Opportunities for Prayer at Annual Convention
In addition to the regularly scheduled prayer services at Annual Convention, Daughters of the King will be offering several prayer stations in the Pueblo Convention Center. Stop by to pray with a Daughter or to simply pause in prayer during your time at convention.
About the Order
The Order of the Daughters of the King® is an Order for women who are communicants of the Episcopal Church, churches in communion with it, or churches in the historic episcopate but not in communion with it. Today its membership includes women in the Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran (ELCA), and Roman Catholic Churches. The Order’s purpose is to bring others into living, loving relationship with Jesus our Lord and to help strengthen the spiritual life of our parishes, which we have been doing since 1885! The Order in Colorado is a community of over 500 women that pray, study together, evangelize by telling personal stories of how Jesus fills their lives, and support their clergy and parishes.
We look forward to seeing you in person at this year’s annual convention.
Prayer for Convention
We invite you to use this prayer before or during your time spent at Annual Convention.
Most intimate and loving God, as we gather together in images and voices of equidistant, sacred geometry, Your Spirit delights and is pleased to dwell in the places of our separate, yet fully interconnected lives. We pray that in this disconcerting time of pandemic we have taken pause and quieted enough to listen—to be nourished in the rich and dark soil of trust and faith. May we respect the truth in each other’s sharing as we seek Your creative, hope-filled way forward as Body and Blessing. Keep us in the strength of now, trusting in the power of Your promise to be with us always in Spirit and Truth regardless of worldly circumstance. Amen.
“On Your Own Time” Prayer Experiences
Here are some “take-away” activities you can use to “seek the sacred.” Use these to quiet yourself to hear what God has for you to do in the “sharing of our future” while engaging in Christian community and your part however small or large in “leading our diocese” while supporting our kingdom communities as followers of Jesus.
As it states in the New Zealand Prayer Book, “worship (prayer) is the highest activity of the human spirit.” As we pray, we think about the truth, mercy and power of God in our lives. The definition of prayer is responding to God by thought and by deeds, with or without words. Prayer requires two things: 1) open your mind and heart to hear God, and 2) responding in thought, word and deed to what we hear. When you pray find a quiet place, be still and empty your mind of all the “busyness” of the day. Use the acronym ACTS – adoration, confess, thanksgiving and supplication – when you pray. Be still and listen to what God may have for you. As Psalm 32:4 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
With the above in mind, using St. Ita’s story, pray with an open heart: What are the three essential things in your life that God wants you do in your parish and/or diocese? What are the three pleasing and displeasing things to God in your life?
St.
Ita was a 6th century Irish saint and is the second most significant woman saint in Ireland after Brigid. Her name means “thirst.” At a young age, she dreamed that she was given three precious stones which represented the gifts of the Trinity coming to her. In the Celtic tradition three is a sacred number which passes dualities and is the number of the Trinity. Most importantly St. Ita listened to what God told her in her dreams. God told her to leave her native land and go found a monastery, which she did in Killeedy. At Killeedy many young people were sent for an education. She taught St. Brendan before he went on his great voyage. St. Brendan asked her what were the three things most pleasing and displeasing to God. Her response was what pleased God were “true faith in God with a pure heart, a simple life with a grateful spirit, and generosity inspired by charity.” What the most displeasing were “a mouth that hates people, a heart harboring resentments, and confidence in wealth.” (Wisdom of the Celtic Saints, by Edward C. Sellner)
Take a contemplative walk with no particular destination. Center yourself, bring awareness into your heart center, stay present to your surroundings, notice what calls to you, and focus on it. Using your phone camera take a picture of what you have noticed. Think about why it speaks to you. Receive images as gifts from God, which, possibly, will have a message for you.
Download and print a copy of the labyrinth >
You can decorate the labyrinth however you want or leave it as it is. You can write personal messages or meditations on it. Slowly trace the pattern of the labyrinth with your finger allowing your mind to clear from extra thought, and focus solely on following the path of the labyrinth. “Walk” to the centre of the labyrinth and rest momentarily, taking deep breaths observing how you are feeling. Retrace your path out of the labyrinth.
Through praying in color, I have found at the heart of my relationship with God, and at the heart of my prayer life, delight.
~Lauren Winner in her forward to Praying in Color, by Sybil MacBeth
Have you ever noticed that pray and play are physically almost identical? This is the question author Sybil MacBeth asks when explaining the concept of praying in color. She goes on to discuss how the practice of creating visual prayers by doodling and coloring allows us to become like children by “being vulnerable, being open to the new, letting go, and surrendering to the moment.”
We don’t need a lengthy introduction to begin, but recommend you check out the book Praying in Color if you find this practice speaks to you. You may find that it helps you deepen your prayer life in new ways.
For this prayer exercise, you will use intercessory prayer.
What You Will Need
- A piece of paper
- Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
- A quiet space, free of distractions.
Getting Ready
Take a few minutes to center yourself, crossing the threshold from your daily routine to a time of prayer. You might wish to read a piece of scripture, sing a hymn, say a prayer, or take a few minutes to be silent and breathe deeply.
Steps to Praying with Color
- Start with God. Invite God into the prayer by deciding on the name you will use. Healer, Creator, Holy Spirit, Reedemer are only a few. Draw a shape on your paper, and put the name you are using for God in the shape.
- Draw another shape, and attach it with a line to your God shape. Put the name of a person you wish to pray for in the shape. Spend time praying for that person, doodling on the shape as you spend time with that person, allowing prayers to form and be expressed.
- Continue drawing shapes and adding the names of the people you wish to pray for, embellishing the shapes as you pray for them.
Afterwards
Drawing and coloring is just half the prayer. You now have a visual memory that you can carry with you as you go about your day, a reminder to keep on praying.
Into your hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit.
Glory to you, Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier. Now and forever.
Amen.
In this prayer experience based on Psalm 30:2-4, 11-12, we invite you to offer your whole being to God, to “glorify God in your body,” by praying not just with your heart and mind, but your whole body as well.
You may wish to do the gestures as they are presented or modify them to suit your needs and level of comfort. You also may choose to simply follow the rhythm of breathing presented or to read and reflect on the prayers without any movement at all.
Getting Ready
Allow yourself at least 15 minutes to pray.
Find a location that is quiet and free from distractions.
Wear loose, comfortable clothing.
You may wish to do some gentle stretches before beginning.
Remember that there is no need to perfect the gestures and positions. You may even wish to change some of them. Focus more on integrating body, heart, and soul, moving slowly, prayerfully, with intention.
Pray with Your Body
Sit with the Divine Presence
Sitting with full attention to your breath, enjoy each inhale and be thankful for each exhale. With eyes of faith, see the Divine Presence sitting in front of you. Recall and reminisce with God both the good times and the hard times. Talk about how it felt for you. Express any anger, resentment, regrets, and guilt. Talk about lessons learned. See what wisdom you can take from past experiences that could aid your present and future movements toward God. Thank God for giving you assistance when you needed it. Thank God for the Good times.
Live Your Prayer
Call or visit a childhood friend. Remember the good and the hard times in your past experience together. Explore how some of these past events might have influenced your spiritual journey.
Pray
O master Healer of all souls,
You heal me and restore me to life.
Instant pleasure and worldly needs
Conspire and take me away from your love.
Dissatisfaction turns into mourning,
But the Easter sun rises and rejoicing returns.
Open my lips with songs of praise to God.
Let me shout it out: Praise be to God!
Adapted from Praying with the Body (Links to an external site.), Roy DeLeon, ObISB