Teach us to pray 18

Creative prayer

To read more about Creative prayer see Monday's post here.

Here is the second suggestion for creative prayer...

Prayer beads

Many religious traditions use prayer beads of some sort. We are probably most familiar with the Catholic rosary, but Muslims also often pray using a string of beads, as do other faiths.
The number of beads varies, and so do the prayers assigned to them.

That means that there really is no right or wrong way of using them!

So...

Find some beads, buttons, cut up bits of tubing or straws... anything you can thread onto a string.
Find some string, or ribbon, or shoelace...anything you like that beads can be threaded onto.
If you haven't got any beads or buttons,  you can do this exercise simply by tying knots in the string. The aim is simply to have a number of things to feel with your fingers which will act as prompts for prayer.

Assemble your objects. Start by choosing one to be the centring bead, which you will start your prayer with it. Thread it, then tie a knot to keep it in place. If you are simply knotting your string, just tie one large knot.

Then think of the things you want to pray for on a regular basis, and choose a bead for each. You might like to have a bead for thanksgiving, a bead for confession, beads for members of your family, a bead for prayer for those you know who are in need, a bead to remind you to pray for something you've seen or heard on the news, a bead that represents the day that is gone, or the day that is to come... It is up to you. Christians have often also assigned classic prayers, like the Lord's Prayer to beads. If there are some favourite prayers or Bible verses you'd like to include you could do that. Don't have so many that you can't remember what they are though!

To use the beads, start with the centring bead, and hold it as you take a moment to remember that God is with you.
You might like to pray "God be with me in this place."
Slowly work through each bead, holding it for a moment as you pray for whatever it prompts you to. Don't rush, and don't feel you have to say a lot - just holding that person or issue in your mind in God's presence is enough.

This is a good site for the creative use of prayer beads.

http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/practices/prayer-beads.html