Eat, Pray, Love series

During these summer months, we have been gathering following worship for a time to share a meal together and learn different ways to pray.  I included a couple of things in my previous post but wanted to share a few more.

Prayer during different seasons of our lives

   Summer is a time of many different kinds of events

-          What events are you attending/participating in this summer?

-          How do you mark them?

o   What kinds of things might we pray about for these events?

    For everything there is a season

           Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

-          Other kinds of milestones in people’s lives (good or bad)

o   examples

§  Retirement

§  Moving

§  Losing job/getting new job

§  Teen getting license

§  Empty Nest or new family

§  Specific holidays

                    * What kinds of prayers might be lifted up for these kinds of milestones in your life or the lives of others?

- Tangible ways to mark these seasons

o   Laying on of hands with prayer

o   Prayer shawls to surround and uphold them(not just when people sick)

o   Lighting a candle

o   Make a collage of pictures (not just for funerals)

      

Resources:

      For Everything a Season; Blessings for Daily life by the Nilsen Family

      All Through the Day, All Through the Night: Family Prayers & Celebrations by David Batchelder

Praying with Color

   One of the newest trends is coloring books for adults.  You can find them just about anywhere.  Pictures and images can even be downloaded online.

 In this session, we used coloring pages that had Psalms connected to them.  

        They became a kind of meditation as we focused on the verse as we colored in the picture.

Another way is to do your own drawing, using this framework from a book called Praying In Color by Sybil Macbeth (the following is from her website:  http://prayingincolor.com/ )

 Reasons to pray with color:

1) You want to pray but words escape you. 2) Sitting still and staying focused in prayer are a challenge. 3) Your body wants to be part of your prayer. 4) You want to just hang out with God but don’t know how. 5) Listening to God feels like an impossible task . 6) Your mind wanders and your body complains. 7) You want a visual, concrete way to pray. 8) You Need a new way to pray.

 Here’s how to get started :

1) Write your name for God on a piece of paper. Draw a shape around it or just start to doodle. The drawing becomes a prayer space, a small prayer closet.                     

2) Add marks and shapes. Focus on the name you chose. Ask God to be part of your prayer time with or without words. If words come, pray them; if not, enjoy the silence

3) To pray for a person, write their name on the page. Draw around it. Add color, if you want. Keep drawing as you release the person into God’s care

4) Add other people to your drawing. Think of each stroke of your pen as a prayer for them. Take a breath or say “Amen” between each person