Find a comfortable place to lie down.
A bed,
A couch,
A blanket on the floor.
Wherever you are,
Let it be enough.
Let your arms rest at your side,
Palms facing up.
Open,
Receiving.
Let your legs relax.
Feet falling gently outward.
And close your eyes.
You made it here.
That matters.
Whatever you walked in carrying.
The weight of the morning.
The noise of the day.
The thing you keep turning over in your mind.
You can set it down.
Just for now.
You don't have to solve anything in this time together.
You don't have to perform or produce or hold it all together.
You are here.
He is here.
And that is enough.
Take one slow breath in through your nose.
Release it completely.
Again,
Breathe in.
And let it go.
One more time,
Inhale deeply.
And exhale every last bit of it.
You're already arriving.
Before we go further,
I want to give you a breath prayer to carry through this time.
It comes from Psalm 46.
The psalm will rest in together today.
As you inhale,
Let these words move through your mind.
You are my refuge.
And as you exhale,
I am hell.
So let's breathe that together a few times.
Inhale.
You are my refuge.
Exhale.
I am held.
In hell.
You are my refuge.
Exhale.
I am hell.
In hell,
You are my refuge.
Exhale.
I am hell.
You can return to this prayer anytime during our time together,
Whenever your mind wanders,
Whenever the stillness feels unfamiliar,
Just come back to the breath.
Come back to that truth.
You are my refuge.
I am held.
Now let's begin to settle the body with intention.
We'll use an extended breath to signal to your nervous system that it's safe to rest.
So breathe in through your nose for a count of four.
One,
Two,
Three.
3,
4,
And exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 8.
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Again,
Inhale 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Once more,
Inhale and exhale slowly.
All the way to the end.
Feel the surface beneath you.
It's solid.
Its study.
Let it hold your full weight.
Every pound of you.
Every ounce of you.
Every burden of you.
You don't have to hold yourself up right now.
Notice your shoulders.
They've been carrying a lot.
Give them permission to drop.
A little more.
Pair.
Notice your jaw.
Is it clenched?
Unclench it.
Let your tongue fall from the roof of your mouth.
Let your cheeks go soft.
Notice your hands.
Are your fingers curled?
Open them gently.
Palms up.
In the posture of receiving.
One more slow breath in through the nose.
And out through the mouth.
Your body is beginning to remember what rest feels like.
Let it.
You're going to move through the body slowly now from the crown of your head.
To the soles of your feet.
With each area we release,
We soften,
We let go.
Begin at the very top of your head.
Imagine warmth.
Like gentle sunlight resting there.
Let your scalp soften.
The muscles behind your forehead.
The space between your eyebrows.
Release any furrowing there.
Your eyes.
Let them be heavy behind your lids.
No need to look anywhere.
No need to see anything right now.
Breast.
Your ears.
Let them receive only stillness.
Your nose,
Your cheeks,
Your lips,
Soft,
Easy,
Unguarded.
Your chin.
Your jaw and chin.
So much tension lives here.
Let it dissolve completely.
Move down into your neck.
The back of your neck.
Where stress settles like a knot.
Breathe into it.
As you exhale,
Let it loosen.
Your throat.
This is where we hold the words we haven't said.
The fears we haven't named.
You don't have to speak them right now.
Just let the throat be soft.
Open.
Your shoulders.
Roll them back slightly in your imagination,
Just enough to open the chest.
Let them be heavy.
Support it.
Your upper arms,
Your elbows,
Your forearms,
All the way down to your wrists.
Your palms,
Each finger,
Heavy,
Warm,
Still.
Your chest.
Place your awareness here for a moment.
Notice it rising and falling on its own.
You don't have to control it.
Your body knows what to do.
Breathe in.
And as you exhale,
Silently whisper,
Be still.
Bye.
Your heart.
Whatever it's holding today.
Great.
Longing,
Worry,
Hope.
God sees it.
You don't have to explain it.
Just let your heart be known in this moment.
Breathe.
Your upper back.
Your shoulder blades.
Release.
Your mid-back,
Your spine.
Imagine each vertebrae softening,
Settling.
Your lower back.
Let the floor or the surface beneath you receive that weight.
Your belly.
We carry so much tension here without realizing it.
Let it go completely.
Saw.
Rising and falling.
At rest.
Your hips,
Your pelvis.
Happy.
Your thighs.
The back of your legs.
Your knees.
Your shins and calves,
All the way down to your ankles.
The tops of your feet.
The soles of your feet.
Your toes.
Resting heavy.
Your whole body,
From crown to sole,
Is heavy,
Warm,
And still.
You are completely at rest.
Stay right here.
Body heavy.
Breath slow.
I want to invite you into something now.
Not an exercise.
Not a technique.
Just an awareness.
God is here,
Not far off.
Not waiting for you to say the right words or be in the right state of mind.
He is here,
In this room,
In this moment.
Closer than your next breath.
The scripture tells us He is an ever-present help.
Not a sometimes present help.
Not a help when you have it all together.
Ever present.
Always near.
Imagine,
If you're able,
That warmth you felt at the crown of your head,
That gentle,
Steady light slowly moving through your whole body,
Not rushing,
Just present,
Resting in you the way you are resting right now.
This is what it means to dwell,
To abide.
To be with him without agenda.
If emotion rises,
Let it.
Tears.
Relief.
A quiet joy.
A sudden grief.
All of it is welcome here.
God is not made uncomfortable by what you feel.
He made you to feel it.
Just breathe.
You are my refuge.
I am held.
Stay in that awareness,
In that warmth,
In that nearness.
Bye!
Let me read over you now from Psalm 46.
You don't need to analyze these words.
You don't need to memorize them.
Just let them wash over you like water.
Let them be true.
God is our refuge and strength.
An ever-present help in trouble.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Therefore,
We will not fear,
Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
Though its waters roar and foam in the mountain's quake with their surging.
You don't have to be strong right now.
He is strong.
You can be still.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her.
She will not fall.
God will help her at break of day.
He is within you,
You will not fall.
Help is already on the way.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Nations are in uproar,
Kingdoms fall.
He lifts his voice.
The earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Whatever feels like it's in uproar in your life right now,
He is not shaken by it.
Here is your fortress.
Let that settle somewhere deeper than your thoughts.
Come and see what the Lord has done.
He makes war cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He is a God who intervenes,
Who moves,
Who acts on behalf of those he loves.
And then the words you were made for.
Be still.
And know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
Be still and know.
The Lord Almighty is with us.
The God of Jacob is our fortress.
Rest in that.
You are held by the God who holds everything.
And now I want to invite you to receive.
If you came here today carrying something in your body,
Pain,
Fatigue,
Illness,
A weariness that goes bone deep,
Bring it gently into your awareness now.
You don't have to name it out loud.
God already knows.
And if what needs healing isn't in your body,
But in your heart.
Like a womb that hasn't closed.
A relationship that has fractured.
A grief you haven't known what to do with.
Bring that to,
All of it,
Every Tinder place.
This is a moment to receive.
I'm going to pray over you now.
Let these words be for you.
You are the God who heals.
Your word says that by your stripes we are healed,
Not someday but already.
And so we come to you right now in this place of stillness and we ask you to do what only you can do.
Where there is pain in the body,
Move in that place,
Lord.
Bring your peace,
Bring your restoration,
Your wholeness.
Where there is inflammation or exhaustion or illness,
We ask for your hand to rest there gently,
Powerfully,
Completely.
Where there is a wound in the heart,
Come close,
Lord.
Breathe on the places that have gone cold or hard or helpless.
Soften what has calcified,
Heal what has broken,
Restore what has been lost.
You are not a distant God.
You are here.
You are the God who sees,
You are the God who knows.
The God who draws near to the brokenhearted.
And so we trust you with what we cannot fix ourselves.
Receive this one who has come to rest before you.
Let this time be more than stillness.
Let it be medicine.
Let it be encounter.
Let it be exactly what they need it.
Even if they couldn't name what that was.
In Jesus's name.
Now this space is yours.
In the quiet that follows,
I.
.
.
I want to give you time to simply speak to God.
Not a formal prayer,
Not the right words,
Just you and Him.
Honest,
Open,
Unhurried.
Maybe you want to thank him.
Maybe.
.
.
You need to ask for something.
Maybe you just want to be known.
Whatever is true for you right now,
Offer it up.
He is listening.
So I'll be quiet and this time is yours.
Return now to the breath.
To the stillness.
To his presence.
In hell.
You are my refuge.
Exhale.
I am held.
You are my refuge.
You I am held.
Rest here one last time.
Let your body receive everything that was poured into this time.
Begin to deepen your breath,
Let it expand your chest and belly slowly,
Gently.
With all your fingers,
Your toes.
Let awareness return to the room around you.
Roll gently to one side and pause there for just a moment.
There's no rush.
When you're ready,
Rise slowly,
Carry what has happened here with you,
The stillness,
The nearness,
The truth that he is your refuge and you are held.
Rest is not an escape from your life.
It's the place where God restores you for it.
So go gently.
You are deeply loved.
