I'm so glad you're here.
This is a practice that's been helping me learn how to pray.
I'm someone who needs a little structure in my rituals,
So I'm sharing the one I use in case it serves you too.
Here's how today's practice will work.
I'll guide you through each phase of our prayer practice,
Then the music will carry you.
And when you hear this bell,
I'll come back and lead you into the next phase.
There are three phases in total for this practice.
Gratitude,
The altar,
And asking God to order your steps.
At the end,
I will pray for you.
A soft front,
Let your shoulders come down,
Take a breath in through your nose,
Bringing the breath all the way down to the base of your spine,
Holding for a moment.
And then letting it go.
Let's do that two more times.
Great work.
The breath is more than air,
It's the spirit within you and everything around you.
So with every breath in,
You're receiving,
And with every breath out,
You're letting go.
This is how God made a way for us to come close.
So let's step into this space together,
Bringing the stillness we've just made within ourselves,
And let us pray these words together.
That can be out loud or in your heart.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight,
O Lord,
My strength and my redeemer.
We start with thanks before we ask for anything.
So let something you're grateful for come to mind.
It can be big,
Or it can be very small.
The light this morning,
The friend who texted you back,
The fact that your body woke up at all today,
That one thing and then add another,
And another.
Nothing needs to sound perfect,
We just simply need to notice all the things we have to be grateful for,
And say thank you to God for all of it.
If your mind wanders,
That's okay.
Simply come back to the breath,
Come back to your gratitude.
Let the music carry you into the next phase.
Now we enter the space with the altar,
However that looks to you.
Take everything you just gave thanks for and place it here,
All the good.
It was always God's to begin with.
Then place what has been heavy,
Whatever you've been carrying alone,
Set it down,
And let God do what God will do with it.
And take a moment to just breathe and listen.
Now we enter into the phase of the practice where we ask God to order our steps.
The ones we can see,
And the ones we can't.
The choices we make on purpose,
And the ones we make without thinking.
We can't plan for all of it,
We were never meant to.
But if anyone can order our steps,
It's God.
And rest here in this moment,
Remembering all the times you have been guided to the places that felt the best,
That gave you the most strength,
That let you feel the most loved.
God was in those moments.
Whenever you felt you're most disciplined,
You're most focused,
You're most aligned,
The Holy Spirit was moving through you.
Welcome that energy again now.
Before you go,
Let me pray for you.
God,
Thank you for the one listening right now,
For the breath that brought them here,
For every small yes it took to sit down and be still.
Where they have been carrying it all alone,
Let them set it down now.
Let what they placed on the altar stay there,
And when their hands reach to pick it back up out of habit or out of fear,
Let them remember it is already held and whatever they are hoping for is already done.
Order their steps,
The ones they've planned and the ones they haven't seen yet.
The steps they take on purpose and the ones they take half-awake on a Tuesday morning with a coffee in hand.
I pray that you are in those moments too,
God.
Where they have been waiting for proof that they matter,
Let them find it in the simple fact that they are breathing and that you did that,
And you are still doing that.
Give them rest that actually restores them,
Work that feels like an offering,
People who notice them.
Let them leave this practice knowing that they were never praying into the empty void,
But that they were heard,
And that they are not alone.
May the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts keep finding their way back to you.
Amen.
Before you open your eyes,
Take one more breath.
Notice it.
That breath is a gift,
As are all the breaths that come afterwards.
God is aware of you right now.
Thank you for praying with me today,
For bringing your faith into this space right alongside mine.
There's something about praying together that makes us both a little stronger,
Braver,
And more faithful.
Gift,
That God is aware of you right now,
That God is the reason you're breathing,
Whatever you came in carrying,
I pray that you are leaving feeling lighter,
That you are able to set it down on the altar knowing that it is in God's hands,
And that that's a good thing,
That your steps are ordered,
Even the ones you can't see yet,
So go gently into the rest of your day knowing that you are held,
That you are heard,
And you are not alone.
