Prayer Practices
In our busy culture, it is sometimes difficult to find a moment to stop and connect with God. Perhaps it is because our attention is being drawn into other areas. Perhaps it is because we are too tired. It might also be because we, like the disciples, may need someone to help teach us to pray. Each of these practices will give us a different approach to prayer. Hopefully, you will find them helpful as you reach out and make room for God. The language used for several of these practices have come from the book Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us By Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.
Examen
Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. – Psalm 4:4
Prayer Practice:
As you lie down in bed at the end of your day, gather together the threads of your daily encounters and activities. Thinking of them one at a time, ask yourself some of the Examen questions:
Where did I give or receive love in this activity or interaction?
How did I withhold love in this activity or interaction?
Whom have I blessed today?
Who has been a blessing to me?
What activity gave me the greatest high?
Which one made me feel low?
Reflect On where God was in the highs and lows of the day. How is God inviting you to pray about these things before you nestle into his arms and fall asleep?
Look over the past year. List the things that brought you life and the times you were able to truly give and receive love. List those difficult life-thwarting moments as well. What do you discover about yourself? How can self-awareness help you to realize a God directed life?
For Parents:
Teach your children the practice of finding God in their daily life. You can teach the Examen practice by playing “I spy God.” At the dinner table invite your children to tell you where they have spied God in their day.
Breath Prayer
Just as we cannot live on one breath of air, we can’t live on one breath of God. God is our Oxygen.
Take a seat in solitude and silence. Bend your head; close your eyes and breathing softly, in your imagination, look into your own heart. Let your mind, or rather, your thoughts flow from your head down to your heart and say, while breathing: “My Lord and savior Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Whisper these words gently or say them in your mind. Discard all other thoughts. Be serene, persevering and repeat them over and over again.
This can be done anywhere and everywhere. Practice it in the car, while at work, in the morning as you arise etc. Center yourself in communion with God.
Other Examples:
Breathe In “Abba” Breathe Out “I belong to you.”
Breathe In “Healer,” Breathe Out “Speak the word and I shall be healed”
Breathe In “Shepherd,” Breathe Out “Bring home my lost son.”
Breathe In “Holy One,” Breathe Out “Keep me true.”
Breathe In “Lord,” Breathe Out “Here I Am.”
Breathe In “Jesus,” Breathe Out “Have Mercy on Me.”
Other examples could be scripture
Psalm 63:3 Breathe In “Because your love is better than life,” Breathe out “My lips will glorify you.”
Psalm 16 Breathe in, “Keep me safe, O God,” Breathe Out, “For in you I take refuge.”
Good way to memorize scripture.
For Parents:
Work on a short scripture together or a phrase from a beloved passage and show them how easy it is to use scripture as a starting point for prayer. For Example,
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 23 – By repeating this, they can be reminded that God will take care of them. We do not need to worry. God is paying attention and we need not be afraid.
” I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Phillipians 4:13 – By repeating this, we are reminded that God gives us our strength. We cannot do anything apart from him.
Before a test, before they get into or out of Bed, show them how helpful this practice can be.
(Methods taken From the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun)
Centering Prayer
My soul finds rest in God alone – Psalm 62:1
May the Son of God who is already formed in you, grow in you, so that for you He will become immeasurable, and that in you He will become laughter, exultation, the fullness of joy which no one can take from you.
Isaac of Stella (1100-1169)
Prayer Practice:
1. Set aside a minimum of fifteen minutes (increase the time as you can). Set a timer if that helps you to be less concerned about when to stop.
2. Settle into a comfortable position.
3. Intentionally place yourself in the presence of God, in the center of his love.
4. Choose a simple word, phrase or verse from Scripture that expresses your desire for God (e.g., love, peace, grace, Jesus, great Shepherd). Let this word guard your attention.
5. Take time to become quiet. It is not unusual for the first minutes to be filled with many noisy thoughts. Don’t worry about them or pay attention to them. Let them go. Gently return your attention to the center of God’s presence and love by repeating your word. When your thoughts wander let them drop to the bottom of your mind. Don’t go after them. Gently return to the presence of Christ through repeating your word. Let the word draw your attention back to Jesus. Be with Jesus. Listen. Be still. When distractions persist let one of the following images help you return to Jesus.
Imagine that God’s river of life runs through you. Deep down, the river is calm and slow. But on the surface there is rushing and debris. Imagine your distracting thoughts are part of the debris floating in the current. Don’t try to capture these thoughts; release them and let the river of God’s life carry them away. Anytime you are distracted, let the distractions go with the river. Gently return to the presence of Christ with your prayer word.
Imagine that you are visiting a friend who lives on a busy city street. Because it is a warm day, the windows are open and all the noise and bustle of life float into the room through the window. At times you are conscious of sirens or people talking or children laughing, but your attention is devoted to your friend and you do not let your mind follow the sounds outside. As you meet with Jesus, acknowledge the noisy distractions that pull at your attention, but continually return to the moment with Jesus through your prayer word.
6. Rest in the center of God’s love. Trust that the Holy Spirit who abides in the depths of your spirit to connect you with God.
7. Take several minutes to come out of prayer. Don’t hurry. Breathe in the presence of Christ. Offer yourself to God for the tasks awaiting you (e.g., “I am yours,” or “Remain with me”).
For Parents:
Begin by showing your children how to calm themselves and focus on God in the midst of their busy day. When things get too difficult, show them how important it is to breathe and calm down. Show them how to focus on God through a short word or phrase. “Abba, Jesus, Shepherd, Grace, Love.” Even if it is only for a brief moment, show them how important it is to fully focus on the fact that we belong to God and that He is our father. We are safe in Him. Because Children have so much energy, stillness and calmness should be modeled and not demanded from them. Show them the way and train them in it so that they might incorporate it into their lives as they grow and mature in their faith.
(Methods taken From the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun)
Silence
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Revelation 8:1
As you begin considering silence in your life, Take a note of the Following Questions:
What might be going on in Heaven’s Silence?
How do you avoid or resist Silence?
Do you like to fill silences with sound and learning – tapes, talk shows, news and so forth? What does this mean?
Where do you have silence with God in your life?
Do you think God values time with you in silence?
Prayer Practice:
1. If silence is new, begin with ten minutes. Setting a timer can help a novice who keeps watching the clock. The timer lets you forget the time and settle into the quiet. As you become quiet, what do you hear? Let the noise go. Continue and let the quiet deepen. Be with God. After ten minutes, reflect and what it was like for you to simply become still enough to hear the background. Try this several times a day. What happens to you?
2..While doing a task, turn off any background noise and continue the task by offering it to God. Be in the present, doing what you are doing with a listening heart. What is it like for you? What distracts you?
3. If you struggle with Silent time, bring a timer with you to prayer. Sit in a quiet and comfortable place where you can attend to the Lord. Take some deep breaths, relaxing your body and quieting your mind. Put the timer on one minute. Become still before the lord. When a distracting thought comes to mind, count it, but drop it into the river of God’s Peace. Let it float down the river. Count each thought that comes to you in that minute. How many thoughts came to you? Repeat the practice for one minute. How many thoughts come to you the second time? Repeat it once more. What do you discover about quieting your soul? Do not become discouraged. Practice will help you learn how to best quiet yourself.
For Parents:
Play the quiet game with your child. Not simply to see who is the quietest, but to see who can hear the most from the quiet. Begin in small increments of time – 30 seconds and then add on when they are ready. Once the time is up, ask your kids to describe to you what they might have heard. Was it the hum of the Air Conditioner? Was it the bird outside? Was it the leaky water faucet in the bathroom? Explain to them how difficult it might be to hear those things when things are loud. Explain that it might be the same with God. When we are surrounded by noise, it might be difficult to hear what God has to say. But when we get quiet and still and begin to listen for Him and to Him, who knows what we might be able to hear.
(Some Methods taken From the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun)