Good morning! Here is a simple meditation and prayer practice that I came up with because it's easy to do. Our relationship with God is the primary and most important relationship in our lives. It's vital that we take time out to nurture that relationship...and like any good relationship...LISTENING before we speak is crucial. So in this meditation, you sit still with God first before you pray, and you pray your words second.
The basic directions for this prayer practice are to brew a cup of tea (or coffee or hot water). Sit down. Take a breath. Drink your tea. Be Still. Until you finish your tea. That's it.
You can do this. It sounds so simple right?
Yes, your mind will race. You will want to check your phone. You will want to get up in the middle. You will think that sitting still is doing nothing. It is not. Remember the words of the psalmist, who writes that God says, "Be still, and know that I am God!"
After you've sat still with God for a while, then maybe you'd like to pray. In the video, I show you how to use the handle of your mug like "prayer beads." Sometimes, Presbyterians worry that prayer beads are not...Christian enough, shall we say. The way I see it, the point of prayer beads - or using the handle - is simply a tool to keep you focused and grounded while you pray to God.
To use the handle of your mug as "prayer beads", start at the top, where the handle meets the mug. Say a prayer of thanks to God. (Or, if I'm particularly anxious, I'll say the Serenity Prayer.) Then, I like to think of praying from Big to Small or Far to Near:
Global concerns.
Community and church concerns.
Family, personal, and private concerns.
I move my fingers along the mug handle for each prayer. My mind wanders sometimes, but the touchpoint of the handle helps me refocus.
I hope this helps you! Below are the words to Psalm 46...
Psalm 46 (NRSV)
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.