Quiet Prayer Spiritual Practices

With Pastor Carol B. Roberts

Trinity United Methodist Church of Arlington

“Prayer is not primarily saying words orthinking thoughts. It is, rather, a stance.

It’s a way of living in the Presence.”Richard Rohr

Silent Prayer Practices have little to do with telling God our problems. Instead, they are a way we can adopt a receptive stance of openness before God. We spend time opening ourselves to God’s presence through the Holy Spirit, so that we may spend unstructured time, resting in God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to nudge and comfort us. It is a way of allowing our hearts to awaken to God’s presence and Word. This type of prayer helps us spend time trusting and resting in God’s presence through the Holy Spirit deep in our own spirits.

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Romans 8:26-27 The Message

Centering Prayer is also known as

Breath Prayer

The Holy Spirit’s name in Hebrew is

Ruach רוח קודשand in Greek is

Pneuma Άγιο πνεύμαBoth mean Breath or

Wind

This is the first step of any silent prayer practice. The Centering/Breath Prayer merely gives us a technique for focusing our minds, hearts and spirits on God as we begin to listen for God in prayer.

Centering/Breath Prayer opens us to God’s Breath, or Wind. “In the beginning,” God’s Breath hovered over the waters, gave existence to all and brought order to chaos. God’s Breath continues to sustain all life today. Just like one breath is not enough for our bodies, one centering or breath prayer will not sustain us through our day. Consider it a way of praying “without ceasing.”

Steps for practicingBreath or Centering Prayer

Select your favorite name for God(See last page for ideas) or choose a sacred word such as love, grace, peaceGet comfortable. Breathe deeply. Intentionally place yourself in the presence of God

As you breathe in through your nose, think about God’s breath entering into your bodyAs you breathe out through your mouth, breath out a prayer back to GodYou may also visualize your tensions, worries and anxieties being released and given to GodAs extraneous thoughts enter your mind, gently brush them aside and return your focus to the name for God or sacred word you have chosen

The Jesus Prayer is a rote prayer which

has been used in Centering/Breath Prayer for centuries

Lectio Divina: a way to pray Scripture

We pray with the Scripture,

meditating upon it, opening ourselves to the message of Love God has for us that

day, not for information or learning.

Lectio Divina invites us into the presence of God to listen for a specific love- message God wants to show us through a particular passage of Scripture at that moment. Lectio is usually done with someone else reading the passage to us. However, we may read the passage aloud ourselves as well.

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the

fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19 Emphasis added

Four Steps of Lectio Divina:

Lectio: Listening, ReadingMeditatio: MeditationOratio: PrayerContemplatio: Contemplation

To engage in Lectio Divina alone: Take a few moments to cultivate the silence. Lectio: Read the passage aloud, twice in a slow, deliberate fashion. Meditatio: Allow the Holy Spirit to teach you in your heart by considering any word, phrase or image that draws your attention. Return to a period of silence.Then, read the passage aloud again.Oratio: As you hear the passage again, notice if the Holy Spirit shows you a new word or image or if the same one that bubbled up before is deepened. Talk to Jesus about what you are hearing, thinking and feeling. Be honest with God; truly question and express your emotions or accept that nothing is coming through. Be sure to WAIT and LISTEN for God’s response. Invite Jesus to show you how this word or passage relates to your everyday life; is God nudging you toward a specific action? Follow the Spirit’s invitation to move deeper, allowing God to teach you in your heart.Read the passage aloud a third time.Contemplatio: Rest, enjoying time basking in the presence of God. Sink into peace and savor the graces you have been given. Let go of thoughts and

words, just relax and rest with God.Close in prayer. You may be led into intercession, praise or petition. Go as God nudges you.

To engage in Lectio Divina in a Group, follow these steps:

Select a person to be the facilitator.Take a few moments to cultivate the silence.The facilitator reads the passage aloud, in a slow, deliberate fashion.Listen for or notice a word, phrase, or image God wants to show you as you listen to the passage. After 1 to 2 minutes of silence, begin sharing the word, phrase or image you noticed aloud as you feel led. Sharing should be brief, direct, and without elaboration.Return to a period of silence. As the passage is read again, listen for or notice any emotions that arise.After 1 to 2 minutes of silence, begin sharing the emotion you noticed aloud as you feel led. Offer your reflection about what this meant to you. Return to a period of silence. As the passage is read a third time, listen for or any way God is speaking to you in your life right now,

or any other message God gave you during your listening.You may pray together or offer your

reflection as prayer. St. Ignatius’ Lectio Divina Prayer Method: Imagining yourself within the story*This method works best with narrative passages such as with Old Testament stories of Moses, Joseph and the prophets, and New Testament texts from the Gospels or the book of Acts.Open yourself to God’s presence through a few minutes of breath or centering prayer. Then ask for God’s grace and guidance as you meditate on the Biblical passage.Read and receive the story as if you are hearing it for the first time. Read the passage aloud, consider the setting, the characters and events. Close our eyes and let the scene take shape in your imagination, exploring the scene using all your senses. Allow yourself to become immersed in the story or scene. Ask questions about what is going on and why.Continuing to allow the scene to unfold, now pay attention to the interactions between the characters. Notice how they respond to what is happening and to each other. As you watch, try to discover what each person is thinking and feeling.Allow yourself to enter the scene as a participant, directly experiencing what is going on around you. If Jesus is present, what does He say to you? How do you respond? Pay close attention to your inner thoughts and

feelings. Reflect on any insights you receive or questions you have in conversation with Jesus. Share your emotions and listen for Jesus’ response.When there is no more to say or hear, allow yourself to enter into a time of simple rest with God. Close in prayer.

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and

female he created them.” Gen. 1:27..

Each of us were created in the image of God (Imago Dei) and are immensely valuable and of sacred worth. But sometimes, life experience can teach us that we are unworthy, and unwanted. This can result in hiding our true selves from others and even from God, and retreating into a self-created false identity. This false-self can be defensive, mistrustful and reactive; and is at the center of our dysfunctional relationships. It sabotages our ability to trust God and others.

Paul tells us to “put off” the false-self and put on our true identity in Christ (Eph 4:22-24, Rom 7:5, Col 3:8-11). “Since the false self is fabricated on secondary things we idolize, like reputation, success, status, family and jobs, it is always vulnerable. Things

that can be here today and gone tomorrow provide a precarious mooring for the soul. Our truest identity can never be something we

accomplish, earn or prove on our own. It is a gift we receive from Jesus.”1

Confession and Self-Examination These practices help us cast off our false-selves and put on our true identity: We are Beloved Children of God, of Sacred

Worth, and Created in the Image of God

True Repentance means that we examine our lives for sin, open up all the bad things in our lives to God in confession, and invite Him to come in and look at, or examine, our sin with us.

We do not pretend to be someone we aren’t, we do not hide our negativity, or mistakes from God. We lay down all our need to control, mask and manipulate before God. We reveal our sins and failures to Him, trusting in His perfect love for us.

Then, we ask for and receive forgiveness. Jesus, the only Son of God, gave up his position in Heaven to come to earth as one of us, showed us how to live with God and love others, and died a terrible death so that we could be forgiven of all our sins. Every time we confess the ways

1 Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook 99

we have failed to live with and for God, we open ourselves to the life-giving forgiveness of Jesus. Through confession and forgiveness, we live into the truth of being a new creature in Christ!

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;       test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 13-:23-

24

“Lament is a cry of belief in a good God, a God who has His ear to our hearts, a God who transfigures the ugly into beauty.” Ann

Voskamp

Prayers of Lament allow us to pour out our anger, griefs, frustrations, and heartaches to God. These emotions are a reality in our everyday life and sometime overwhelm us. God invites us to share our laments with Him, opening our hurts and fears to His healing grace.

Ways to pray prayers of Lament:Put your feelings of grief, anger and heartache into wordsTrust God to hold the pain while you cry and protest against the unfairness and agonyEnter into the wilderness with Jesus, share our own temptations from the evil onePray the Psalms of Lament:o Community Laments: Psalm 12, 44,

58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 89, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129

o Individual Laments: Psalm 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27

Walking the Prayer Labyrinth

The labyrinth came from the ancient practice of pilgrimage.

On a pilgrimage, or retreat, we intentionally 1. Travel away from the noise and distractions of the everyday life, 2. Eventually arrive and rest with Jesus, 3. Return home to live more deliberatively and obediently as Christ’s own.2

Guide to walking a prayer labyrinth:Intentionally leave behind the concerns and business of your day; a Breath Prayer will help center you in God’s SpiritAs you walk intentionally toward God (and the center of the labyrinth) think about the things you need to surrender to God in order to live more fully in the love and fullness of God’s Way. When you make it to the center, stay awhile and bask in the presence of God. Give God your sins; ask for the grace you need to sustain your life and feel Jesus’ loving embrace. Receive God’s comfort and peace. When you sense it is time to leave, slowly and with a quiet mind, make your way from the center back into the world, stopping to listen for God as the Holy Spirit prompts. Consider how you may consciously live out the word God gave you on your journey.

2 Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. 262.

When you receive a word from God on this journey, hold onto it as you return home; think of it often; it is a gift of love from God.

Intercessory PrayerIntercessory Prayer helps us see and love others the way God sees and loves them. Through intercession, we bring the needs, hopes, and brokenness of our friends and family to Healer God. No concern is too small or insignificant to give to God in intercession.

We are not seeking to manipulate God, but rather, to place the needs of others at the foot of the Throne; to invite God’s love and healing grace to work on and through those for whom we pray. We learn to turn over our need for control, and instead, trust God through prayer.

“Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and

sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” Ephesians 6:13-18 The Message

Names for Worshiping God:Alpha, Almighty, Advocate, Adonai, AbbaBread of Life, Bridegroom, BelovedChrist, Creator, Cornerstone, ComforterDeliverer, Defender, Divine OneEmmanuel, El Shaddai, ElohimFatherHoly One, Healer, Holy SpiritI AM, Incarnate WordJehovah, JesusKing of KingsLamb of God, LordMessiah, Maker, Most High, MannaOmega, Only-Begotten SonPrince of Peace, PotterRedeemer RockSon of God, SaviorTeacher, Triune GodThe Way, Water of LifeYahweh

This is not an exhaustive list; taken from pp 309-310 Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.

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God desires to enter our hearts,

and draw us closer to His Heart through prayer.

May God’s love and grace continue to fill you as you use these prayer

practices to connect to God regularly.

With God’s Grace, may this be so.Pastor Carol