Category: Prayer
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Let not our souls be busy inns …
Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine,But quiet homes of prayer and praise,where thou mayest find fit company,Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away,And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee;where holy thoughts pass up and downAnd fervent longings watch and wait thy…
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Psalm 127, a meditation (Lectionary, Lent 4)
This week as I settled into prayer I returned to the words of this Psalm. As you gaze and meditate on the words, which words stand out to you? This week it was the words “unless the Lord…” which seemed to have the most resonance for me. I allowed them to come into sync with…
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A prayer, after Psalm 29 (Lectionary, Epiphany 1)
You who carve canyons,You who brood over wild waters,We gaze on your creation in wonder.This your temple, in which we cry — Glory!Mighty and majestic; wild and untamed,Lightening and thunder have nothing on you.Yet, to what can we compare you? Give strength to your people today.To all who fast and pray, to all who sing…
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Songs of Lament (hold me now)
One of the many gifts of the Hebrew Scriptures are the expressions of lament which are given voice throughout. The Psalms record many of these — with cries of of “how long O Lord?”, “Why Lord?” … “when Lord?” Note these words from Psalm 6: Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal…
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Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is a prayerful practice of reading a meditation on scripture. It’s been used many centuries and continues to be a nourishing discipline for spiritual seekers from all traditions. The Latin name, Lectio Divina, essentially means: “sacred reading”. So often we can get into the habit of monopolising prayer with our words. Lectio reminds us:…
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Examen (a variation with postures)
I’m grateful to the author Ian Adams for bringing this version of the Ignatian Daily Examen to my attention, in his book ‘Running Over Rocks’. This practice fits particularly well at threshold moments, such as the end of a day. The five stages correlate to fives gesture, incorporating our whole self into the prayer. Open…
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Centering: Palms Up, Palms Down
Author and teacher Richard Foster describes a prayer practice sometimes known as ‘Palms up, palms down’, it has also been known by the The Quakers as Centering Down. This version of the prayer uses gestures in order for us to “embody the prayer”: Practicing the prayer Begin by becoming still — sit comfortably, with your…
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Breath Prayer
Breath prayer, is a wonderfully simple form of prayer. Theres a simple physicality to this type of prayer —we receive each breath as a gift — a divine grace, and orientate ourselves with our bodies, heart and mind. Engaging in this prayer Some will combine this practice with ‘the Jesus Prayer’ — allowing their breath…
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Welcoming Prayer & Core Needs
Background & Introduction This prayer practice is version of what sometimes gets called a ‘welcoming prayer’. This particular version gives space to notice how we are in relation to three core human needs: affection and love, security and wellbeing, a sense of control and agency. These are all key parts of our humanity, they are…
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Responding to the divine Lover
“Prayer has far more to do with what God wants to do in us than with our trying to “reach” or “realise”, still less “entertain”, God in prayer… What we think of as our search for God is in reality, a response to the divine Lover drawing us to himself. There is never a moment…