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A healthy prayer life is the foundation of a faithful Christian life. We are all called to prayer; each of us finds a particular way to pray and serve as faithful Christians in the world. You can try a number of approaches in order to find the one (s) that are most suitable for you at this time. You are likely to find that as your life develops, so your prayer and prayer-supports develop. Try to find a balance between maintaining your spiritual discipline and experimenting with tools to expand your prayer experience. Here are some resources for you to try. This page will be refreshed regularly, so check back and find out what else has been added to this resource list.
Daily Prayer Resources
Personal Daily Prayer
Basic to personal prayer is a daily discipline of time spent with God. Find some time during the day that you can set aside for quiet and reflection. To structure that quiet time, you can make use of a variety of prayer tools. In the Episcopal tradition, we have the resources contained in the The Book of Common Prayer (BCP). In The Book of Common Prayer (BCP), you will find the framework of Morning Prayer, Noontime Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline, designed for the morning, noontime, evening, and nighttime, respectively. Consult the Table of Contents of the BCP to find page numbers,
to find daily Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer on-line, provided by The Mission of St. Clare.
Daily Reflections
In addition to the Daily Office, you may want to include daily reflections. Here are a couple of sources.
Forward Day-By-Day daily reflection
Daily reflections from the Episcopal religious community of The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE)
Brother, Give Us A Word
Daily Silent Meditation
Many people find the practice of silent Christian meditation fulfilling. This approach to prayer has been renewed by the teaching of Fr. John Main and the community of meditators that he inspired. You can find this practice described for beginning and experienced meditators on the website of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).
Prayer for One Another
As a faith community,we pray for one another and one another’s concerns. We maintain a community prayer list with regular updates. To add someone to the parish prayer list, please send a note to ecrutherford@juno.com, indicating “prayer list” in the subject line. Your prayer intention will be included in the parish community prayer for four weeks. If the need persists, please re-submit the intention to be included on the prayer list for an additional four weeks.
Getting excited about Scripture
Finding joy in the experience of Scripture comes when you find a way into the Scripture that catches you where you are. Consider this video conversation between Bono (U2) and Eugene Peterson on the Psalms.
The monks of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, MN, have commissed a hand-written manuscript of the Bible, which is known as The Saint John's Bible. "The Saint John's Bible is a work of art and a work of theology. A team of artists coordinated by Donald Jackson in Wales and a team of scholars in Central Minnesota have brought together the ancient techniques of calligraphy and illumination with an ecumenical Christian approach to the Bible rooted in Benedictine spirituality. The result is a living document and a monumental achievement." You can read about the process, watch videos, and see images of the manuscript pages on their website.
The American Bible Society provides 7-days of Bible Messages on a variety of themes. Take a look at the variety of resources they offer to help you read the Bible.
The Center for Biblical studies has designed a Bible Challenge to invite you to Read the Bible in a Year, making use of a schedule of daily Bible readings. Get started with their on-line resources.
Body Prayer & Meditation
The Monday afternoon Gentle Chair Yoga group meets for a half-hour of chair yoga before the 1:30 pm service of Bible Study & Holy Eucharist. The group has found these Youtube.com videos particularly helpful in promoting relaxation and readiness for prayer.
1.”Mindful Chair Yoga: A Beginner’s Practice” with Corey Roos (30 minutes).
2. "Mindful Chair Yoga: A Playful Practice" with Corey Roos (20 minutes).
This practice invites your playful participation. Published on May 27, 2013.
3.”Gentle Yoga in the Chair” (27 minutes).
These exercises were developed for people with cancer by the staff at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL. Published Mar 29, 2012
4.”Gentle Chair Yoga” (26 minutes).
“Developed by the therapists in the Chronic Pain Service at Toronto Rehab, Rumsey Centre. This 25 minute chair yoga routine was created to provide you with a gentle exercise option that is chronic pain friendly. Remember that finding ways to keep moving everyday is one of the best ways to manage your pain!” Published Apr 14, 2014