Friends! We have a guest with us today! My friend and fellow Upper Room author, Whitney Simpson, recently released her new book, Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit. It is a gorgeous book with a 40-day plan for meditations that range from yoga to breath prayer to aromatherapy to prayer beads. Given my love for various prayer practices, I invited Whitney to join us and share insights from her book. As a bonus, she wrote a beautiful prayer bead devotion! Welcome, Whitney! 
Holy Listening with the Whole Self
by Whitney Simpson
Listening for God can sound like an intimidating concept. Listening for God with your body sounds even more intimidating to some. Yet pausing to listen for God does not have to be hard or overwhelming. This little sentence of truth washes over me now after years of expectations. Expectations of how I should approach quiet time with God. Expectations of what it should or should not look like to worship my Creator. Expectations of the outcome after having spent time with God. Maybe those were expectations I placed on myself, maybe they were expectations others placed on me, I’m not certain. However, I am certain that today I celebrate in releasing all expectations and simply find joy in pausing to listen for God with the gift of my whole self.
On my spiritual formation journey, author (and now friend) Kristen Vincent’s work with prayer beads has shaped me and my listening. Over the years, I have offered workshops and retreats inviting others to create their own prayer beads to draw nearer to God using her book, A Bead and a Prayer. There is something special about this anchor of sorts in my hand. A set of beads which I enjoyed crafting with the intention of drawing me nearer to God. Prayer beads help me slow down in my own body when I hold them or wear them. They also invite me to pause and pray when I see them with my eyes on my nightstand. The simple act of seeing or holding a set of beads encourages me to breathe in the presence of God. Our bodies are remarkable and a simple reminder to be present in our own selves, drawing us nearer to our Creator.
My work invites others to use their very own body to draw nearer to God and listen. After attending one of Kristen’s workshops, I was so inspired by Kristen’s journey and her invitation to pray with beads that I created this prayer for me and for you. Allow this prayer to invite you to pray not only with your beads, but also with your body on the journey of listening to God.
Holy Listening and Prayer Beads
by Whitney R. Simpson
Cross: Creator God,
Invitatory Bead: give me ears
Resurrection Bead: to listen for you with the gift of my whole self – breath, body, and spirit.
1st Cruciform Bead: With each breath I am reminded you give me life.
Week Beads, Set 1: (Praise God for each breath and how it allows you to…)
2nd Cruciform Bead: Forgive me when I do not love my body as you intend.
Week Beads, Set 2: (Confess to God the ways in which you do not love your physical self as God intends…)
3rd Cruciform Bead: Holy Spirit, you are within me, for this I give thanks.
Week Beads, Set 3: (Give thanks for the Spirit within and the ways in which you recognize this…)
4th Cruciform Bead: Maker, I give thanks for the gift of the whole self and your dwelling within.
Week Beads, Set 4: (Praise God for noticing the connection of ways in which your breath, body, and spirit allow you to listen for God…)
Resurrection Bead: Giving thanks to the Creator,
Invitatory Bead: I receive the holy in what you may have me hear today.
Cross: Amen
Meditation: Thank you for the gift of listening for you God with my breath, body, and spirit.
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Whitney R. Simpson is the author of Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit from Upper Room Books. She is a soul care practitioner who offers yoga, spiritual direction, workshops, and retreats to help people find wholeness and explore the gift of God’s peace. She completed certification in spiritual formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, is a certified lay minister who serves as a spiritual director, and is a certified 500-hour master yoga instructor. You can connect with Whitney at www.exploringpeace.com.
The guides to devotions with the pray beads are so good! I sometimes feel I do the same prayers over and over, but when I use the ones you send I feel so inspired and renewed. Thank you, Jean
Jean – I’m so humbled by your response and thrilled to learn how our prayer bead devotions have helped to inspire and renew you. Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know, and thank you for being part of our community. Peace, Kristen