Sought through Prayer and Meditation to improve our Conscious Contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Go in Order!
The steps are in order for a reason, so if you are still struggling with 2 or 3, 11 is going to be really difficult for you!
By now, you have some belief in your Higher Power – whether that is God or whether you have some larger universe or a smaller group that you lean into for support. The beauty of this step is that it really doesn’t matter as long as that higher power is not yourself! Prayer and meditation is about communicating with that Higher Power.
Self Care
When people talk about self care, they are often referring to the spa day or the vacation or the night out that gives them a chance to relax. But self care needs to happen every day. Step 11 is your opportunity to make it a daily practice. You don’t have to spend any money, you don’t have to leave your house, you don’t have to use special words or scripts. But you can choose to do all of those things if you want to!
It’s a PRACTICE
When you first start a prayer or meditation practice, it can feel awkward. Rote prayers can help – many of our groups close with the Our Father as a prayer of thanks, praise, and petition to God. It’s a great place to start with your own practice. Many faith practices have books of prayers for a specific intention or to heal a specific “defect” or “sin.” And if you don’t have a particular faith practice, I would recommend a prayer journal to start. You can write out things you are grateful for, things you need help with, and people you have on your mind that might be struggling or to whom you may need to make amends. The act of writing them out is your prayer. And you can go back and reflect on them the next time you stop to pray.
And then you set a time and place to practice this new habit. The awkwardness will get better and eventually your thoughts and prayers are one in the same. When you think of someone you love, you will send up a prayer for them. When you are struggling with something, you will automatically pause and ask for guidance. When something good comes your way, you will give thanks! Getting to this point requires practice.
Allow for silence
It is in the silence that we can hear the answers. If you can not find a place or time in your home where you can have 5 or 10 minutes of silence, then make a point to find someplace outside of your home that you can stop each day. Maybe you can close your office door, walk in a park, stop in a church, or just spend 5 minutes in bed with no distractions. Another idea would be to stop a few times throughout your day, close your eyes and offer gratitude and ask for guidance. When we are in stressful moments, a prayerful pause is helpful.
My prayers don’t get answered
We can often feel this way – especially early on when we are still struggling with a new practice. But sometimes the answers we are getting aren’t obvious. Other times, a prayer is answered in a way we don’t like. Remember there are blessings in the struggles. Remember that we don’t see as God does. Ask for His will to be done and not YOUR will!
