NEXUS PRAYER: STEP ONE – GOD
“Be still, and know that I am God.” ~ Psalm 46:10
The word “God” used in this verse in the ancient Hebrew language is “Elohim”, meaning “Creator” Genesis 1:1 and is the first name for God revealed in the Tanakh.¹ Therefore, it is during this step of nexus prayer that we are quite literally praying not only with our Creator, but the Creator of the entire universe by connecting our human spirit to God’s Holy Spirit. Truth is, when we connect to God through nexus prayer, we are actually praying to and communing with the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.²
- READY: Give God your full, undivided attention in this step of Nexus Prayer.
- SET: Set your prayer timer³ for five minutes, or the appropriate interval (5, 10, 15, 20 m)
- SIT: With your eyes closed during the fifteen seconds of preparation time, sit comfortably in a chair with your hands resting by your side or in your lap. Breathe normally, and just let your body relax letting go of anything and everything that comes to your mind.
- PRAY: Begin by silently, or softly verbalizing (once): “Be still, and know that I am God.”
- VISUALIZE: For a few seconds, ruminate on the word “God” (Elohim).
- LISTEN: Then, simply be still, silent, and listen³ to God, ignoring any and all thoughts, problems, memories, sounds, or distractions that may come your way. Should internal thoughts or external distractions arise, simply dismiss them by returning to the prayer word, “God”, of this step of Psalm 46:10 and continue listening in silence. Continue in your nexus prayer until the chime of your prayer timer prompts you to move to step two.
Continue now with Step Two
NOTES & CREDITS:
- The Tanakh is the canonical collection of Jewish texts that comprise the Hebrew Bible, as well as the Christian Old Testament. | Source: Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia.
- The name “Elohim” found in Genesis 1:1 is the plural form of “El” in the original Hebrew language. This is the first biblical reference for the Christian doctrine of the triune Godhead or Trinity. Source: John J. Parsons | Hebrew for Christians.
- Although you can use your watch, built-in phone timer, or even the the timer on your microwave. I recommend downloading and using Meditation Timer Pro for iPhone from the App Store. The free version (with ads) works perfectly fine, but for only $1.99 you can download and customize the timer without any commercial advertisements. I’ve used it since 2015 with virtually no problems (they update their software and fix bugs regularly) and love it! Questions about setting up and using the timer? Contact me.
- Interestingly, the words “listen” and “silent” both have the same number of letters and identical characters.
- Photo Credit: Stained glass window (detail) in Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, Annacloy Road, Teconnaught/Annacloy, County Down, Northern Ireland photograph by Ardfern | Used with Permission | Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. | Nexus Prayer.
