George's HealMyLife book
- a manuscript in process on Listening Prayer Therapy - Chapter Six
You are invited to read and comment on this version of George's
HealMyLife book and to e-mail George click on: with
your comments, edits and suggestions.
Just copy this page into Microsoft Word, edit and comment, and e-mail
to me:
In the summer of 2012 there will be a Listening
Prayer Therapy Conference to learn in
person from George Hartwell. You will be at a retreat setting
for 5 days. Presentations will cover the material in the
HealMyLife book with an opportunity for questions of the author.
Practical input will include group prayer and opportunities in small
group to practice the skills of Listening Prayer Therapy.
Chapter 6. Unplugging to
Practice the Presence of God
In Christian prayer therapy we use
listening to God for healing. Listening to God is also a
lifestyle, an attitude that we take with us everywhere and at all times.
That means that we live
unconsciously and spiritually attuned to God even while we do our
everyday tasks. Consciously we join Brother Lawrence in
practicing the presence of God on a continuous and daily basis.
Living as he did, 300 years ago,
Brother Lawrence found that his mind, his thinking and his intellect
would interfere with his communion and conversation with God.
If he needed to be careful living in a monastery, how much more
careful must we be, over-stimulated as we are by multiple media.
Honestly, communion with God and with others is impossible for some
of us unless and until we unplug ourselves from our multiple media
world (TV, computer screen, Facebook, Twitter, cell phone, headphone
music, etc.)
Brother Lawrence practiced the
presence of God out of a great love for God. He did everything
he could for the love of God. He felt much closer to God in his day-to-day
activities than most people ever believed to be possible. The
worst trial he could imagine was losing his sense of God's presence,
which had been with him for so long a time.
Brother Lawrence felt that there is
no sweeter manner of living in the world than in continuous communion
with God. God's presence was a delight to his soul and
spirit. He believed that all spiritual life consists of
practicing God's presence, and that anyone who practices it correctly
will soon attain spiritual fulfillment.
Brother Lawrence found that his
soul so filled with a constant inner joy that at times it was
overwhelming. God responded to the exuberant devotion of
Brother Lawrence with abundant grace. He enjoyed contentment
and satisfaction from possessing such an ever-present treasure.
Brother Lawrence had the habit of
continuously conversing with God, telling him everything that was
happening. He freed his mind from thoughts that distracted him
from serving the Lord, to permit a comfortable conversation with God.
Our overactive mind can completely
overwhelm God's still small voice speaking to our heart. Many
of us suffer from an over active mind and intellect; even our spirits
get wound up. If we are to hear from God then we will first
need to learn to bridle our mind as well as learning to unplug from
media. Failing to calm our minds and our spirits can result in
a completely blocked relationship with God.
We need to examine our lifestyle in
other ways. Are we getting enough sleep? Are we drinking
too much coffee? Are we out of touch with life because we drink
too much alcohol, or consume too many recreational drugs? Such
practices may make the listening to God lifestyle very difficult.
Yes, we may need to unplug our
coffee maker; unplug our overactive mind; or unplug ourselves from
over-stimulating media, so that we can practice the presence of God.
You may want to treat these
practices, or our overindulging in these practices, as sin or
addiction and confess them to God asking for help to break their
power. Have fun developing your own picture of Jesus doing this.
For those who need to unplug from
media, I suggest taking short media breaks. You need to learn
to live in the present moment. Try to do so for 5 min. at a
time. Become aware of what is going on in the world around you
without media input. When you are with people in a setting where you
are supposed to be connected with them, take drastic action.
Turn off your cell phone, your iPod and your iPad.
As you unplug from media and reduce
or avoid coffee and drugs, you may still find a struggle to calm your
mind. Now you need to learn to calm your mind so that you can
have periods of peace and stillness. Only when your mind is
still can you listen to what is coming from your heart and spirit.
During listening prayer therapy,
you will be listening for God's voice. God's voice may appear
as a spontaneous thought in your mind. In order for a
spontaneous thought to come to your mind, your mind must be
still. Learn to discern the difference between your thinking
and a spontaneous thought arising in your mind.
How would you picture an overactive
mind? How would you picture giving an overactive mind to
Jesus? If you have creative answers to those two questions then
you are on your way to creative listening prayer.
Autonomous mind - how to create a
listening prayer
What are the steps involved dealing
with an overactive mind through listening prayer?
Confession: First, you
recognize that it is a problem. You discuss it openly.
You may want to confess this pattern as sin and ask for forgiveness.
Jesus Proclamation: Second,
you proclaim that Jesus is Lord of the problem. Use the Jesus
Proclamation. I declare Jesus is Lord, Savior, Healer and
Deliverer of my autonomous mind.
Verbal Prayer: Thirdly,
you pray in words asking Jesus to put your overactive mind to death
so that you can have a normal calm mind. Or you may ask Jesus
to bridle your mind so that it is under his leadership.
Imaginative Prayer: Fourth,
you put your prayer into picture form and create a story so that
your heart can participate. You create a story about Jesus
dealing with your overactive mind. You develop a picture of an
overactive mind. We think of what it would look like to take
that overactive mind to Jesus. When you have devised the
outline of the story, then you use your imagination to see yourself
taking your overactive mind and giving it to Jesus to deal with.
The final steps are to
observe the outcome. Note what happens and how it feels, and to
thank Jesus for any good things that happened. Then be calm and
let all this soak in.
To practice these principles and
skills, design a listening prayer to deal with unplugging from multi-media.
Blocks to the process of Listening
The prayer therapist must discern
whether the client is going into their head or their heart.
If the client does not wait but
responds very quickly they may be reporting what they think Jesus
would say. Listening prayer usually involves a time of silence
and waiting on the Lord.
If the client uses the word
"think" in describing the prayer that, too, may be from
their mind and not a heart encounter with Jesus. For example,
"What I think Jesus is saying is that I am forgiven."
If the answer is in conventional
language, if it sounds like the expected answer, it is possible that
their head is speaking and they are not reporting a listening prayer
encounter with Jesus. A true encounter is often fresh and suprising.
You may have you own way of dealing
with that. You must confront the client with the fact that they
need answer mediated by Jesus - by listening to him not by saying
what you think he would say. You need to get them out of their
head. They need to meet with Jesus, actually picture meeting
him in their imagination, as scary as that might seem.
There is also intellectual
resistance. Here the person's mind refuses to do the
exercise. They already know (intellectually) the answer.
People who are well versed in the
Bible often object to asking Jesus if God forgives them. They
will say that they know - intellectually - that He forgives
them. I agree with them that their head knowledge of the Bible
may tell them that God forgives them (see: 1 John 1:9). I
explain that only heart knowledge will heal them. That heart
knowledge is only received from God. In the case of Listening
Prayer we imagine meeting with Jesus, ask him and listen for his answer.
I persist in requesting them to
close their eyes, relax, let their mind be still and ask God, "Do
you forgive me?" They are to wait and watch and see what
God says to them.
People may report difficulty with
the exercise because Jesus did not say anything. Ask some
questions. Are they giving Jesus time to speak? Are they
paying attention to what he does? Do they feel anything in the
scene? Sometimes the 'answer' may come in a good feeling of
comfort but no words. I accept that, work with it, and move on
to thanking him for that feeling.
You are invited to read and comment on early version of George's
HealMyLife book - a manuscript in process on Listening Prayer
Therapy. Just copy this page into Microsoft Word, edit and
comment, and e-mail to me:
George Hartwell M.Sc. is a Christian counselor with a
masters degree in clinical psychology, 30 years experience and who
integrates prayer therapy into his counseling practice.
