I have shared with a few of you the past few days or weeks that after the Bible study in the Book of Daniel I was thinking about explaining and giving detailed instructions on centering prayer. I haven’t done that in a number of years so I thought it would be good to discuss it this evening.
I was first introduced to centering at a pastor’s retreat back in 2013. We have been involved in centering prayer on Wednesday nights ever since. I have heard the positive side as well as the negative side of our experiences with centering prayer.
Several, over the years, have spoken to me about the wondrous feeling they had as the Lord revealed things to them during that centering prayer time. Those that were touched by the Lord in those times came to me in tears. One lady told me during that time, it felt like warm water was being poured over her head as she felt this warm sensation flow all the way to her feet.
Another man told me how the Lord had taken him by the hand and walked down the Via Dolorosa with him. The Lord spoke clearly to Marti last Friday night during the centering prayer time at the Tenebrae service.
By the way, I want to commend all of you for how quiet everything was during the centering prayer time at the Tenebrae service. When we sit quietly, it’s easier to hear God’s voice. The Lord has shown me some wondrous things during centering prayer time over the years. It was during the centering prayer time that Jesus, in person, showed Himself to me in this sanctuary.
That’s why we continue to practice centering prayer each week. By the way, you can do centering prayer any time, any day of the week. I promise you, your relationship with the Lord will be closer and stronger than you ever knew it could.
But centering prayer involves a number of things. As I was thinking about how to go about this, the Lord led very clearly down a path that I think we can all benefit from. So, this might take up a few Wednesdays but by the end, I think and I hope that prayer will be so much more meaningful to you. Ok?
I am going to start with talking about the Sabbath.
- What does Sabbath mean to you? What is the Sabbath?
- Now I want you to self-reflect. When God calls each one of us to be his child, we become a minister for Him. Whether you realize it or not, whether you like it or not, you are a minister for God—in your walk, in your talk, in everything you do and how you do it. So, as a minister, what one aspect of your ministry do you receive the most joy from? (There are no wrong answers to this). Why do think that is?
- What one aspect of your ministry do you receive the most anxiety and stress from? Why do you think that is?
-Would you say that you are living a Sabbath life?
If you google the word “Sabbath”, you’ll that the definition of Sabbath is:
1. a day of religious observance and abstinence from work, kept by Jewish people from Friday evening to Saturday evening, and by most Christians on Sunday.
2. a supposed annual midnight meeting of witches with the Devil.
What I want you to realize and hopefully practice, is that when you meet with the Lord for prayer, that is a Sabbath occasion for you. And I hope you meet with the Lord that it’s more than one day a week.
But that’s our first lesson when it comes to prayer. We need to remember that we are meeting one-on-one with God Almighty. It’s a special occasion. We need to be focused. We need to set aside that time to talk with Him and then be silent and allow Him to talk with us.
Prayer is not: “Here you go Lord. Here’s my list of wants.” And then walk away.
- Where in the routine of your everyday life do you give God time alone. Not reading the Bible, not studying for a lesson. When do you spend intentional time for rest and intimacy with God? Or do you?
- Knowing yourself as you do, what prescription would you write for yourself that would provide a more nurturing Sabbath rest?
• Calendaring time to be with God. Alone, no phones. No TV, No radio.
So, now that we’re getting an idea of how to prepare our minds and hearts to go to God in prayer in a more meaningful way, let’s talk about the first aspect and type of prayer. As we go through each type of prayer in the next few weeks, notice how each element of each type of prayer is vitally important to have a most meaningful time of centering prayer.
Let’s talk about your posture for centering prayer. Get comfortable. Close your eyes. Imagine your toes relaxing, then your feet, then lower legs, upper legs, work your way up, your thighs, your back, fingers, hands, arms, your shoulders, neck, face, then the top of your head. Totally relax as you breathe in and out normally. Ok. Now that you are totally focused on your relaxed position, let’s talk about the first type of prayer.
The first type of prayer is “Breath Prayer.” The breath prayer is a prayer practice when you focus all of your attention on a description, attribute or characteristic of Jesus. It might be a name that you have given Jesus—Jesus, Lord, Holy One, Abba Father, Savior, etc. It could be “Most compassion One,” Honorable One, Light of the World,…..
This form of prayer is rooted in various Scripture passages like Mark 10:47 where the blind man Bartimaeus cries out for Jesus’ help and says, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Or in Luke 18:13 we see the Pharisee and Publican confessing his inadequacy before God, and says, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Early church leaders in the 4th century would repeat one of these prayers over and overs until it became rhythmically connected to their breathing. This prayer can be used when you are alone, in a crowd, driving, walking in a group or just about anywhere. (Exhibit this by repeating it over and over)
Here are some suggestions for practicing Breath Prayer:
1. To practice the Breath Prayer, simply repeat silently the chosen word or phrase again and again as you breathe air in and out. Any variation of the phrases or names is acceptable. Exhibit.
2. Choose whatever is most comfortable to you as long as Jesus’ name, characteristic or attribute is mentioned in the prayer.
3. When distractions come, and they will, simply and gently turn your mind back to Jesus and repeat the prayer again, over and over.
Did you notice that you are doing nothing more than this? You are not giving praise to God. You are not lifting up prayer requests. You are not, what we term, praying, and yet you are. You are simply breathing God in and out. That should be your total focus.
By doing this over and over, you won’t be trying to ask God for anything. You won’t be thanking Him for anything, you are preparing your heart, mind, body, and soul to hear God speak to you.
So, tonight, as we go to God in centering prayer, try this and see if it makes a difference in what you hear God say to you. Remember that God make speak to you right away, or He might take a while to say something to you, or He might say nothing at all this time. But the more you practice this the more you will get in tune to God to hear when He speaks.
Next time we will take it a step further and talk about contemplative prayer.
