Welcome to this guided Christian meditation for cultivating resilience and perseverance.
Come into a comfortable position,
Drop your shoulders away from your ears,
And rest your hands in your lap or at your sides.
If it feels comfortable,
Let your eyes gently close.
Begin to notice your breath.
Notice the natural rhythm of your inhale and your exhale.
Allow your breath to be slow,
Yet natural and easy.
Begin observing the physical sensations of breath in the body,
The cool air entering your nostrils on the inhale,
The rise of the chest and abdomen,
And noticing the air leaving is a little warmer on the exhale,
And the chest and abdomen falling.
Now allow your awareness to include your entire body,
Scanning the body from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes.
Breathing in,
Sending kind and loving breath to the areas of discomfort in the body.
Breathing out,
Softening and relaxing into the surface beneath you.
Now,
Bring to mind a situation that you've been suffering through for a while.
Perhaps it's a goal that you've set and it's taking a lot longer to come to fruition than you anticipated.
Or maybe it's a health condition that set you back or a loss of some kind.
It can be any situation you've been dealing with that's got you feeling weary or impatient.
Now,
Take a minute here to notice the thoughts,
Emotions,
And physical sensations that arise when you bring this situation to mind.
Hold all of it gently in your awareness with kindness and compassion.
Simply noticing what's here for you,
Not judging or criticizing yourself for having these thoughts and feelings.
And continue to breathe slowly and deeply.
Now,
Bring your awareness to sound,
Listening to the words that I'm saying and connecting with them deeply.
Continue to breathe slowly and deeply as I speak.
God is faithful as a provider,
Healer,
And miracle worker.
Though the process of perseverance is tough,
You know that staying the course will be worth it.
If we look at all the gifts of the Spirit,
Like love,
Joy,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Faithfulness,
Gentleness,
And self-control,
God tells us that persevering through our suffering results in our growth and his blessings.
When we suffer,
God plants the seed,
His free gift to us,
For all of the blessings that perseverance brings.
But we must be willing to wait,
Trust,
And proclaim his promises.
Now,
I'd like you to silently repeat the following prayer.
Holy Spirit,
Teach me to persevere through my suffering.
Give me eyes to see that you are working in me and all I need to do is surrender to your plan.
I accept the seed of my growth freely from you.
Help me to yield fruit.
Amen.
Let's repeat that one more time.
Holy Spirit,
Teach me to persevere through my suffering.
Give me eyes to see that you are working in me and all I need to do is surrender to your plan.
I accept the seed of my growth freely from you.
Help me to yield fruit.
Amen.
As we come to the end of this practice,
Know that you can come back to this practice anytime you need.
It's always here for you in your moments of suffering.
And by taking the time to do this practice,
You're cultivating resilience and perseverance,
Which will help you stay the course and yield the fruit of his blessings.
Now begin to bring your awareness back to your breath,
Noticing if you're on an inhale or an exhale.
Bringing your awareness to include your entire body seated here,
Noticing the points of contact between your body and the surface beneath you.
Perhaps bringing some small movements to the body,
Such as wiggling your fingers and toes or rolling your shoulders.
And when you're ready,
Gently open your eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me in this practice today.
May you be blessed and be a blessing to others.
