LENT THROUGH EMBODIED PRAYER
Haiku Prayer(Psalm 19)
The heavens declare
May my words and heart sing too
Day and night pour out
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Psalm 19: 1-2
This week we are focusing on embodied prayer. If that’s an unfamiliar idea for you, embodied simply refers to having a body. With embodied prayer we are intentionally integrating our bodies into our prayer habits. Gestures such as cupping your hands to receive, kneeling in humility, or standing in reverence are all examples of embodied prayer.
Psalm 19 tells us how the heavens and skies pour out prayers of worship day and night. They speak in colors of the sunrise and the sunset, in the shapes of the clouds and the vastness of the stars; all declaring the glory of God without actually saying a word but rather embodying their prayers.
Jesus’ time in the wilderness was a suffering of his body. A time of intense prayer through fasting and withdrawing from the outside world. Embodied prayer.
I like to think of embodied practices as a way for our body to bear witness to our spirit when we are feeling weak, doubtful, heavy hearted, or whatever it may be. We might not “feel” like praying some days or we may not know the words to say. Integrating the body into your prayer life can often deepen your prayers in ways words are not able to. Because God gave us more than words. He gave us hands to open to him, knees to kneel before him, eyes to lift to him, ears to listen for his voice. This week we are meditating on the entire chapter of Psalm 19 and the many ways we see how the psalmist incorporates embodied prayers.
Scripture Meditation: Psalm 19
Verese 7-8 specifically speaks of how the body is revived through God’s Word.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
We could’ve been formed out of heavenly jewels, gold and silver, or God could’ve made us etherial beings, floating around with out bodies. But he formed us from the dust, sculpted us from the very clay of the earth. .He gave us bodies to anchor us to the ground. We walk, we stand, we sit, we kneel, we lie down, we rise from the very ground we were formed out of. We often describe our spiritual journey with these very words. We walk away from God, we stand firm in our faith, we sit in his presence, we fall to our knees in prayer…Just as the soil of the ground must be tended in order to bear fruit so does the soil of our hearts and our bodies. We must tend to them, nurture them, and also offer them up in prayer. May you find ways to deepen your prayer life this week through some of these practices below.
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
Embodied Prayer Practice:
Stand or sit with feet shoulder width apart
Feel your feet firmly planted to the ground
Feel the surface beneath your feet-What is the texture? What is the temperature?
Spread your toes out and feel the width of the bottom of your feet sink into the surface. Close your eyes and visualize yourself as a large oak tree, firmly planted into the soil, your feet as the roots sinking down deep into the earth, your legs and body reaching tall above the ground. Gently sway back and forth feeling the anchored posture into the ground.
Open your hands so your palms are facing up.
Flip one palm down to place it on top of the other. Now as you say a prayer open the top hand like a book and flip it open so both palms are facing up again. Repeat as needed through surrendering prayers of specific things the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
Prayer: Lord, I surrender my old ways I’ve been holding onto. I offer all I am for you to make me new.
Guided Journal Prompts:
What are the main daily influences on the demands for your attention? Take inventory for a couple of days and write down the things you devote attention to.
What are 1-2 tangible ways you can cultivate prayerful habits and rhythms in your day?
Creative Prayer Practice:
Take a camera or your phone and go on a photo prayer walk. Ask God to attune your senses to see his beauty and take photos of what draws your attention. Afterwards, journal with each photo about the details you saw and your response to it.
Take the time to make something with your hands this week. It could be baking, wood work, planting something, sewing, painting…etc Don’t think too much about what it is but rather meditate on the process and say a prayer through each step of the way
Haiku by Libby Johnson
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