Using the Prayers in Part II Of the Workbook
Make the prayer your own
Do your best to take the prayer from something on a page written by someone else to being your own prayer, the prayer of your heart. Here are steps that help me in that process.
1. Say it to God directly. Believe you are actually communicating to Him and with Him. You are not just saying it to the air or thinking about ideas in the abstract. To feel more present to Him, it can help to say, “Here I am, Lord.”
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake….” You are making a direct invitation to God Himself, to an actual Person.
Example: “Your peace is mine.” You are speaking directly to God Himself, to an actual Person.
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You.” You are speaking directly to God Himself, to an actual Person.
2. Make it a communication from you. Not just anyone is saying it to God; you are. Make it a personal communication from you.
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake….” You are asking God to be in your particular mind, when you awake.
Example: “Your peace is mine.” This peace does not just belong to anyone. It belongs to you.
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You.” You yourself are personally intending to spend this day with God.
3. Mean what you say, as much as possible. Imagine what it would be like if you really did mean it.
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake….” Really mean it, as much as you can. Literally ask God to be in your mind.
Example: “Your peace is mine.” If you really mean this line, then you are claiming something incredible in magnitude. Try to say it like you really are claiming the peace of God as yours.
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You.” As much as possible, genuinely intend to spend this day with God.
4. Make it as specific as possible. Attach specific meanings to the words.
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake….” When you wake today is a very specific notion. Today you awakened in a particular bed at a particular time on a particular date. Give that specific meaning to the line, “when I wake.”
Example: “Your peace is mine today, Saturday, June 23.”
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You.” This day refers, obviously, to a particular day. Try filling in the particular day of the week and date. It makes a definite difference.
5. Imagine this line is really true. Imagine what it would be like to experience what this line is saying. Realize that what these prayers talk about it beyond your imagination, so leave room for the numinous, for what goes far beyond your mind’s current limitations.
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake….” What would it be like to actually have God in your mind when you wake? What would it be like to have His infinite Presence literally inside your mind as soon as you open your eyes in the morning?
Example: “Your peace is mine.” Think about God’s peace, how deep and still and serene it must be, how boundless it must be. Really try to imagine that this peace is yours, as much your possession as your car or your body.
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You.” What would it be like to actually spend the day with God? What would it be like to have His infinite Presence beside you and within you throughout all the hours of this day?
6. Elaborate on the prayer. If you wish, add personal elaborations onto the line that express your feeling and help encapsulate what the prayer evokes for you.
Example: “Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake. Let Your glory blaze in my mind so that I begin my day in wonder.”
Example: “Your peace is mine. Thank you, Father, for sharing Yourself so completely with me that whatever is Yours is mine. How can I ever thank You for a gift that allows me to have peace in any situation I ever encounter.”
Example: “This day, my Father, would I spend with You, and the joy of this day will far exceed the pleasure I could get from work, conversation or television.”