spiritual practice | The Warm Milk Journal

Darkness disappears in the presence of light: starting a prayer journal

Published July 19, 2010 | By Debra

Feeling stressed? Anxious? Harried? Don’t have a clear focus or purpose for your life? Relationships and work not as fulfilling as perhaps they could be? Feeling fear? Worry? Anger? Resentment?

A wonderful practice to cultivate is to build times into your day where you get quiet and still. Invite spirit in and connect to the higher power that is available within all of us. I am not advocating practicing any particular religion here. I grew up within the Reformed Judaism faith but I have been inspired by Unitarian Universalism, Religious Science, Unity, Christianity, Buddhism, among others.

In other words, my spiritual practice is a bit eclectic. I would say that when I write about anything to do with God or spirituality here at The Warm Milk Journal, please know I mean whatever has relevance and spiritual meaning for you. Some of us do not practice or participate in an organized religion in any way and that is okay.

That said, I do believe we benefit from tapping into that special power that is within all of us and connects us all in some way. Taking quiet walks in nature, meditating, reading something spiritual, and writing in our journals are effective ways to connect to God, or the Divine, the universe (or whatever you want to call it).

It is amazing when I take the time for my spiritual practice how renewed I feel. It helps me to be peaceful, feel the love within myself, and be a healthier more balanced person. I have my wonderful little spiritual daily guides I enjoy for a quick dose of inspiration. I also have many beloved books that I return to again and again.

One such book is Illuminata, A Return to Prayer, by Marianne Williamson. There are many wonderful prayers you can read for this book for all kinds of occasions or times of the day. Ms. Williamson suggest our keeping a “prayer journal”. In the morning or evening (or anytime of day really) we can write a prayer in our journal. There is something powerful about writing something down on paper. Writing to God or writing a prayer and blessing down is a very healing practiee. Ms. Williamson gives us a few prayers for the morning, for instance, that you can read and are quite beautiful. But it is easy to come up with one of your own.

I did this in my journal this morning. It was not a long entry. I essentially thanked God for this new day, a fresh new beginning. I prayed that whatever I choose to do with my day here that it would please God and be a blessing to myself and others. That led me to reflect on the opportunity of this day and the good I intend to do. I do plan on reconnecting with an old friend today for lunch. I plan on sending a gift to my mom whose birthday is coming up. I plan on taking a bike ride to the beach in a little while. I am considering buying a few plants and a bird feeder to turn our back patio into a small oasis for wildlife. I plan on going to my martial arts class tonight and doing my best. And I was inspired this morning, to write and reach out to you, dear Warm Milk Journal reader.

Many of you are already writing in a journal. Play with this idea of a prayer journal and just see what happens. If we are gentle and good to ourselves we will give ourselves these precious little breaks in our busy day: time to reflect, time to go within and tap into God’s love. If we focus on the good and the Divine light, the darkness will disappear.

Debra : )