- Prayers for the Ups and Downs of Life
- I don't know the words to use
- Prayers for honesty in yourself
- A prayer of anger
- When you're feeling flat and dull
- When God seems far away
- The power of prayer
- Feeling lonely
- Guilt and confession
- A prayer for friends
- When I'm feeling anxious
- Prayers for the busy
- Illness
- I don't think there is a God - how can I pray?
- When a loved one has died
- No one understands
- When you feel full of joy
- Before a job interview
- When you try hard but get nowhere
- The journey of life
- Care for others
- Home and family
- The life of faith
- The present moment
- Creative Prayers
- Forgiveness
- Being made whole
- Food in the wilderness
Creative Prayers
Light
(a) Begin with some relaxation or quietening down.
(b) Light a candle and if possible sit in a room dark enough for the candle to shed some light.
Look at the flame and observe the life that is in it - its movement and brightness, how the flame is never still. Allow yourself time to watch the light it sheds, to watch the darkness and the shadows. Light is itself the gift of God.
Give yourself some more time in which to get in touch with the light of Christ shining in the dark places of the world. There is no need to try to think interesting thoughts -just stay with the light.
'The light shines on in the darkness and the darkness has never quenched it.' (John 1.5)
The darkness will never overcome the light. As long as the light burns it is more powerful than all the dark in the world.
Recall that Christ promised he would dwell in us. How easily we forget this! His light is in you, not simply outside you, and that light is wanting to shine out through you and enlighten the world. Give some time to this too, picturing the light in the heart of you, waiting till you allow God to make you, too, a light in a dark world.
Remembering
This is a simple exercise. After a period of quietening down in some appropriate way take your mind back to an early experience, not one you have been told about but one you can remember, for example:
the earliest experience of justice you can remember ...
the earliest experience of injustice you can remember ...
the first time you were aware of prayer ...
the first time you really felt yourself to be loved ...
the first time you were aware of Jesus ...
the first time...
What time is it?
Imagine a twenty-four-hour clock. What time is it on the clock at this time of your life, and why? Write about this.
Is it too late for...?
Is it too soon for...?
Now is the time for...?
Listening
Most of us live in a world full of noise and so can find silence quite difficult. More specifically, most of us have got so much to say, and so little opportunity to share it with somebody else who'll listen to us, that we grab every opportunity with both hands, forgetting that the other person may themselves need us not to speak but rather to listen to them. So, some exercises to help us to listen:
(a) Settle down and be still. Then play a piece of quiet music (guitar music is ideal) and simply listen to it. It is important that the music is quiet, so that you have to listen hard. (10 minutes)
(b) Be still and be aware of all the sounds around you. Identify and name the sounds that you can hear, beginning with those furthest away and ending with the sounds of your own body - your breathing, heartbeat, etc. (10 minutes)
Then listen to those sounds again, and first give thanks to God for each of them in turn and secondly reflect on what God may be saying through the sounds you can hear. (10 minutes)
Taken from Approaches to Prayer by Henry Morgan.
