Here Is A Powerful Prayer Exercise Even For Those Who Do Not Pray Or Are Non-Believers
Anyone on a faith walk will eventually ask the question, “How do I pray?”
Except for the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, there is no easy answer, for prayer is a very personal and personalized pursuit.
And, as with all pursuits, practice is the key to success and prayer is no different.
You will soon discover the more you pray, the more you will find answers to difficult questions, along with mental or physical healing from various maladies, protection for you or your loved ones and comfort from any number of storms that happen to be raging in your life.
Whatever the current state of your prayer life, even if you do not have one, or practice no faith at all, here is a powerful “prayer exercise” that you should find very beneficial.
Back in 1990 I first experienced this exercise in a group while attending a prayer seminar at my church. During the course of the exercise, the answer to a personal spiritual question that had been plaguing me for 15 years was instantly revealed.
Thus, I immediately became a huge believer in this prayer exercise and since have shared it with many others over the years. You too might find some answers but only if you are truly honest and unafraid to ask or face the most difficult questions or issues in your past or present circumstances.
So without further ado, here is the exercise.
Jesus is visiting your neighborhood. He is going house to house and will be at your door in five minutes.
Will you let him in?
What will you say to Him when he appears at your door?
What is He going to ask you?
What questions are you going to ask Him?
Are there any rooms in your home that you do not want him to see?
Any closets, drawers, photos, or computer files that you want to hide from Him?
Pray about these questions for five minutes.
(Five minutes passes)
Knock, knock Jesus has arrived.
Greet Him at the door or ask Him to go away.
If you invite Him in, visualize actually letting him in the door of your home or apartment as you would any guest.
You may even offer Him something to drink or eat.
Just let the visit unfold.
Perhaps you might want to take him on a tour of your home. Or ask him to sit down as you begin chatting in your most comfortable space.
Remember to discuss the questions or issues you identified in the first part of the exercise.
His visit can last as long as you want because, as the Bible says: I will never leave you nor forsake you.
However, in my group prayer seminar His visit lasted about 10 minutes.
After that time, the prayer leader asked our group if anyone was willing to share their experience of “Jesus’ visit.” Many did, but I was still in shock from His most perfect answer to my question, so I remained uncharacteristically silent.
This exercise is effective in a group setting or when one is alone. Adults, teenagers or even children can be enthralled by this 15 minute “visit with Jesus,” if participants take it seriously and deal with sometimes difficult personal issues honestly.
For a different twist, you could even visualize Jesus walking around your office building for five minutes visiting others before He shows up at YOUR office.
Even though it has been 23 years since I was first introduced to this prayer exercise, my experience was so enlightening it was imprinted on my heart and soul forever.
Do not be surprised if you have similar results. This exercise is extremely powerful because it presents Jesus as someone who you can communicate with in a two-way conversation.
And, after all isn’t that what prayer is anyway, a conversation with God?
Finally, this week on a country music station I heard the song, If I Could Have A Beer With Jesus for the first time. This song by Thomas Rhett reminded me of my 1990 prayer seminar experience and that is the reason why you just read what you read.
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Related at PJ Lifestyle:
Yep, a challenging exercise.
Minnie Pearl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtJaImi8kKA
Thanks Kathy:
This TOTALLY makes up for your Beatles comment.
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/01/17/what-are-your-top-10-favorite-beatles-songs/
(Comment #4 for those who are curious.)
An interesting suggestion and one that I will try this evening as I prepare for sleep. I listen best to God on my daily walks with the dog, so I will also try inviting Jesus to hike along with us. Perhaps I will finally be able to leave some of the same old issues beside some bush and return home ready to move on.
Thank you for sharing.
God Bless.
Yes, an interesting prayer exercise. The key — besides a belief in Jesus as our Savior — would seem to be the need to be honest with yourself and Jesus about unresolved personal, moral issues. Furthermore, in order for the prayer to be answered, one must truly be prepared to take what could be difficult steps to implement measures to change one’s life, if that is what Jesus tells you to do. Advice from a competent, trained spiritual adviser also is helpful. Sometimes we need help intrepreting answered prayer.
Thank you for putting this (and yourself) out there, Myra.
Thanks, Myra. I will pass this along.
Every ‘newspaper’ needs a religious page.
Evangelizing in the pages of a ‘newspaper’?
Not so much.
Think: ‘News about religion.’
Not: ‘Doctrines and teachings.’
Hmm, if we do that, then the Op-eds and Commentary sections would have to be banned as well, particularly the Left-leaning ones since they are selling the Left’s brand of religion. For that matter, many papers and magazines would have to be banned because they do nothing but proselytize for the Left.
And lest anyone think the Left’s ideology isn’t a religion, look up “political religions” and go from there. Simply put, any ideology that provides a framework for dealing with life can qualify. The Left has worship of the state, really the worship of the self-anointed elite and the bureaucrats who serve them, pretty well worked out.
You could have just skipped over this exercise. On the other hand, I have received NUMEROUS emails from friends thanking me for posting it. I consider this a self-help piece NOT evangelizing. But in general if something offends you than why give it any energy? JUST MOVE ON.
Thank you. That really led to some intense prayer time.
Thank you for your comment. I felt “very called” to write this piece after I heard the “Beer with Jesus” song. Maybe HE had you in mind.
” I gave at the office”.
Why would a non-believer care if Jesus was coming to their home? Further, why would a non-believer participate in any form of prayer or prayer exercise?
Ultimately this is for believers only…