Saturday, March 5, 2011

The great Lenten prayer experiment

Here are the areas of prayer I've thought of exploring in the 40 days of Lent.  I'd love suggestions from readers for any other options I haven't covered, even obscure ones, I'm trying to be open minded and push waaayyy beyond my usual boundaries.  To test my limits so my limits can expand!

1.  I need to try praying at a certain time, a time set aside specifically for that activity.
2.  I should attempt a 'prayer journal', where I write down prayers and, hopefully, responses to them.
3.  I need to try structured prayers.  So this means praying the daily office or other liturgically-based prayers.
4.  Pray prayers found in the Bible.
5.  'Freestyle' my own prayers.
6.  Try praying in different locations, like outside, in designated church prayer rooms, at an alter call, etc.
7.  Praying silently and aloud.
8.  Praying using mneumonic acronyms, such as P.R.A.Y (People, Reason, Answer, You) or A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication).
9.  Walk a labyrinth.
10.  Pray for a prayer language.
11.  Try prayers in different physical positions; King David prayed lying down with arms outstretched, for example.
12.  Sing the psalms.
13.  Pray a rosary.
14.  Take prayer requests.
15.  Attend a prayer group.
16.  Pray while annointing someone with oil.
17.  Pray while laying hands on someone.
18.  Knit a prayer shawl.
19.  Cover my head to pray.
20.  Try contemplative or meditative prayer.
21.  Pray beyond my geographical boundaries, for missionaries or the persecuted church.
22.  Pray for my enemies.
23.  Research prayer.
24.  Use ecstatic dance or worship dancing.

As you can see, I'm trying to be open-minded.  Boy am I trying to be open-minded.  Let me tell you, there is no way that if you had told me a few weeks ago that I would be publically announcing that I was considering ecstatic dance I wouldn't have laughed hysterically.  But maybe that's the point of this.  I feel stuck in a rut in my prayer life, and I want to shake things up a bit.  And if that means lying face down on my livingroom carpet hoping to high Heaven that my husband doesn't walk in on his way to the kitchen at five o'clock in the morning and think I've had a seizure...well, maybe I need to do that.  Even if he doesn't ever let me live it down.  Actually I think David will be fine with the whole different positions of prayer option.  Maybe a bit weirded out, but ultimately fine.  Me, I'm worried about the prayer language one.  Oh, and praying all the psalms; that might get me in the end.

Any volunteers for the annointing?

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