The Chronicles of Sunukjia: The Prayer Passage (Long but worth it)

This January, our women's ministry team planned a prayer passage for the women at church as a time of meditation and renewal for the new year ahead. It was such a wonderful and intimate time that I wanted to record it here.

We first entered into the church which had been so beautifully decorated.

Then we were greeted at this table and picked up a guided booklet made with the following introduction and instructions for the seven stations.

The Prayer Passage

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests..." Ephesians 6:18a

What is a “prayer passage?” Prayer passages were a feature of many medieval cathedrals. People walk a path on a prayer journey of spiritual reflection, connecting with the Living God through experiential methods. Using a variety of intentional, multi-sensory approaches, this encounter is designed to facilitate a holistic worship experience with God our Father, who knows us and loves us.

We invite you to come, enter in, and meet with our God here. Please remain silent for your own benefit (experiencing God) and for the benefit of those around you (and their experience with God).

Action: Take a moment to examine your heart, is there something preventing you from experiencing the fullness of Christ? Ask the Lord to reveal it to you. As things start to well up, fill your bag, thinking about the burdens of your day. Use your hands and feel the weight of the stones. Carry the bag of your burdens up the stairs with you.

Release and Repent

The Lord wants you to release your burdens. Your shoulders are not meant to bear the weight – that is for his shoulders alone. Pray a release through this verse of Isaiah and lay your burdens.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in a waste land. Isaiah 43: 18

Examine your heart now and ask the Lord to show you where there may be sin within. Where have you gone astray and forsaken what you knew to be right? Repent, as you pray through the verse below.

Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Isaiah 43:19

Action: Use the water provided to wash your hands, allowing the basin to catch the water. Let this symbolize your repentance and cleansing.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

Renew and Restore

You are cleansed, washed pure from your sin. So now, may the Lord give you strength and steadfastness in your spirit! He wants to meet you and give you more of himself – that your feet may be grounded, firm, secure.

Create in me a pure heart; O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51: 10-12

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 2 Peter 1:10

God invites us to come to Him to be renewed by His unending grace.

Action: As a sign of this grace, anoint yourself with oil (this can be on your forehead or on the back of your hand). Carry this scent with you, knowing that his grace will restore your joy and renew a steadfast spirit within you!

Remain and Rest

Come, enter this space and simply rest in the Lord our God. You are invited to use the pillows, blankets and be comfortable. Sit on the chairs, lie on the floor - whatever is best for you.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. John 15:1-7

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

We have limitations, when we continue to do things in our own strength. We get burned out, discouraged and we despair - these are the not the fruits of living on the vine. Jesus commands us to remain in him. If we desire to be grafted into the vine of Christ, it requires a conscious effort to align our lives with the character of Christ. As a result Christ gives us the amazing promises that he will remain in us! And we will bear the good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Action: Simply remain – knowing also, that Jesus remains in us.

Revere and Rejoice

Worship the Lord, for he loves us tenderly! Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah: 3:14, 17

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16

Action: You, precious daughter, you are lovely to Him. With pen in hand, allow the Lord to sing a love sonnet over you. What is it that he says to you? Write it down – allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Listen for his words of love. Start with “Dear Daughter, my precious beloved one...”

Remember and Reflect

Reflect on past experiences where God has met you in a tangible way.

The God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an alter there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go to Bethel, where I will build an alter to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone. Genesis 35:1-3

Action: Pick up a stone and kneel at the alter. Remember. Praise God for how he has met you and answered you.

Take your stone and lay it on the alter of remembrance.

Redeem and Receive

You are redeemed and Christ offers himself to be received by you.

But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43: 1-3a

Action: Receive Christ by taking communion. Take the bread, this is his body which is broken for us. Receive him. The fruit of the vine, which is his blood of the covenant, poured out for us. Receive him.

You are redeemed!

As you leave, take with you a small wooden cross to remember and receive his love.