Banner Newsletter | March/April 2023

spiritual d
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“Now I lay me down to sleep…”
It’s the first prayer many of us
learned. As children, prayer was
something done right before bed,
on our knees or on our backs with
our hands folded and a trusted adult
nearby – to help us remember the
names of everyone that we should ask
God to bless.
If we still pray, when we pray, is it
still in the same way – please help
those I can name? Perhaps we’ve
added gratitude to
our prayers, even
replaced asking God
for personal help with
expressions of thanks
for the many ways
we’ve already been blessed.
As a teenager, my nighttime prayers
slid off into contemplation of
everything I’d done wrong, or less
than perfectly, that day or ever, and
lists of what I would do differently
the next day. There was gratitude,
but also discomfort. And, eventually
fewer prayers.
What is prayer and how should
we pray? The second question has
dozens of answers, but the first one
should come first. Prayer is a personal
conversation with God. Our Creator
deeply wishes a personal relationship
with us. Prayer creates the opening
for that connection.
Our parents may have taught us
intercessory prayer, asking God to be
with us, our family, and members of
our community through times good
or difficult. Those prayers connect us
to God and to our community. But,
sometimes, they can turn into a lot of
talking and asking.
As in every
relationship,
conversations
need to include
recognition of
the value of the
other party –
remembering to
say thank you for
gifts, for visiting,
for being a friend –
and a healthy dose of
listening to what our
friend has to say. Does God talk to me?
I don’t know. But I know that finding a
way to listen for that still small voice
can help me through the difficult
times, let me celebrate the joyful
times, and bring me contentment that
passes for peace.
What if we don’t want to accept
what we might be hearing? We can
find ourselves wrestling with God,
especially when we are frustrated,
lonely, or angry. Is it ok to be angry
with God? Of course, God is way
bigger than we are. Keep sharing your
feelings with God – let the healing
wash over you. It may take weeks
or months or years, but our Sustainer you, Lord’ or ‘Yah-weh’ can
desires to be present with you throughout help bring God into your daily
the journey.
moments. ‘Lord, be with me’ is
sometimes necessary as well.
How can we be present to the God who
wants to be present to us? How can we The practice of Centering
listen? However and wherever it is most Prayer is an intentional
comfortable for each of us. Perhaps we discipline to calm your body
are most aware on a hike or a run. Many and open yourself to a deep relationship
of us find conversation more open when with God. Begin in a comfortable chair
we’re driving somewhere – perhaps turn with a reading or a calming thought and
off the radio when you’re alone in the car. a plan to spend ten or twenty minutes
For some of us, it’s our morning coffee simply open to the Spirit.
and an intentional moment of quiet or the
“Letting go of thoughts, you give
company of a devotional book. Often it
consent to God’s presence with one word
was by my sons’ bedsides after they were
that expresses that consent. You repeat
asleep – gratitude runs deep in that space,
the word any time the mind wanders
all I could think was ‘Thank you, Lord’.
– not constantly, like a mantra, but
If you are a nascent visual whenever you need to return attention to
artist, or just tired of the Holy One.”
trying to sit still, praying
Upon first beginning the practice, and it
with drawing paper and
is a practice for all of us, it’s good to give
a box of colors allows
yourself grace. If you have ‘ten-thousand
your hands to move and
thoughts’ in your twenty minutes, think of
your mind to clear. The
them as “Ten thousand opportunities to
book Praying in Color
return to God.”
by Sybil MacBeth offers a variety of
ways to expand your doodles into whole And isn’t that what every form of prayer
conversations with the Creator.
is – a return to God, to God’s love and
presence. As we make our personal
For folks with less time or more urgency,
relationship with God deeper through
Breath Prayers will fit into the moments of
prayer in whatever form, we celebrate our
your day – walking down the hall, pausing
connection with the God who nurtures
ahead of a difficult conversation, relaxing
us and with the community that cares for
before lunch or dinner are all great times
and with us.
to breathe in and out on the syllables of
words that have meaning for you. ‘Thank We have a place for you – to pray.
1
Muyskens, J. David, Sacred Breath: Forty Days of Centering Prayer, Nashville, Upper Room Books:2010, p.15
2
Bourgeault, Cynthia, The Heart of Centering Prayer, Boulder, Shambhala:2016, p.14 paraphrased
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