Come practice being with Jesus

Welcome! So glad you are here!

Station ONE:

Preparing Your Heart

Begin to settle your heart and mind

• Take a deep breath and begin to notice the tensions you are holding in your body.

• Relax with a body scan. Start at the top of your head & slowly begin releasing the tension inch my inch.

• Next, use your 5 senses to practice being in this present moment. What do you hear? see? touch? taste? smell?

• When a distraction comes into your mind or vision - notice it then let it simply move out (like clouds floating by).

  
  
  
  

practice being here, now - in God’s presence.

Close your eyes for a moment and invite Jesus to join you here.

Take a few moments to pray or journal - asking God for his presence to be felt and His peace to be with you here today.

Peace is a gift from God. We have peace with God, through the finished work of Jesus Christ. We do not understand or comprehend it. It is ours to experience. God can use peace like a military action for us, it is on guard over our hearts and minds.

A whispered reminder:

Pause often and use deep breathing to help you remain present and at peace throughout your time here today.

Dig Deeper Options*

(*how much time do you have? if it is limited, move on to the next station - so you get through them all)

Optional Dig Deeper:

Listen to the song : ABIDE (here on Spotify) OR Come to Me (here on Spotify).

Spend some time journaling. Consider using these prompts:

What feelings do you bring with you today?

When is the last time you experienced peace? Notice what was true about that memory.

When you are at peace, what does peace feel like in my body?

Consider writing a short prayer or poem about experiencing more of His peace in your heart and life.

Station TWO:

Surrender to Him

1) Choose a rock.

2) Pray and ask God to help you name a behavior, limited belief or circumstance that is a burden or weight you are carrying with you today.

• Feel the rough or smooth edges of the rock as you consider what you are carrying.

• As you sit quietly holding your rock, invite Jesus to hold it with you.

• Ask him to hold it for you.

• Consider asking him to grow your belief and trust that He will care for it well.

3) Before dropping the rock into the water, take a moment to be more aware of what carrying this has cost you and others. How would letting it go or trusting God with it impact you?

IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING TO THINK ABOUT SURRENDERING THIS WEIGHT YOU CARRY OVER TO JESUS-

Take the time to do this practice before moving on:

Write a lament to God or simply process your emotions using the feelings wheel provided. Start with the feelings wheel turned so you are looking at (orange) Ashamed. Select one or more feeling word from each section. Pray or write… I feel… because…

Do every section ending with (red) Peaceful.

4) When you feel ready, drop the rock into the water.

Watch it fall quickly to the bottom.

Imagine the weight falling off of you and into safety.

Take a few minutes to sit quietly or journal with Jesus. 

Invite him to share a truth or verse that you can practice holding and praying over your surrender… 

[Feel free to look over the verses linked here and posted at this station to see if one stands out or resonates with you.]

Psalm 91: 14&15, 1 Peter 5:7, Isaiah 43: 18&19, Matthew 11: 28-30, Philippians 4:7

optional dig deeper:

Listen to this song: Hallelujah Even Here (here on Spotify) OR He will hold me fast (here on Spotify).

Station THREE:

Praying in Color

There are many different ways to pray.

        1) Journaling/Writing to God

       2) Keeping a Prayer List

        3) Participating in a Prayer Group

        4) Taking Prayer Walks

        5) Using colors

 There can also be aspects of prayer that become frustrating over time.

·      Sometimes our minds wander

·      We get distracted by other things or people or our phone

·      We think we aren’t doing it right

·      We are afraid or unsure

·      We get tired easily

·      We can’t find the words

Praying in Color is one way to pray if you can relate to any of these frustrations.  Praying in Color can help us to stay focused and interested.  There is no right or wrong way.  Each prayer can be as creative, intricate, or simple as desired. 

All you need to Pray In Color:

-       A Journal or plain (no-line) paper

-       A black or blue fine tip, gel, or felt tip pen/marker

-       Colored pencils or watercolor paints

-       Any amount of time available

DIRECTIONS FOR PRAYING IN COLOR:

Optional Dig Deeper:

Listen to a song: Be Still (here on Spotify).

Consider going back to your journal for a bit.

What was it like to doodle your prayers? How did praying in color make you feel?

Can you connect those feelings with past experiences or messages spoken over you? Have you believed you aren’t artistic?

How might using colors help you connect with God and share your prayers without the need for words?

Is there a gift from God you are noticing today? Or he is revealing a new way to be with Him today?

Station FOUR:

Promises & Truth

In the following Psalm, David knows that God is faithful. David also knows that he himself is human.

David comforts himself with the truth that God has already revealed in his Word.

David applies God’s written Word to his own heart, reminding himself that God is who he says he is.

Psalm 25

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
    let me not be put to shame;
    let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
    they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
    teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all the day long.

6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
    for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For your name's sake, O Lord,
    pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the Lord?
    Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
    and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship[b] of the Lord is for those who fear him,
    and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
    out of all his troubles.

Feel free to journal briefly then visit the Station 4 table to write your own acrostic poem/prayer.

In this psalm David nearly begs God to not leave him alone in his distress. He is sharing his emotional state with God. David is showing what it might look like to lament to God. Do you come to God his way? Why or why not?

If it would be helpful and you have time today, consider writing a lament or letter to God expressing your raw and real emotions.

He can handle it. He has immeasurable capacity to hear your cries for help or freedom or healing. Feel free to expose your heart too, just like David did in Psalm 25.

From Psalm 25, GOD IS…

• trustworthy (v. 1)

• the rewarder of those who wait for Him (v. 3)

• faithful to guide His own (vv. 4-5, 10, 12)

• the God of my salvation (v. 5b)

• compassionate (v. 6)

• filled with lovingkindness (grace) (v. 6)

• forgiving…He remembers me, but not my sin!! (vv. 7, 11, 18)

• good (v. 8)

• upright (v. 8)

• the instructor of sinners (v. 8)

• provider of justice for the humble (v. 9)

• teacher of the humble (v. 9)

• companion of the lonely (v. 16)

• caretaker of the afflicted (v. 16)

• guardian and deliverer (v. 20)

• a refuge (v. 20)

• the Redeemer (v. 22)

  List compiled by Paul Tautges

What else would you add to this list?

Station FOUR experiential: Acrostic Poem/Psalm/Prayer

You may use THIS HANDOUT to create in your journal OR use the materials at table #4.

Optional Dig deeper:

Listen to: Steadfast (here on Spotify).

Write a psalm like David.

Consider making it real and honest while also full of truth and hope.

Station FIVE:

Beauty & Gratitude

Find station five

take two to ten minutes to simply make a list of the beauty you can see from where you are.

[Use THIS breath prayer WORKSHEET and/or this gratitude & beauty WORKSHEET as a guide to write in your journal or pick up a copy here at station 5.]

Many research projects and professional articles confirm the practices of gratitude and mindfulness are significant reducers of overwhelm and anxiety.

• I have noticed that gratitude is sometimes overused in our christian communities

• while the topic of mindfulness is often avoided. Have you noticed this as well?

In quick response, we do not want to invalidate our own or other’s feelings and experiences with gratitude AND mindfulness does not have to viewed as scary or bad. The mental health field defines mindfulness as the practice of being present. My definition at Love Well agrees and adds the practice of noticing beauty as well.

There is a great deal of evidence that overwhelm and anxiety are often fueled by negative self talk, negative rumination about the past and fearful or intrusive (negative) thoughts about the future. Most humans acknowledge this to be personally true.

Do you see how quickly and easily this happens as part of our human experience?

Are you also curious that while it is often our experience, it does not look or feel at all like prayer?

We will talk more about putting Truth on Top of our thoughts and our stories in the next section.

Here, I want to challenge you to live your life practicing being present while noticing and naming gratitudes and the beauty all around you. Today, we will do this by writing breath prayers and beginning a gratitude prayer practice.

Old neuro-pathways can (and often do) send us quickly down unhelpful thought patterns, behaviors and spirals.

AND we can build new neuro-pathways our entire lives. Our brains are resilient so growth and change are always possible.

Prayers of gratitude and beauty can change your brain… they will also transform your heart.

Take some time with the worksheets provided or simply be with Jesus, offering Him your prayers of gratitude and beauty.

Optional Dig Deeper:

Listen to: Gratitude (here on Spotify).

Spend some time being curious about what old neuro-pathway (or old part of your story) you have been believing or experiencing lately. Process further with a brain dump in your journal. Ask God to help you begin to create new, more helpful pathways full of truth.

Consider writing out an old, unhelpful belief or fear then cross it out and put a better, truer truth on top! Next, write a gratitude under it. Remember, not to invalidate the feelings or pain that has been there but to practice naming what else is also true.

Station SIX:

Truth Art Card

Beauty can also be found in creating.

Truth can be claimed and clung to while making.

Gratitude can be shared, lyrics can be written, poems can be imagined, safety can be found while holding colors and materials.

Prayers can be prayed with art + faith.

An Invitation to Name truth:

Be still for a moment and breath deeply.

Notice the presence of God here with you. If you are comfortable, close your eyes for a moment.

We live in a fallen world with pain and suffering as part of our stories.

We also hold the truth of the Gospel, the promise of His presence, and a beautiful eternal hope.

May I propose that we can hold both of these realities at the same time.

AND, I believe there is also an invitation for us to PUT TRUTH ON TOP.

Prayers of Scripture, whispers of God’s Word, Truth of who He is - TRUTH ON TOP!

Ask Jesus to join you and help you identify a word or phrase of truth to use for station 6’s project.

Think through or make some notes of things that stood out or linger with you now.

Is there a word he is inviting you to trust, study or believe?

Is there a truth you feel led to cling to?

Is there a new hope or promise you are being invited to carry forward?

You will be making a card like the one in the image above.

When you have some ideas for what word or phrase you might add to your card, go to station 6 and look around.

Feel free to remain quiet and prayerful or listen to Love Well’s ABIDE playlist (here on Spotify) while you work.

Creating Your Truth Card

1- Take a ziploc bag of papers (your base card & some items for texture are included).

2- Select stickers, embellishments or smaller watercolor paper squares for painting.

3- Glue sticks, paints with brushes, scissors are found on the work table.

4- Feel free to use the examples as a guide or do your own thing completely.

5- Some TIPS: It’s all about the process! Go slow - practicing being present and prayerful.

Tearing the paper rather than cutting it creates a different look - try some different looks out.

Layers and textures of different kinds add dimension and creative contrast to your card.

Optional Prayer Under Your ART:

On the back of a selected peice of paper, use a pencil to write a prayer (examples - lament, confession, surrender, etc.) then turn it over - it will be there… hidden… for only you to know it’s there… with your TRUTH on display over top!

Before we say good-bye

A prayer for you from Sarah:

Thank you, Jesus for this special time in this beautiful space. Thank you for your presence here with us. I praise you with a heart full of gratitude! There is so much beauty here to see and experience. I pray that we will all leave here with eyes more fixed on you and with a new lens of beauty and truth. Your grace and peace are gifts that we have been given and we open our hands to how you will reveal them to our hearts more fully. You are gentle and meek yet all powerful. May you use that power to heal our stories and transform our hearts. Bless these, your beloved, cherished, and known children. In Jesus’ holy and good name, Amen.

…

Another whispered reminder:

God loves when you COME to Him.

He longs to be your resting place.

In the hurry of life, take moments to pause, to notice that He is near.

Pray continually. He is listening.

I prayerfully hope that you will practice being with him through simple practices like poems, breath prayers, gratitude journaling, beauty noticing, doodling and putting Truth on top through prayer or art.

Doxology (here on Spotify).

Thank you for being here. You are a blessing. you are loved.

Please reach out anytime if you’d like to chat, work together, or invite me to your group or event.

sarah@lovewellcommunity.com

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