MINDFULNESS is really just a
different name for prayer, from my viewpoint. But mindfulness as prayer focuses
on God, and the things of God, to the exclusion of all other things.
Mindfulness in prayer is simply the
subsumption of the self into the larger, wider expanses of God. As we engage in
this type of prayer we have all our consciousness, focus, awareness and senses
subsumed into Someone big enough to swallow us whole in joy.
Seven ways of doing this:
1.
Find yourself lost in his Word. Easy to do. Open the Bible up. Any page. Think
of a key word, theme or phrase (for instance, “joy” or “grace”) and search this
holy Word without the help of a dictionary or concordance (commonly found in
devotional Bibles). Jot down on some paper the verses, phrases and words that
elicit an excited response for having found something. Don’t be particular.
Just note down what might be close… the effect is your focus is being sharpened.
Allow God to speak to you through the discoveries you’re making. Remove
yourself from any role other than to be the
listener/the learner.
2.
Find yourself something in nature. The wind — a lovely wafting breeze — is perfect.
Let your mind empty as you focus on that breeze as it titillates the hairs on
your arms. Allow your mind to float into a gentle and accepting silence. See
how long it takes before a distraction interrupts this prayer’s therapeutic flow.
Then go back to the breeze. (Try rainfall and snowfall as well; a storm
outside; ocean or forest sounds.)
3.
Find yourself in a queue. Instead of being annoyed, hurried of heart and
mind, and frustrated, no matter the hurry you’re actually in, simply stop
yourself in your soul. Smile. Halt every internal process of thought and
feeling. Bring to the awareness the state of breathing… slowly. Smile, for
breath. The persons in front of you, and the persons behind… each is a human
being, made in the image of God, loved by God, precious in his sight, and
forever worthy of his love in Jesus Christ. Think how beautiful it is to be in
the company of those God loves — disregarding whether they’ve yet accepted
salvation yet or not. There, you find
yourself in prayer!
4.
Find yourself in sadness, loneliness, fear or
emptiness. This is an
all-too-common experience. Mindfulness of prayer was made for such a time as
this. This is the Grand Avenue of learning — only in the vacuousness of our
humanity, devoid of the self, can God fill. As tears roll down the cheek, allow
your head to tilt backward, looking upward toward heaven, and be prepared,
mentally, to experience something new of God. If it’s a numbing silence we experience,
do not fret, because God is ministering silently to our soul, first and
foremost. Be mindfully prayerful of your soul and its indelibly inherent
connectedness to God. Nothing in this life, not even death, can separate us
from God.
5.
Find yourself swept up in glory. Yes, pondering a death — your very own. Nothing morbid, just realistic. Pondering gets us
mindful (prayerful) around what glory is like — the most fascinating of all
thoughts possible, surely. Death is not the end. It’s an eternal beginning. Be
swept up into heaven for a moment. Allow your conception of God’s angels to
minister to you. Or, ponder someone else’s death — a loved one. Ponder how that reality changes how you think and your
intentionality of relationship… what can be said and done now before we part
company on this earth?
6.
Find yourself giving nothing, receiving him. We spend a lot of our lives giving. Many of us
give what God never required us to give. We work in our strength never
understanding we left dependence on God long ago. So sit. So stand. Be still.
Focus on receiving something from God that’s eternally yours — him of his very
self! Let him minister to you, in those lonely fissures you’re not even aware
of. Let him bring to you a precious gift you had no previous idea you needed.
And now you do need it — and now you’re thankful for the Spirit’s wisdom to
know what we can never know until it’s revealed.
7.
Find yourself enjoying thought of enjoyment. Enjoyment is a power we may partake of even
when we don’t have it. We know what it’s like, presumably. Think through your
history, and come to rest in one moment of it — an enjoyable moment. There,
take God. No, God was already there! Go back there and be with God — the two of
you — as he experienced that moment
with you that you weren’t even aware of — draw into your senses how wonderful
God is to journey every moment with you. Your mind has taken you back here for
a purpose, for a reason. What is he saying beyond words? Perhaps it could be for
your pure enjoyment that you’re brought back. So enjoy. Take the moment given
as a gift. Smile. And be thankful.
© 2015 Steve Wickham.
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