Ways to Pray
Prayer Ideas from worship at Holy Covenant January 22, 2023
The Welcome Prayer by Father Thomas Keating
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me today
because I know it’s for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons,
situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem,
approval and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation,
condition, person or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and
God’s action within. Amen
Begin everyday by singing UMH Hymn 657:
“This is the Day – This is the Day,
That the Lord has made – That the Lord had made.
Let us rejoice – Let us rejoice,
And be Glad in it! And be Glad in it!”
Traditional Prayers:
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
St. Francis of Assisi's Prayer for Peace Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Read a Psalm a Day – 150 – of them the journey will be nearly half the year!
Prayer Items: praying beads, holding cross, candle, prayer shawl, prayer space.
Meditation – set a timer – there are some great apps. One is: Insight Timer – shows a map of everyone in the world meditating. (See more app suggestions below!)
Breath Prayer 4-7-8 – bringing calmness & peace
Breath in for a count of 4
Hold breath for a count of 7
Exhale for a count of 8
REPEAT
In the spirit of cleansing prayers:
Shower Prayer - with scriptures - create your own that works in the rhythm of your shower or bath - mine is something like this: Allowing the water to wash & cleanse you - baptism waters…. Wash Hair/head ~ God created ALL of me just as I am. Matthew 10:30 Even the hairs of your head are all counted. Don’t be afraid. Arms - Embracing those I will meet in my day - Treat people in the same way that you want them to treat you. Luke 6:31 Chest - Love for those I meet today…. 1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Legs - Carry me to where I need to go, following the footsteps of Jesus. Matthew 4:19 - And Jesus said to them, “Follow me….” Feet - Recognize I am on Holy Ground in my day. God says to Moses: Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. Exodus 3:5 Face - Eyes to have the eyes of Jesus - from St. Teresa of Avila’s prayer for all of us!
Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands.
Yours are the feet.
Yours are the eyes.
You are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassionately on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Amen.
End of the day prayer
“Did I offer peace today?
Did I bring a smile to someone’s face?
Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger and resentment?
Did I forgive? Did I love?” ~ Henri Nouwen