We can pray with our deep heartfelt desires,
Openly,
Unabashedly,
And with all of our senses.
This desire prayer invites you to use all your senses to create in your imagination a scene that depicts what you desire,
And then you pray in and through that desire.
This practice originates from prayers handed down by our Native American and Celtic ancestors.
I first discovered this type of prayer in the book The Isaiah Effect by Greg Braden.
He calls it David's Prayer,
And it's named after a Native American friend of his who introduced him to the idea of surrounding yourself with your deepest desire and offering it to the Creator.
In David's Prayer,
David is in the drought-ridden desert southwest,
And he intends to,
As he puts it,
Pray rain.
Not pray for rain,
But to enter into a way of prayer in which his gratitude for all of creation leads him to feel,
Touch,
Taste,
Smell,
And see what he believes the land needs most,
Rain.
In a Celtic version of this prayer found in Tanis Heliwell's Take Your Soul to Work,
You do much of the same,
And again you leave the outcome in the hands of the Divine.
Heliwell adds an important step,
Though.
You ask God,
As you understand God,
How you might assist in fulfilling this desire,
And you watch for opportunities to present themselves.
So let's begin and pray our desires before God.
Begin by taking a few moments to become calm.
Maybe say a prayer of gratitude for all that has been,
All that is,
And all that will be in your life.
Let your heart's deepest desire be stated,
And take a few moments in silence to see if the desire remains the same or if you want to state it in a different way.
Let your heart's deepest desire be stated,
And take a few moments in silence to see if the desire remains the same or if you want to state it in a different way.
Let your heart's deepest desire be stated,
And take a few moments in silence to see if the desire remains the same or if you want to state it in a different way.
Visualize your desire.
Feel it.
Touch it.
Taste it.
Smell it.
Let it become real to you in your imagination.
Linger there and see how the scene depicting your desire develops or changes.
And stay with this step for a few moments.
Let your heart's deepest desire be stated,
And take a few moments in silence to see if the desire remains the same or if you want to state it in a different way.
Let your heart's deepest desire be stated,
And take a few moments in silence to see if the desire remains the same or if you want to state it in a different way.
Now let go of specific outcomes.
Ask that the creator's desire be fulfilled in your desire or that your desire be transformed as needed.
And notice what,
If anything,
Changes as a result of that request.
Ask how you might assist in fulfilling this desire.
And stay in silence as you allow space for God to speak in and through your imagination.
Thank you.
.
.
You may want to spend a few moments right after this prayer reflecting on how it was to pray with a desire.
What surprised you?
Moved you?
Inspired you?
What disturbed you?
How did you feel God's presence in the midst of this?
And did anything about your desire change as you prayed it?
In the days following this prayer,
Be aware of opportunities to live and when they arise,
Take action and thank God for the opportunities and eyes to see them.
Thank you for sharing this time with me.
I'm Teresa Blythe.
This prayer and 49 others can be found in my book 50 Ways to Pray.
I wish you the peace that comes from practicing the presence.
