| Contemplative Prayers
Purpose
In the Bible God refers to God’s self time and time
again as “I am” and as the quiet voice. The Psalms tell us to “be still
and know that I am God.” Contemplative prayer is quiet praying. No
words, no agenda, just listening to God’s stillness and finding peace,
rest, strength and goodness.
Babies
Watch your baby and delight in their
every movement and allow any thought of God to come to you. Listen
quietly and without forcing for the voice of God. Shut your eyes and be very close to your baby but not
touching. Listen to the subtle coos and breathing and allow God’s
quietness to enter your soul. Hold your baby and while closing your eyes, feel the
baby’s softness, its breathing in and out, it’s calm movements. Feel
the presence of God in these subtle still movements.
Toddlers
Any of the above can be done with the addition of the following.
- Light a candle and have your child focus on the light without touching. Focus on the light of God.
- Cut out shapes of God – light, sun, triangle, etc. As the child focuses on God have them hold and feel the shapes.
- Draw the shapes on a piece of paper and with
a crayon or their finger have the child trace the shape. For longer
prayer time, have them use each finger once around the shape.
- Play soft music and have the child lay down or sit quietly and just think about God.
Elementary
Any of the above can be used with the following additions:
- Explain the concept of
contemplative prayer and try beginning with only 15 seconds and then
increase the time as the child feels comfortable.
- Do the above exercises with
the increased participation of the child. They can light the holy
candle to begin, they can draw the shapes they feel remind them of God
and trace them, they can choose music that will take them to the holy
place.
- Give them a sheet pf paper
and have them draw what they feel as they try and listen to the
stillness of God. Play music in the background if they want.
- Allow the child to find a place that feels holy and to sit there and try the praying.
- Give the child pictures or
icons to focus on as they pray. They should choose the one that moves
them out of a selection of ten or so.
- Lay objects before the child
such as a band-aid, rock, mirror, mustard seed and discuss what each
symbol might be in their life. Then have the child hold one of them as
they pray.
- Have them think of peaceful scenes and places and imagine they are there and then allow God to be with them in that place.
Early Teens
Any of the above can be used with the addition of the following:
- Have them make a prayer journal and in it
they can record the time they were able to spend in contemplative
prayer and write or draw their experiences.
- Ask them to bring symbols of their faith and
of God from their home (tape of music, book, trinket) and let them use
it to focus on as they pray.
- Have them write a narrative of what they
desire from God in detail and then read it out loud as they imagine
they are living it and their prayer is being answered.
Extras for Contemplative prayer- Remember this is a difficult prayer to
maintain for a long time so keep the times short and allow the child to
tell you when they have had enough of it.
- Try using different prayer positions. If a child can find a comfortable position, it will help them stay with it longer.
- Lighting a candle to begin helps define the quiet time as holy.
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