Ship of Fools: Prayer aids

Thread: Prayer aids Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by OhSimone (# 16414) on :

Until recently I've had a regime where I've been able to combine some praying with a bit of exercise - by climbing the 5 flights of stairs to my office, I was able to pray about 5 specific things, one per flight, each time I used the stairs. This was great as it gave me a bit of routine in prayer, which I'm not used to (I've never been very organised sadly).

Unfortunately I've moved offices to a ground floor room recently, so don't have that regular routine. So, my question is: what can Shipmates recommend that might reinstall some much needed routine and rigour to my prayers through the day? Being very much on the Prod end of the spectrum, I've never really thought about things like rosary beads, but do you think something like that - or an alternative - might help?

Thanks in advance...

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

quote:
Originally posted by OhSimone:
I've never really thought about things like rosary beads, but do you think something like that - or an alternative - might help?

Sounds like it, yes. You don't have to use a rosary to pray the hail Mary, you know - substitute your own prayers!

Posted by Campbellite (# 1202) on :

Snake-belly low as my church is, I have taken on the practice of using a small set of prayer beads which I keep in my change pocket. It has ten beads, one of which is cross shaped, and thus has a different "feel" to it.

When I find myself waiting in line (for instance) I will reach into my pocket and pray (usually the Jesus prayer) on each bead, with the Lord's Prayer or the Trisagion on the Cross bead. I start or stop wherever I happen to be on the strand.

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

I have a set of Anglican prayer beads, (thank you again, Shipmate,) which I use and enjoy. I vary the prayers as Campbellite does.

When going through divorce proceedings a couple of years ago, I asked for prayer on the board here. On the day of the court hearing, I slipped the beads in my jacket pocket. They reminded me of all those praying for me and that encouraged me. My DIL who accompanied me to the hearing asked later what was in my pocket as she saw me touching them.

Now she comes from a tradition which has nothing to do with such things but I showed her and explained what they had meant on that particular day. She was encouraged and amused.

In other circumstances I find they help me concentrate as I pray my way through them.

Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :

What everyone else said about using prayer beads as suits you. You could recite a verse for each bead.

This may seem a bit odd, but hear me out. There's a guy named Thich Nhat Hanh who's written a couple of books that might help: "Peace Is Every Step" and "The Miracle Of Mindfulness". They're about including small bits of meditation throughout your day--when you're washing dishes, answering the phone, on your lunch break, etc.

FYI: TNH is a Buddhist priest, but the books don't focus on Buddha. You can easily use his suggestions withing a Christian framework. (BTW, he loves Jesus in his owh way; and Martin Luther King, Jr. recommended him for the Nobel Peace Prize.)

Learning to be more mindful changed my life for the better. I led a Ship's book group discussion of one of the books, a couple of years back, and many people liked it.

FWIW, YMMV.

Posted by PD (# 12436) on :

In some spaces a bucket of whitewash would be a great aid to prayer. In others something to focus on. I guess I need that C of E/Lutheran aesthetic to kick the brain into prayer mode sometimes.

At others, the best 'prayer aid' is a comfy chair...

PD

Posted by JoyfulNoise & Parrot OKief (# 2049) on :

I keep a cross in my pocket as a prompt to pray.

In the past I cut cereal packet card into small cards, written either a prayer, verse or something to pray/think about on each and kept a few blanks in there too. These are rubberbanded into a deck and pocketed. Throughout the day anytime I have a few minutes, out come the cards, read and pray through them.

In time I even developed liturgy.

The appeal was bringing into focus quickly things to pray and ponder on before and with God. Not used them for a few years now, may be a good time to create a new deck.

Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :

I have a very aggravating super power: traffic lights turn red at my approach. [Roll Eyes]

That has turned into a prayer opportunity.

Sometimes when I really don't want to be sitting at every darned light, I talk to God about how I hadn't prayed for patience recently. Sometimes it's time for prayers of thanksgiving. Sometimes it's those deep inward groanings that the Holy Spirit has to help me with.

It really is helpful (to me, at least) to have something positive those times when I feel like there are roadblocks all around.

Posted by no_prophet (# 15560) on :

The dogs must go out and run with me their running* partner in the morning. I spent the better part of 2 years contemplating pieces of liturgy, which sounds fancier than it is. I went through some well known prayers and tried to understand them more deeply, word by word.

With some of the happenings in our lives, I found I could not do it any more with organized praying, so I found that I just tried to blank out troubled thoughts and tears, and ask for some 'presence if it were possible'. It has been the outing with the doggies that has been the constant.

This has made me wonder: is it the dog outings have been an aid to prayer or if prayer has been an aid to outings with the dogs.

* running - okay, I am being overly optimistic. Maybe trotting along in an old man joggy sort of silly walks type of way.

Posted by comet (# 10353) on :

I use my rosary to chant "ohm mane padme ohm" and then the Lord's Prayer at the decade. I'm probably going to hell anyway, and I figure God understands.

back when I had snowshoes (damn I miss my snowshoes) when I was very stressed I'd go out and sort of chant the BCP confession to the cadence of my snowshoeing. it was weird and I probably would have frightened any passers-by but it worked for me.

When Chasee#2 was little, we'd do a rock-throwing prayer. down at the river, we'd toss rocks in the river, each one given the name of something we wanted to pray for. then we'd chuck with all our might, as if the farther out into the river the rock got, the more likely God would grant us our prayers. When an old man in our church was dying, C#2 worked up a wicked good pitch. He loved that man a lot.

Posted by art dunce (# 9258) on :

I use one of these.

Posted by OhSimone (# 16414) on :

Thanks for all the thoughts. I particularly like the rock-throwing and traffic lights ideas. Goodness knows my road rage could do with calming down.

I'm currently contemplating whittling my own beads, if that doesn't sound too absurd.

Posted by irish_lord99 (# 16250) on :

I also use the prayer beads, but in addition to that I have various icons hung around the house that encourage me to pray over various things. A modern Orthodox writer by the name of Jim Forest wrote in a book that 'a good icon is one that inspires you to pray.'

I have found a few of those, and find myself praying every time I walk past them.

Posted by Sir Pellinore (ret'd) (# 12163) on :

I must say, as a Western Christian, I find icons, genuine ones or proper copies, appropriately blessed, enormously moving and deeply spiritually educative. They speak to a place deep inside.

Learning how to meditate i.e. how to sit still for a 40 minute period and be relatively unmoved by passing thoughts, courtesy of secular Buddhists, was also something I value.

To me genuine Christian spirituality is a matter of going deep within. The Orthodox really won't mentor the Non-Orthodox in the Jesus Prayer. That means we need to go back to our own genuine Christian contemplative tradition: a journey well worth making. Carmelite spirituality is very "inner".

A decent prayer book might help. Ditto lectionary.

A good format, suited to the person, is a start.

Posted by Miffy (# 1438) on :

quote:
Originally posted by PD:
In some spaces a bucket of whitewash would be a great aid to prayer. In others something to focus on. I guess I need that C of E/Lutheran aesthetic to kick the brain into prayer mode sometimes.

At others, the best 'prayer aid' is a comfy chair...

PD

Not the

comfy chair!! [Eek!]

I go through phases of finding it all far too wordy. I belong to both a Julian and a contemplative prayer group where we're used to spending most of the prayer period in complete silence with maybe just a short bible passage or piece of devotional writing to start us off.

At home I find art journaling helpful in leading me into silence. I'm also experimenting with using a hand labyrinth as a means of focussing; occupies my hands whilst keeping those pesky distractive thoughts at bay.

Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :

quote:
Originally posted by PD:
At others, the best 'prayer aid' is a comfy chair...

In my experience a comfy chair is the best aid to falling asleep. [Snore]

Some years ago I carried a string of buttons in my pocket for a long time, each button was different and represented someone I wanted to pray for, and whenever I put my hand in my pocket I'd pray for the person whose button I found first.

Nowadays my prayer life doesn't progress much beyond "Helllllppppp meeeeeeeeee!" [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

peyote

Posted by Niminypiminy (# 15489) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:

Some years ago I carried a string of buttons in my pocket for a long time, each button was different and represented someone I wanted to pray for, and whenever I put my hand in my pocket I'd pray for the person whose button I found first.

tangent/ I have quite a strong button phobia -- just reading that post made me feel really peculiar. The idea that you might put your hand in your pocket and come across a button... yuck. /end tangent

Another thing I have found helpful is to buy a book of prayers (eg one of the 'pocket' series) and memorise some of the short ones. I tend to say one first thint in the morning and last thing at night. Not having to think of words of my own is - at either of those times - a good thing.

Posted by Mrs Shrew (# 8635) on :

When I was at school, I tried praying every time the bell between lessons sounded. This can work if you have some kind of external noise/signal which happens regularly.

I have also tried little cards - normally with a picture that reminds me to pray rather than a prayer on.

Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :

I have a basket of small stones. Each one represents a person or issue I want to remember in prayer. I pick up and hold each stone in my hand as I pray. The stones have some connection to the person or issue. Example one stone has two lines down it and it reminded me of a priest's stole, so I choose to keep that one and use it to represent a friend who is a priest. If I come across an interesting stone I will sometimes keep it, waiting for the right time to let it represent a person in my prayer basket.
If for some reason I remove someone from my regular prayer cycle, perhaps they were ill and recover then I toss their stone into the creek with a final prayer.

Posted by Campbellite (# 1202) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
peyote

You would, wouldn't you?

Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :

Flip cards. PM me if you want the template. They can be printed on business card stock. I have a pack of thirty, each one with a spiritual discipline on - like: "Be generous", "To complete", "To study" etc. It's like turning a desk calendar over each morning, and somehow this works. It keeps you mindful of the opportunities for practicing that discipline that day, and it's amazing how encouraging it is to feel you have embraced that discipline even in the tiniest way. It is a way to make progress almost sub-consciously. That way your whole life becomes more and more a prayer.

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Campbellite:

quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
peyote
You would, wouldn't you?

I have, haven’t I!

Jesus, bossoms, rainbows and bat licking. AMEN

Posted by lilyswinburne (# 12934) on :

Metaphysical Meditations: Universal Prayers, Affirmations, and Visualizations by Paramahamsa Yogananda has lots of short prayers and is small enough to put in your pocket and whip out in the middle of the day.

Posted by Spike (# 36) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Marvin the Martian:

quote:
Originally posted by OhSimone:
I've never really thought about things like rosary beads, but do you think something like that - or an alternative - might help?
Sounds like it, yes. You don't have to use a rosary to pray the hail Mary, you know - substitute your own prayers!

Instead of the Hail Mary, a lot of people prefer to use the Jesus Prayer:

"Jesus Christ, son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner"

Posted by art dunce (# 9258) on :

I learned it, "Lord Jesus Christ be merciful to me a sinner". I recite it throughout the day so much it's become a teasing point for my children.

Posted by Mama Thomas (# 10170) on :

Wonderful ideas really. Beads are a classic prayer adi.

Sirens of course all should call forth a prayer, it's an emergency and folks are in need.

Find opportunities throughout the day and follow your plan. Then after a while, force yourself to stop, say during Lent or something, then go back to the Office and Lectio Divina for a while.

Beads by the bed can be your best friend.

I know people who are extremely organised in their prayer life and write down the people and topics they pray for on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Great for them, it's just not me. Might be you though.

Google News and MSNBC or RSS feeds can be great resourses for prayer.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I just shared this one with churchgeek a few weeks ago-- I put something like this together years ago-- a string of unfinished wooden beads, largish, that you can get at a craft store. You get the skinniest Sharpie you can find and write names on them. Then string them (tie the knot is such away that you can undo it and add more.). Then you use it like a kind of personal rosary.

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

Anyone else heard of prayer spots, no I do not mean the corner of the room set aside for prayer, I mean the coloured sticky dots you buy from a stationers. What you do is stick them on things that you associate with someone or something you want to pray about. When you see them then say a prayer for that person or thing.

Jengie

Posted by irish_lord99 (# 16250) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
Anyone else heard of prayer spots,

Did anyone else read that as "prayer shots"? [Yipee]

Posted by Sir Pellinore (ret'd) (# 12163) on :

"Prayer shot and survived"? [Biased]

Posted by Nenya (# 16427) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Niminypiminy:

quote:
Originally posted by Nenya:

Some years ago I carried a string of buttons in my pocket for a long time, each button was different and represented someone I wanted to pray for, and whenever I put my hand in my pocket I'd pray for the person whose button I found first.

tangent/ I have quite a strong button phobia -- just reading that post made me feel really peculiar. The idea that you might put your hand in your pocket and come across a button... yuck. /end tangent

Different shaped beads would probably work better for you, then. [Biased]

Another thing I've found helpful if I've got someone on my mind is to light a candle and carry it around the house with me so that I'm reminded to pray whenever I look at it. If I'm at work I put a pebble on my desk for the same reason.

Posted by rolyn (# 16840) on :

quote:
Originally posted by irish_lord99:

quote:
Did anyone else read that as "prayer shots"?

Would that be something you'd find at 'happy hour' in a church turned night-club ? [Big Grin]

My prayer aids consist of a plain silver Cross worn on neck most of the time. It serves as a reminder of God's Love for me, and of my own doubt of Him.

Also a pocket Book of Common Prayer/Hymns given to me by my dad . It belonged to his sister who died before I was born, ( so a bit of family sentiment in there).
I don't read it a-lot but it did help me during a period of sleeplessness. Just holding this small book, or resting it on my chest brought me back from the edge once or twice.

[Edit: Code. It troubled me.]

[ 14. July 2012, 22:15: Message edited by: Zappa ]

Posted by Sir Kevin (# 3492) on :

I always have my rosary in my pocket. A friend of mine said I should do this in case I am injured or killed: it identifies me as Roman Catholic. I do pray the rosary sporadically.

Posted by Hilda of Whitby (# 7341) on :

quote:
Originally posted by irish_lord99:
I also use the prayer beads, but in addition to that I have various icons hung around the house that encourage me to pray over various things. A modern Orthodox writer by the name of Jim Forest wrote in a book that 'a good icon is one that inspires you to pray.'

I have found a few of those, and find myself praying every time I walk past them.

I'm not orthodox, and I would not even call myself a Christian anymore, but I have two books by Jim Forest and I think he is a profound spiritual writer. I have "Praying with icons" and "The ladder of the Beatitudes". Both are superb and I highly recommend them.

Posted by Paddy O'Furniture (# 12953) on :

I was raised Catholic (thank God I gave it up for Lent, ha ha!) and we had much instruction using the Rosary but I can't say I ever really enjoyed it. All those mumbled, memorized "Hail Mary" and "Our Father" and "Act of Contrition" prayers became meaningless to us children when what we really wanted to do was get out of the dark church and go play. Nowadays I pray everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean it. For the last few months I have been getting sick and spending hours in the emergency room and/or my bathroom. I have had ample time to talk to God as I was heaving my guts out... sorry to be so graphic but those are the facts of my particular/peculiar situation at present.

I'm not sure prayer beads would help me at this point. I also find myself just having conversations with God throughout my day--when I'm drawing or being creative I feel God keenly, in a different way than when I'm sick, obviously. I haven't said an "Our Father" since last December, when I was still attending a church and the other Catholic prayers I used to repeat mindlessly just never get said at all. I still ask Miriam (Jesus's mother, naturally!) for help but not with the words I was taught.

Sorry for the long post...

Posted by Paddy O'Furniture (# 12953) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I just shared this one with churchgeek a few weeks ago-- I put something like this together years ago-- a string of unfinished wooden beads, largish, that you can get at a craft store. You get the skinniest Sharpie you can find and write names on them. Then string them (tie the knot is such away that you can undo it and add more.). Then you use it like a kind of personal rosary.

Oh, wow! That's a REALLY cool idea! In fact, after just posting a rather long message about how I wouldn't find rosaries or prayer beads useful anymore... I suddenly think prayer beads might be useful! Thanks for posting this! I do believe a visit to a craft store next month is on my to-do list. [Overused]

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