Calming Guided Prayer

We carry in our bodies a felt sense of all that is burden and all that brings joy. In this "Guided Prayer" we use guided imagery to gently surrender our burdens and soften our hearts so that we can receive in an embodied way the grace and healing that are right here, now, and waiting for us. Grounded in the Christian Contemplative tradition, this meditation will help you to reconnect with your heart and God.

Transcript

So let's start by settling in.

Just begin to kind of settle and get comfortable.

Say hello to your body.

You can do this by sending your attention down to your feet and begin to sense your body from the inside.

It might help to wiggle your toes and let your attention move your way up,

Sensing your legs from the inside,

Your pelvis,

Hips,

Torso.

Let your sensation move up into your shoulders and then spilled on your arms,

Down into your hands.

And then finally to move up through your neck,

All the small muscles around your face,

All the while just noticing what's there today and saying hello to it.

You also want to be real gentle with yourself as you notice your mind.

You will get distracted as you do this.

And when you do,

Your job is to gently notice it and then real graciously just bring your attention back to the prayer.

And then finally,

I always like to pray for protection prior to practicing this kind of prayerful imagination.

So just take a moment and commit this time to prayer.

Maybe it would be something like this.

Lord,

Please protect and guide us right now.

Jesus,

Please bring the full power of your kingdom of love to this time of prayer.

Protect us from the deception and destruction of Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

Send your Holy Spirit to lead and guide this time and lead me into deeper connection with you.

Amen.

And so now if you can send your attention to this place of prayerful imagination,

I'd like you to imagine that you're walking on a beach,

Just you.

I want you to notice how incredibly peaceful and beautiful this beach is.

You want to notice how soft the sand is under your feet,

The cool water kind of lapping up over your feet.

Maybe warm sun on your skin with a nice cool breeze.

As you look around,

You notice that this water is cleaner than any water you've ever seen.

There's lush greenery as you look up ahead.

And you realize that this is a sacred place that's been created through your imagination by God for you to step into so that you can experience God's presence.

And as you walk and begin moving forward,

You notice a couple things.

The first is that you have a backpack over your shoulder.

The second is as you look up ahead,

You see Jesus waiting for you on this beach.

As you get closer,

You can see that he has this really warm,

Almost devious smile on his face.

He is so happy for this unique opportunity to connect with you.

As you get closer to him,

He motions for you to sit your backpack down between the two of you.

And as you open the backpack,

You notice that right here are the burdens that you've been carrying.

And so he suggests that you reach inside the backpack and take out the heaviest burden,

And so you do.

As you reach inside and begin to take it out,

You notice how this burden takes up space inside,

Kind of how your body carries it,

How it gets in the way of feeling good in life.

So let yourself notice that.

Feel the weight of it.

Maybe you'll have some thought about what it's connected to.

Just being real gracious with yourself.

And as you do that,

You look up at Jesus,

And he is looking at you with great compassion,

And you see that he gets it.

He not only gets the part that you understand,

But he also gets the bigger picture,

What it's all about.

And he kind of whispers your name and invites you to surrender this to him.

And so you go ahead and as well as you can,

Begin to gently place it there in front of him.

And with that,

You look back in the backpack and you decide to do this one more time.

And so you want to notice,

What else is a burden for me right now?

What else keeps me from feeling really good?

And so you reach in and take out the next heaviest burden.

And as you hold it on your lap,

You notice the weight of it,

How it takes up space in your body.

You probably have some sense what it's all about,

And you might also notice the way your body carries it,

That there's also a part that you don't fully understand,

And that's okay.

In fact,

That's good.

That's a sign you're having it for real.

And so you take that too and extend it.

And as you look up at Jesus' face,

He looks at you and you understand that he gets this whole issue for you.

He knows what it's all about,

And he invites you to surrender it to him.

And so you do.

And then you reach in and take out several smaller burdens,

Some stressors,

Things that make your life difficult.

And as you reach in and surrender them to him,

These things that make life tough for that stress you out sometimes,

He gently takes them one by one.

And as you look into his face,

You realize he knows this is hard for you,

And he really loves that you're sharing this with him.

And then one last thing,

He invites you to reach inside and take hold of any regrets or maybe mistakes,

Maybe things you've done that are wrong or good things that you probably wanted to do but didn't do it,

And now you regret it.

You might even want to ask Jesus to remind you of those times when you just weren't your best self.

Just look those things in the eye,

Put a name on them,

And then look up at Jesus and just let him know,

Hey,

I'm sorry.

I regret this.

And with that,

You get a sense of his warm glow of love and forgiveness.

He really does understand you,

And he knows you love him,

And he knows you're giving life your best shot.

And so he thoroughly pulls from you all of your regret and pain,

Even from levels you didn't realize you were carrying.

And then if there are any other areas of your life that you feel reluctant to share in this time with Jesus,

Invite him into that reluctance.

Simply let him know,

Hey,

I invite you into the center of this whole area of my life.

Please bring healing or insight or whatever else I need to move forward.

And with that,

You sense a renewed friendship with Jesus,

And he suddenly gets up and starts heading to the water,

Inviting you to swim with him.

Now he has a playful look on his face,

And as you dive into the water,

You feel that this is not ordinary water.

It's not only cool and refreshing,

It's also cleansing.

You can feel as you swim through it your tension,

Pain,

And even regrets being totally washed away.

And then he gets out of the water and gets a big comfy towel for you and wraps it around you as you step out.

Then he begins to walk back with you towards the place where you entered the beach.

He says he wants to pray about this life of yours.

He starts by showing you how Satan and his dark kingdom wants you to believe lies that will keep you from living with passion and freedom.

Maybe lies that say you're not enough or you're not really as lovable as most people or not forgivable,

Or that you can't do this project that he's given you,

Or that you can't survive the pain,

Or maybe that God is not enough or that God is not going to come through.

And so you have this lie that you need to take matters into your own hands.

As you sense how any of these lies have taken root,

Just look to Jesus and ask him to break your agreement and attachment with those lies and fill you with truth.

Maybe you would want to pray something like,

Jesus,

I break my agreement with these lies.

In your power,

Please fill me with your truth and protect me from the kingdom of darkness.

And you want to spend as much time as you need here breaking any lies that are undermining you today.

And then when you are ready,

You and Jesus begin to walk and he begins to remind you about the people he's put in your life.

And as he does that,

Simply pray for whoever comes to mind.

Maybe pray something like,

Jesus,

I surrender them to you.

Please bless them,

Heal them,

Fill them with your Holy Spirit.

Start with those closest to you,

Maybe people you live with,

People you work with,

People you do life with.

And then maybe just ask him to put on your mind whoever needs your prayer today.

And then finally,

Maybe pray for those people who've hurt you,

People who might be on a list that you would call enemies or people you just don't like.

And as you think of them,

Pray for them in the same way that Jesus would bless them,

Heal them,

Fill them with his Holy Spirit.

Now as you're getting closer to the place where you will leave this beach,

You can feel this deep connection with Jesus.

Your tension continues to be surrendered and released to Jesus.

And his peace continues to flow into your heart like you're having this ongoing exchange of energy in a deep space.

And just then before he sends you back,

He says he has a few gifts that he wants to give you.

First,

He embraces you and touches your heart and says,

I pour out my peace into your heart.

The world can't give you this peace I give you,

And the world surely can't take it away.

I give you my peace deep within you because I love you.

You take a moment to let that absorb into your body.

This is reality.

And then second,

He reaches for a shield and affixes it to your chest.

And he looks you in the eye with a somewhat serious look and says,

My cross is here to stand between you and the difficult people in your life.

My love will flow through this cross to exchange blessing,

But I will block the darkness of others from touching your heart.

So just look at Jesus in the eye and acknowledge,

Yes,

Jesus,

I need your protection.

And he will do it.

And then finally,

He reaches into his robe and says,

I have a special gift for you.

You're going to need this.

And with that,

He gives you a gift.

Take a moment to look at that gift.

And maybe hold it up to the light and notice what gift he's giving to you for today.

And with that,

You are now ready to step back into your life.

If it is time to fall asleep,

You can begin to picture yourself laying in your bed,

Filled with Jesus' love and peace,

Releasing all attention to him in an ongoing way and falling into a deep night's sleep.

If it's time to transition back into movement and action,

You can picture yourself engaging with the people or work that is waiting for you when you finish,

Allowing the energy from Jesus to flow openly and freely from your heart.

And so with that,

You can move your attention gently from this inner space of imagination back into the outer space where you are sitting or lying down,

Knowing that you bring the deep sense of abiding in God,

Connected with Jesus,

And ready to take on whatever your day brings.

Allow yourself to take a few deep breaths.

Begin to wiggle your toes and move your hands and arms.

And when you are ready,

You can open your eyes and begin to reengage whatever is waiting for you.

Reviews

Just what I needed to start a difficult day. I am at peace and ready.

Thank you for such a wonderful, healing prayer meditation.

This was awesome. May Our Lord Jesus bless you and yours.
Thank you. 🙏🏼✝️🛐🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊🕊💃

Your preschoole peaceful meds helped me to release burdens. Thank you

So glad to of found this specific mediation tonight 🙏🏼

This is exactly what I needed! The length is just right for afternoon or before you go to bed meditation. I would give it 10 stars if I could. Excellent.

Thank you! God met me there and it’s all I needed today.

Thank you so much for this soothing practice. I felt deeply connected to the divine source that which is God. I felt held in his presence and cleansed through his loving energy. I will bookmark this practice so I can come back to it again and again. Sending blessings to you.

This was a blessed way to begin my day! Thank you so much. Namaste.

I love this visual meditation. It gives me a deep peace and connection with Jesus. Thank you.

thank you this meditation is truly beautiful ❤️

Enjoyed the gift of imagery & creation. Very healing, armor for my heart.

Beautiful, thank you so much for this fabulous
Prayer.
Blessings of gratitude and abundance🙏

This was perfect for the morning!

Thank you so much!

Very good! Thank you! Namaste 🙏🏽

Thank you for the beautiful, nurturing imagery. Just the calm I needed in the midst of the wildfires and also the terrifying civil unrest. Bless you for sharing🙏🏼

Very much needed right now. Will listen again...and again. Thank you.

Beautiful. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for this meditation. It really helped me and I hope I continue to be helped! Such peace it would give me! Namaste 🙏