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Friday, September 21, 2007

spa for the soul - prayer


Prayer can be practiced in many different ways. Today I want to talk about “body prayer”. How can you use your body as prayer? Have you ever considered using a different posture than you are used too? Many of us sit, with our heads bowed and our hands folded. What if you raised your head and looked toward heaven? Or got on your knees….or laid prostate on the floor before Him? One friend told me she felt a desire to be on her knees before God. She had pushed it away and when the desire persisted she decided to do it in her home during her prayer time. It opened up a new beautiful way for her to connect with God.

Another way you can practice body prayer is to sit with your hands open, palms down as you begin to pray. This can signify letting go of anything you are carrying…troubles, problems, things that may be between you and God. Sit with God and envision all of those things falling from your hands. Then, turn your palms right side up and sit offering yourself to God, surrendering and abandoning yourself to Him. Your hands may represent an openness to whatever He has for you.

Sometimes using our body in a more intentional way with prayer can bring us more fully into God’s presence. Most importantly, sit with God and ask Him how He wants you to be with Him….how might He be calling you into prayer. If you sense Him inviting you to prayer with your body, consider trying it. It may open up a new experience between you and God.

Peace,
Deb

1 comments:

Lauren said...

Reminds me of a conversation I had with Jaida the other night. We were praying and she stopped mid-prayer and asked why we look down with our eyes closed when we pray. I gave her a few in-depth explanations about closing our eyes to focus on God and not what is going on around us and how we bow our head as a "reminder" that God is higher and more holy than we are, blah blah blah...and she said, Ohhhhk, but if the devil is down there and God is up there, i think it makes more sense to look up. : )