Dr.
Charles Stone Hello and welcome to Methods,
An exploration in guided prayer and meditation.
My name is Dr.
Charles Stone.
I am a pastor in London,
Ontario.
I wrote the book,
Holy Noticing,
The Bible,
Your Brain,
And the Mindful Space Between Moments.
My approach to mindfulness incorporates scripture and cognitive neuroscience as it is telling us so many benefits of mindfulness.
So I'm going to lead you into a short meditation on how you can apply what I call the BREATHE models.
It basically stands for,
Each one of the letters stands for a particular aspect of holy noticing or mindfulness is the way I practice.
Just try to find a quiet place,
Hopefully free from distraction.
I would encourage you to take a few slow deep breaths.
When you exhale slow and deep,
I found something called the Jesus Prayer very helpful.
You can modify one for your own purposes.
On the in-breath,
Something like Lord Jesus,
On the out-breath,
You are good.
You can modify that for what works best for you.
Begin with a few deep breaths with your Jesus Prayer and then envision the word BREATHE.
Just to give you a quick understanding of what each of those stands for,
Then we'll walk through each of them.
B stands for Ponder and yield your body.
R stands for Review and renew your relationships.
E stands for Notice and engage your environment.
A stands for Label and release your afflictive emotions.
B stands for Observe and submit your thoughts.
H stands for Search and surrender your heart.
And then E simply stands for Engage,
Engage the world like Christ.
So,
You've taken a few deep breaths.
We begin first at B.
Begin with thinking of some of the scriptures about our body.
King David said,
I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
The apostle Paul wrote that we are to submit our bodies to him because our bodies are a temple.
As you reflect on some of these scriptures,
Imagine a scanner going through your body like an X-ray.
The bottom of your feet,
Your left foot,
Left leg,
Right foot,
Right leg,
Up your torso,
Left arm,
Right arm,
All the way through your head.
As you do that,
Pause in various places.
What are you feeling?
What are you sensing?
What are you holding your attention?
As you do this simple body scan under B for ponder and yield your body,
Thank God for your body.
Even for small things like how your hand and your wrist move,
How you're able to smell good smells,
The smell of fresh bread.
It can be a time of deep gratefulness.
Linger there a moment and just tell the Lord,
I submit my body to you today.
B,
Now R,
Review and renew your relationships.
Imagine in your mind's eye concentric circles.
In that center circle,
Place an image of those most dear and precious to you.
Pause for a moment.
Pray for God's blessing upon them.
Is God prompting you to do something for them?
Are those relationships good and healthy?
You may even need to place in that center circle someone you're struggling with.
How do you move forward in that relationship?
Take a few moments to do that and then think of the outer circles.
Those people not so close to you,
Perhaps people at work,
In your church,
In your neighborhood.
Is God telling you anything about them?
That you've done B,
Ponder and yield your body,
R,
Review and renew your relationships,
And E,
Notice and engage your environment.
Think of scriptures about how God owns the world and his marvelous creation.
You might want to read Psalm 8,
Powerful Psalm.
Listen for things you've not heard before.
Listen for sounds beneath the sound.
If you're in a place where nature is around you,
Observe.
Observe the trees or the stream,
The flowers.
Listen to the birds.
Listen to the wind.
You're paying attention to God's masterful creation.
Praise him for that.
You've done B for body,
R for relationships,
E for environment,
And now A,
Label and release your reflective emotions.
How are you feeling right now?
Can you label that bad,
Sad,
Pensive,
Angry,
Depressed,
Happy?
Name those emotions.
Galatians 5 says,
Speaks of the fruit of the Spirit,
Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Goodness,
Faithfulness,
Gentleness,
And self-control.
Ask the Lord to fill you with those positive emotions.
Call out the negative emotions.
Be present with those emotions.
Simply observe them.
Yield them to the Lord.
So you've gone through B for body,
R for relationships,
E for environment,
A for affect,
T,
Observe and submit your thoughts.
The scripture says we are destroying speculations in every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.
We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
What are you thinking right now?
What are you ruminating over?
What thoughts are going through your mind?
Observe them.
Be present with them.
Just simply be there and acknowledge them.
Linger there for just a few moments.
Both you've done B for body,
R for relationships,
E for your environment,
A for affect,
T for your thoughts,
And now H,
Search and surrender your heart.
Psalm 139 says,
Search me,
O God,
And know my heart.
Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
If there's any offensive way and me,
Lead me in the way ever last.
Be open to the Holy Spirit's searchlight upon your heart.
Is there any sin that you have not unconfessed?
Any attitude that needs to be dealt with?
Allow him to stir that in your heart.
Is the Holy Spirit stirring your heart to take a step of faith?
Is he stirring your heart to do a deed of kindness to someone?
Is he stirring your heart to move forward in a relationship?
Just present and listening for a still small voice.
So you've gone through B for body,
R for relationships,
E for engaging your environment,
A for your affect and emotions,
T for your thoughts,
H for your heart,
And finally E,
Which means engage.
As you finish this simple mindfulness practice,
Go out and live out a life of noticing,
Being present,
Being present in the moment,
For God,
For yourself,
And for others.
Thank you for participating in this episode of Methods.
