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The Holding Cross
Holding crosses were
designed as prayer aids for sight-impaired people. However, they can be used by
anyone, and make good gifts to people in times of need. They can be found in
many Christian bookshops or retreat centres, and come with suggested prayers. A
holding cross is made of wood with the arms deliberately uneven in shape to make
it comfortable to hold in the palm of a hand. The cross is a powerful symbol of
Christ’s sacrifice. It acts as a reminder that Jesus is alive and with us when
we pray. Perhaps you could write on the wood any helpful Bible verses (e.g.
verses about healing if you were to give one as a gift to someone unwell)?
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Sign Language
Knowing some basic
British Sign Language signs is a very useful skill. Not only can you begin to
communicate with other B.S.L. users, and make them feel welcome in your church,
but it is also a wonderfully expressive way to aid prayer and worship. Signing
is beautiful to watch because some signs express much more than their English
equivalents. (For example the sign for ‘Jesus’ involves the signer pointing out
the nail-marks in his hands.)
These days, many children’s action songs use B.S.L. (rather than any old actions), so that children learn a real skill. Any
expert on learning will tell you that we learn and retain knowledge better if we
use more senses: if we express the Christian message with our hands and faces as
well as with our words, it will become more firmly rooted in us (and our
children).
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It is difficult to
teach signing over the Internet, so I will not attempt to do so! The best place
to start is through a friend. However, if you do not know anyone who can sign,
various organisations can help. Many local learning centres offer introductory
classes, which can lead to qualifications at B.S.L. stage 1, 2 and 3. There are
some brilliant resources available from ‘The Forest Bookshop’
www.forestbooks.com. They also provide some Christian books and videos. I
recommend Lifting Holy Hands: a Dictionary of Signs used in Church Services
by Richard Chubb, produced by the Advisory Board of Ministry’s Committee for
Ministry among Deaf People.
Once you have acquired
some basic signs (which may take more than one week!), try using them in
prayer. Begin with common words, such as ‘Father’, ‘God’, ‘Jesus’, ‘holy’,
‘worship’, and take it from there…you may end up leading prayers and songs from
the front in services!
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Different Prayer
Postures
It has become less
common to kneel down and ‘put our hands together and close our eyes’ to pray.
Of course, prayer needs no special formula in order for God to hear it.
However, it can be interesting to try different postures when praying. We use
‘body language’ to express ourselves day-to-day (some more than others!), but
for some reason when we pray we often close our eyes and become still. Prayer
is about communication: if we have a living relationship with God, then that
will mean expressing all kinds of emotions, so why not show them!
Here are some examples
of possible different postures relating to particular states.
1. Praise and thanks: stand up and raise your head and hands (don’t forget to
smile!), as you express God’s glory and your gratitude.
2. Confession: sit and bow your head.
3. Asking God for help: kneel and raise your open hands, waiting for them to be
‘filled’.
4)
Your
turn! Try expressing doubt or fear etc. through a posture. It’s o.k. to be
honest with God – He knows how you feel anyway!
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Prayer-Walk around
your Neighbourhood / Work Place
Try going for a walk
around your neighbourhood / work place / school / college campus. As you do,
make a note of particular homes / buildings / rooms and the people who live or
work there. Consider possible prayer needs for each of these situations, and
make a note. You could pray right there and then, or perhaps go away and write
up your list of locations and prayer topics. Then organise a small group of
neighbours / colleagues / course mates to join you for a ‘prayer walk’. (N.B.
It is probably sensible to keep the group very small, or split into pairs
because a large group of people may attract unnecessary attention, unless that
is your intention!)
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An example to inspire
you: at my last place of work our prayer group tried a prayer walk at a time
that we felt we ought to pray for each department specifically. Two of us
stayed in our meeting room, and prayed generally, whilst others walked around
the building, stopping at specific points. It was a very powerful experience.
Just as we finished praying, the others returned, and told us to go to the
window where we saw a huge rainbow arching over our building – God’s lovely
touch on the proceedings - a reminder to us (like to Noah after the flood) that
He keeps His promises!
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Prayer Walls
The idea here is to
build a ‘wall’ of prayer for 24 hours, 7 days a week (or just 24 hours for a
start!) by asking volunteers to sign up for 1 hour slots of prayer. The aim
would be to fill a week with wall-to-wall prayer for one particular event /
situation or person. Each person can pray wherever they are. You could then
repeat the week over and over again. It is amazing how many people will
actually sign up to pray even at the most unsociable hours! To make it more
visual you could draw a wall with hours of the day written on each brick, and
each person could sign his / her name on that brick.
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Creative Prayer Ideas
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