Stress Relief

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 17 May 2007 06:19:12

Recently at church we have been doing stuff on prayer - in amongst a load of stuff on discipleship. Amongst the stuff we did was looking through this model; where you pray in 12 bitesize bits, (praise, waiting, confession, scripture praying, watching, interceding, petitioning, thanksgiving, singing, meditation, listening and praise). As the health warning we were given with it said it is only a model and not something to be rigidly stuck to, rather something to be used as a tool.

However, I do have to say in the couple of weeks since we had it I have found it a useful model to kind of use. Whilst it incorporates most of what I was doing anyway when I was "chilling with God" it has a few extra bits which I have found have really helped with making me relax and spend quieter chunks of time when I've been praying. This has been really good because at the moment the words "stressed out bunny" are the ones which probably best describe me.

What I've found has helped make the model workable is actually seeing my bedroom as a prayer space aswell as a bedroom. So the CD player in the corner has got a selection of CDs by it which contain useful stuff for the music part - note I don't really do "Christian CD's" -but I do go for looking to use appropriately worded stuff that's about anyway and I just cue up one of those songs before I start. (At the moment "That's why Jesus Wept" by Ralph McTell is the most played). The calander on the wall is of Iona and at the moment has a view from North Shore (one of the most beautiful places in the world IMHO) and I concentrate on that during the meditation period sometimes.

My prayer notebook - I find it useful to draw / write (often in text language) when I pray - is in a small wicker basket by the bed with a bible, and a selection of other "hippy Christian" stuff - mainly books with inspirational quotes or Celtic stuff in. This means that prayer doesn't turn into a great big effort but can easily be incorporated into the everyday because everything is there and ready to be used.

Also in terms of it being about "spending time with God" there is something about sitting on your bed with a cup of coffee or glass of wine and some muchies chatting which makes it natural somehow. Also I think it makes it feel a bit more ok when you start getting honest with God when you're praying because snuggling up under the duvet when the tears are flowing or screaming from the corner of a bedroom somehow feels more right than if you get like that anywhere else. That's not to say that you forget who God is, and don't do the awe stuff but I don't know it just seems right.

I know that is only one way of doing it - which wouldn't work for everybody, but .... somebody else might find it useful.