.I have never used a prayer rope, but I can see where it might help. Often it is REMEMBERING to do what you have intended to do that is a major stumbling block in progress along the path to God.. Even when we know we should pray before we eat, do we? And if so, is it just a short recitation of a memorized formula, for show? Did you know that the Jews, that Jesus prayed before AND after a meal. Do you pray on rising, on retiring? Do you know some Jews are also taught to pray before going to the bathroom (not sure why, but I guess we all have to do this several times a day and so this functions like a knot on the prayer rope...to remind us.)The prayer ropes come with different numbers of knots on them.I think it might be easier to use the smaller sized one of 33 KNOTS which stands for the age of Christ when he was crucified. You wear it on your left wrist and count using the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. There is even a finger sized prayer rope of ten knots.Sometimes the numbers are:41, for the lashes Christ received.64 for Mary's age when she died (assumption)The 100 knot rope should be also held in the left hand when praying, and when done wrapped around the left wrist, or kept in the left pocket. The reason it is worn or kept with us is to remind us that we should be constantly praying. The reason it is NOT worn around the neck is the same reason we are told to pray in private, we should not display our prayers to others.There are ropes even longer 150, 300, 600 knots. I think these may be used by the religious community in going about their daily prayer rules.The rope should be made by a person of true faith, and who lives a good life (a life that tries to stay on the path to God), and who is praying the entire time they are tying the knots and making the rope. Which is why usually a monastery makes the prayer ropes. There are a number of sites out there one of which is [...], which has prayer bracelets using the seeds called the tears of the mother of God.The rope can be made of wool, which symbolizes that Jesus was the Shepard, and we are his sheep. Sometimes they are made of simpler materials like any kind of rope or string, or may be made of silk, or soutache, beads, even the seeds of a plant called "Tears of the Mother of God" or "Pangia's tears".When you pray, remember God told us that if we ask, we shall be given. SO...EXPECT your answer. LOOK for it. Jesus often said that BELIEF is what caused those who sought his healing to receive it. Often Jesus said BELIEF is what healed them. Keep an open mind, the answer may not look like what you expected. Fasting helps in both prayer and in seeing the results of the prayers.Often you do not notice something that is right in front of you UNLESS you have it in mind and are looking for it.

Prayer ropes can get pricey. If you need a 100-knot prayer rope but can't afford one hand made from Greece, this is a fine solution. It has the correct number of knots, they are all tied well, and the beads are properly spaced. It's a bit frizzy but I don't expect it to fall apart any time soon. I am happy with it.

This prayer rope is very well made, sturdy and beautiful. I bought one for my brother, one for my husband and one for myself. My brother and husband really like them. They are more masculine looking than rosaries and are easier to carry. They can be worn around the wrist. I pray rosaries but I love to use the Prayer Rope when I don't have time to say a full rosary. They can be used to "pray constantly" or meditate! Make sure you stretch the rope to separate the knots so you can count them easily with your fingers! I like that they are made and blessed in Greece. They feel like they will hold up well. I will buy more for gifts.

Knots are small, too tight, and too close together. Makes it difficult to know if you are hitting each knot or skipping over some knots.

Good rope, Hard to feel the 99 knots (1 is missing) especially when you are a nail biter. Knots are close to eachother. I reached into my pockets and found it apart.