Tag: Psalm

Let Us Pray III (Beyond Sunday)

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Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

This week, we tried an experiential sermon time at DPUMC. There was only small amounts of exposition; most of our time was spent in practicing two kinds of prayer. Below are instructions for our in service activities and how to follow up at home. Special thanks to our pastoral intern, Annie Meek, for the Sharing section.

Being

Practice:

  1. Take three deep breaths, feeling the air fully inflate your lungs and fully exit your lungs.
  2. Focus your attention only on what comes from your senses. Be aware of what you’re touching, hearing, smelling, and sensing. Know that you are safe and comfortable.
  3. Take a word, preferably single syllable, that represents God’s love and care for you. Hold in your mind only this word.
  4. As thoughts, questions or distractions arise, repeat your word until they subside. Then allow the word itself to fade.
  5. Allow yourself to simply be in the presence of God without goal or agenda. Take up your word when you need, then let it fade.

At home, try repeating the practice for 20 min in the morning or evening (or both). Give yourself plenty of time to experience just being with God, but don’t worry if its hard to do for long at first. As you finish your prayer, use your sense to draw you back out of the silence and into the world. Repeat the focusing of attention on touch, sound, smell, and sense. Remind yourself you are loved.

Sharing

Practice :

  • 1) Ask your neighbor if they would share a prayer request with you.
  • 2) Listen mindfully and calmly, not trying to fix whatever comes up or go on tangents.
  • 3) Allow for a moment of calm silence and focus on your breath, remembering God is ever present, tending, and loving. 
  • 4) Pray for each other aloud or silently as you feel led.


At home, continue to practice sharing with these prayer practices alone or together with friends or family: 

  • 1) “Give thanks and pray for the world, the Church, and the concerns of the heart, followed by the Lord’s Prayer.” (The Book of Offices and Services of the Order of St. Luke, a United Methodist ecumenical religious order)
  • 2) Share gratitude with someone. Ask “what are three things you’re grateful for today?” And share the same for yourself. 
  • 3) Share time in silence or stillness. Practice contemplative prayer or meditation with a friend for 2, 5, 7, 10 15, or 20 minutes a day. Talk about it! 

Let Us Pray II (Beyond Sunday)

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Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;

you stretch out your hand,

    and your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 138: 7-8

One tool that disciples have long used in their prayer life is the Examen. Often associated with Ignatius, prayers of examen invite us to review our inner and outer life in the light of God’s grace. They encourage us to reflect on ourselves and to embrace our growing edges. (For more on Prayer of Examen read Maisie Spark’s article at Urban Faith)

There are several variations and patterns for Examen. This is an easy outline with which to begin:

  • Remind yourself God is present and what that means to you in the moment.
  • Recognize where God has been at work around you.
  • Repent your mistakes, transgressions and opportunities you missed to practice grace and service.
  • Reflect on the state of your heart and feelings that emerge during prayer.
  • Renew hope for growth and the days to come.

In my planner, I have the following examen prayer. It helps to center me and invites me to reflect when things get difficult. Like most prayers of examen, it is meant to be prayed slowly with space for reflection and listening after each section.

Lord, I know that you love me and that you are with me right now.

Lord, help me to be aware of your presence in the people I encounter and experiences I’ve had this day.

Lord, forgive me for the moments when I fall short; times when I am not the person you want me to be.

Lord, give me a heart that is more like your own so that I may be grateful for the blessings of this day.

Lord, grace me with the strength to embrace what awaits in hopefulness with hands outstretched to what lies ahead.

This week, try making a Prayer of Examen part of your spiritual practice. Journal what you discover about yourself and God.

Let Us Pray I (Beyond Sunday)

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You desire truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

Psalm 51: 6-9

In his Prayer, George Buttrick offered the following “hints” for a regimen of prayer: (Read an excerpt from the book)

  • Prayer is friendship with God. Friendship is not formal, but it is not formless…
  • Prayer begins, not in asking, but in a silent self-preparation.
  • …a primary impulse and the experience of praying people show that the first stage may be thanksgiving
  • Prayer my next become confession…It should not be ruthless, but it should not excuse…
  • Then may follow a prayer of intercession, without which most earnest prayer might sink into selfishness.
  • The fourth-order in our prayer may be petition. It comes last, not because it is most important, but because it needs the safeguard of earlier prayer
  • The intervals of these four prayers should be filled by meditation…Prayer is listening as well as asking; and its deepest mood is friendship held in reverence

How does your prayer time look? Is if frequent? Does it have a regimen?

Buttrick often urges specificity in all prayers. Why might that be important?

Try setting aside some time each day this week and pray according to Buttrick’s outline. Journal your thoughts and observations.

You Need Consecration [Beyond Sunday]

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 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes

1 Corinthians 11:26

God uses often uses ordinary things for holy purposes.  Baptism uses ordinary water; communion uses ordinary bread and juice; sabbath is ordinary time that has been set aside.  By our participation in these things, we–who are oridinary people– are made holy.

Throughout these 40 days of Lent, be invited to explore the importance of sabbath time for rest, rhythm, healing, wisdom, and consecration.  Sermons from our series can be heard here.

This week, try one of these practices and embrace some sabbath for yourself:

Confession

Before Sabbath time, choose a quiet place. Come to rest. Allow the heart and mind to speak of things that need to be spoken aloud, if only to the candle on the altar. Say aloud those things for which you feel a need for forgiveness, ways in which you were not clear, honest, or kind. If you feel comfortable, you can share this with another—a priest, minister, or rabbi, a therapist, a friend, a stranger. Notice how much of your grasping during the week is to make these things go away. Notice how they dissolve so much more easily when they are simply spoken aloud.

Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives (pp. 198-199). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

A Place at the Table

When we gather for a Sabbath meal, we partake of the spiritual companionship of all who have loved us, all we love, all who have gone before and will come after. Everyone we have touched, those who have taught or held or nourished us all come to the table. It is good to be mindful of our ancestors, our loved ones, our extended family who could not join us in body for this blessed meal. So when you eat, set a place, complete with plate, glass, and silverware, an empty place to hold the awareness of all who join you there in spirit.  For any sacred meal, it is good to leave a place of invitation, mindful of all those with whom we are, now and forever, consecrated family.

Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives (p. 203). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 

You Need Wisdom[Beyond Sunday]

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Be still and know that I am God!

Psalm 46:10

Sabbath asks us to let go, not only of work, but of the illution that our work can save us.  It reminds us that only God is God, and we are not.  That can be both uncomfortable, and reassuring depending on whether or not we are willing to embrace wisdom.

Throughout these 40 days of Lent, be invited to explore the importance of sabbath time for rest, rhythm, healing, wisdom, and consecration.  Sermons from our series can be heard here.

This week, try one of these practices and embrace some sabbath for yourself:

Thinning

What can you let go of? One thing, beginning with the smallest thing. A book unread—can it be given to the library? An old postcard on the refrigerator, no longer current? An old appliance, never used? Old clothing, never worn, to the poor? What of projects that feel like responsibilities but bring joy to no one? Pick one thing this week, another the next, and discard something that has become unnecessary. Feel any release as you let it go.

Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives (p. 185). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Cleansing

Sabbath is traditionally preceded by ritual bathing, a cleansing of the old, a preparation to receive the new. This allows a visceral sense of beginner’s body as well as beginner’s mind. Hands are washed before the meal, bodies are bathed before making love. Ritual cleansing, more than the soap and water, opens us to receive anew. Set aside some time for bathing, long and easy, with fragrances, candles, music. Pay attention to your body, wash yourself gently and with care for every inch of skin.

Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives (p. 191). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[Beyond Sunday] He Still Does (Miracles)

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They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?”  And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.”  Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”

-Mark 8:22-26

The ways in which God works can be strange.  Sometimes, they are all but invisible.  Maybe the reason we don’t often experience miracles isn’t that God is absent or silent, but that we are blind to see what’s going on around us. [hear sermon audio] 

 

This week, take some time to go deeper.  Use these scriptures and questions to reflect in your devotion time.

Texts to read:

Questions to ponder:

  • What is something you thought you knew, but later learned you were wrong about?
  • How did learning you were wrong change your view of the world?
  • What might make it difficult for the Disciples to see Jesus as he truly is?
    • What about the crowds who followed?
    • The Pharisees?

 

Do and share:

  • Be the miracle: This week keep your eyes open for someone who might need assistance or kindness.  Let God use you to be the blessing they need.
  • Share the story of a miracle God has done in your life in our Facebook group or on Twitter (@dpumc).

 

[Beyond Sunday] How Great Thou Art

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The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

-Psalm 29

In the midst of life’s storms, it’s easy to lose sight of how God is working in our lives.  We focus instead on the winds of worry and the waves of emotion.  But God is Lord of all.  And if we truly believe that is true, then nothing else can be lord of our life, not even our own fear. [hear sermon audio]

 

This week, take some time to go deeper.  Use these scriptures and questions to reflect in your devotion time.

Texts to read:

Questions to ponder:

  • What storms are you facing today?
  • When caught in the storm’s onslaught
    • What do you fear?
    • What do you give power?
    • Where do you see God at work?

 

Do and share:

  • Draw or paint a picture of your storm and share it on our Facebook Group.
  • Find a video of your favorite praise music and share in our Facebook group or on Twitter (@dpumc).