Returning to the Practice in 2022

If you’re anything like me, the disruption of the past two years had a significant impact on my spiritual practices. Some have all but vanished and many are hanging on by a proverbial string!

As we kick off 2022, I believe God is calling us to back to the practice we looked at precisely as that first lockdown went to effect in spring of 2022. In the posts before this you’ll find an helpful introduction to the practice of silence and solitude which you can look over yourself, but were originally written to be carried out in the context of discipleship groups.

For those of us starting the practice for the first time or re-starting this practice, I wanted to present some simple ways to begin our days alone in the presence of God so we might bring that blessing to those around us in our days.

Contemplation & Memorization of Scripture: Select a short section of Scripture describing God to begin each day with and return to in your mind throughout the day. Recommend passages: Exodus 34:5-7, Psalm 121, Numbers 6:25-26, 1 John 4:13–16, John 15:15

Breath Prayer: Centering our attention on God’s presence, but doing nothing but sitting and breathing. Often a simple word or phrase helps us keep our focus on God’s presence, it can be as simple as “Father” or “Jesus be with me” or “Abba, I belong to you.”

Singing: One of the gifts of God is the ability to pray through song, you may have one particular hymn or song which can serve as a few minutes of being aware to God’s presence at the start of your day. You could sing the Doxology as we do each week, a favorite hymn or a song which puts Scripture to music like Reality SF’s “Psalm 23” (a favorite of mine!)

If you have any questions about the practice of silence and solitude, please don’t hesitate to email me at ryan.s@collectivechurch.com