This is the opening for my service on the Lord's Prayer last week which created space for a variety of prayer forms for people to experience. 
#breathprayer #imaginativeprayer #confession #visiodivina

Breath prayer

• Light a candle in recognition of the presence of God with and within us
• Take a few deep breaths and settle into this time and space – body, mind, and spirit 
• Acknowledge the ground beneath our feet and the peoples who have been its caregivers and custodians from generation to generation 
• When you’re ready, just allow yourself to be quiet – showing up to God as you are and allowing God to be who God will be 
• As we sit in the silence, you might want to hold onto the words “Here I am Lord” in your mind  

“So I say to you:
Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
the one who seeks finds;
and to the one who knocks,
the door will be opened.” from Luke 11, NIV

An imaginative prayer

Now, imagine yourself in a peaceful place—perhaps a garden, a quiet room, or a sacred space where you feel safe and loved. In this place, there is a door—solid, inviting, and full of promise. 

Picture yourself approaching this door. What do you think lies behind it? How do you feel as you walk towards it?

Reach out your hand and give it a gentle, steady knock. Feel the rhythm of your knocking, hear the echo of it sound through the space behind it. 

As you knock, invite your heart to pour out what you are seeking—answers, comfort, guidance, or simply a sense of connection.

Now, listen. In the stillness, imagine the door on the other side opening slowly. Behind it, you sense love—welcoming, attentive, eager to listen. Perhaps you hear a gentle voice, inviting you to come in.

Rest here in this moment. Trust that your knocking has been heard. Know that the door is unlocked and open – and that, when you are ready, you can step across the threshhold.

As we enter into worship and the Word today, carry this quiet confidence—you are heard, that you welcome.

The Sharing of the Peace

The peace of the Lord be with you 
And also with you. 

Luke 11:1-13 (NIV)

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.
When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ​

“Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:​

“‘Father, hallowed be your name, ​
Your kingdom come. ​
Give us each day our daily bread.​
Forgive us our sins,​
    for we also forgive everyone ​
who sins against us. ​
And lead us not into temptation.’”

Then Jesus said to them, 

“Suppose you have a friend,
and you go to him at midnight and say,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;
a friend of mine on a journey
has come to me,
and I have no food to offer him.’ 

And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. ​
The door is already locked, ​
and my children and I are in bed. ​
I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 

I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread
because of friendship,
yet because of your shameless audacity
he will surely get up
and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: ​
Ask and it will be given to you; ​
seek and you will find; ​
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; ​
the one who seeks finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, ​
if your son asks for a fish, ​
will give him a snake instead? ​
Or if he asks for an egg, ​
will give him a scorpion? ​

If you then, though you are evil, ​
know how to give good gifts ​
to your children, ​
how much more will your Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Visio Divina 

Doorway in Meissen is a painting by the renowned German Romantic landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich. He is celebrated for his evocative, symbolic landscapes that explore themes of spirituality, nature, and the divine by combining natural scenery with allegorical and contemplative elements. In particular, he pays careful detail to the contrast between light and shadow to invite viewers into a reflection on invitation and mystery and, often, what lies beyond a particular landscape. 

As we think on this familiar text of the Lord’s prayer today, I invite us to use his doorway as an image of entering into our Scripture.

Take a few minutes, in the silence to contemplate these questions:

• What elements are your eyes most drawn to?
• What feelings or thoughts arise as you gae at the doorway?
• How does the image speak to you about prayer or God’s presence?

Prayer of confession

Loving God, present in Christ and in the comos,
we are made for love;
we pray for love;
we sometimes even beg for love
or lie to secure and hold onto love. 

Yet, in our own offering of love, 
there is often a hardness of heart, 
a brokenness, a poverty 
that speaks of past hurts and disappointments; 
of an aching chasm between what we need and long for 
and what we have received, endured, put up with.

Still, You call us to give expression of our love for You
in the way in which we love our neighbour,
forgive the father or mother or brother or sister
who has wronged us,
and embrace the stranger.

So, we ask that you will give us this day our daily bread—
not only for our bodies but for our souls—
that we might share generously with others,
and not hunger for what diminishes the love between us.

And forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who have wronged us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil that divides us—
prejudice, anger, selfishness, and indifference.
Help us to respond to Your love with compassion and mercy.

That Yours may be a kingdom of justice and reconciliation.

In the power,
and to the glory of of Jesus we pray.

Amen.