Praying to Slow Down
This Lenten season you are invited to work on slowing down through spending time with God through practicing prayer. Each week during our Wednesday Evening Service which starts at 6:30PM we will take time to learn and experience a form of prayer. If you'd like to look ahead and see what is coming up or be reminded of a practice you are starting to learn, you can come here and find links to more information. Our partners in ministry at The Episcopal Church of Our Savior and First Presbyterian are also offering some prayer Experiences as well. You can learn about them here too.
Lego Prayer
Using Legos to pray is a tactile and auditory experience that uses something we may at times find to be a bit of a cluttering nuisance in a new way. In addition to the prayer of confession and forgiveness that is presented in the video, Pr. Breen Sipes says this prayer is also a great way to simply bring your needs to God one brick at a time.
Web Prayer
This prayer has nothing to do with the internet. Instead is it a way of making connections and seeing relationships. It's meant to help us get deeper than surface level generalities in prayer. Presented here with a focus on thanksgivings, which have a tendency to get repetitive, the Web Prayer can be adapted and used to help with prayer when you feel like you are in a rut.
Sharing and Singing Together
No extra link is needed for this one. For this practice, I'll be sharing a practice that my family does on a nightly basis. While praying for each other, as a means to help us listen to one another, keep ourselves focused on each other, and remind ourselves of God's presence with us, we respond to prayers that express needs and prayers that give thanks with a simple sung "Lord have mercy" or a "Thanks be to God" This sharing and singing together is one of the practices that builds faith in our family.
Fishy Prayer
We have been using these prayer fish in our Faith Formation work since last Summer. Kids and Adults both have found them calming and helpful. They pair well with many different reflections on what God is doing in our inner life, and what we are doing in the world as a joy filled response.
Shushing Prayer
One of the more difficult things we encounter in life is learning how to be gentle with ourselves. Shushing prayer is meant to help us learn to do that better.
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the cross will be hosted by The Episcopal Church of Our Savior on Wednesdays during Lent. Father Steve makes the following invitation: This Lent, you’re invited to a weekly walk with Jesus, to reflect on our Lord’s life being poured out for us. With a printed reflection guide, join the crowd walking (indoors) the Stations of the Cross. Most stations are based on Bible accounts of Jesus’ last day; a few stations are based on Christian tradition. Each station includes a spoken reflection on Jesus' journey, silence, and a prayer. You can stand or sit at each station.
Stations will be on Wednesdays, Feb. 21 through March 27 at Noon, at Church of Our Savior, 203 West 4th Street. Soup and conversation follow. Silent prayer time in the church will be at 11:30 am and after Stations until 1:30 pm. If you have questions, please contact Fr. Steve Meysing at 532-0515, ext. 202.
To familiarize yourself with the practice and learn a little more about it's history I suggest the following resources.
Labyrinth Walking
Labyrinths have been found in many different different cultures and have been found dating back several thousand years. They are perfect for praying when you can't sit still. In Christian practice, they originated as a means of simulating a pilgrimage for those who couldn't make a longer journey. First Presbyterian Church will be hosting an indoor labyrinth for walking 9-4 daily during Holy Week. If you like the practice or you want to find a reason to spend some time outside on a nice spring day, The Methodist Church in North Platte has a large outdoor labyrinth on the west side of their parking lot that is open to the public. For some more history and thoughts on how to use a labyrinth for prayer please use the following resources as you find them helpful.
As you let things go and bring some space into your life in Lent, I hope that you are able to explore these various prayer practices, but I do not hope that you fill your found space with all of them. My prayer for you is that one (two at the most) of these practices is something that you find helpful to your faith journey and that you are able to spend time with it beyond the season of Lent and that you find resurrection through it in the Easter season to come.
Blessings,
Pr. Patrick
