Prayer time 21 January 2026
Metaphysical prayer
Elimination - Redirection requires action.
Opening orientation
There are no right or wrong prayers. Come feast at the table of prayers. All prayers are welcome.
May your faith be strengthened here. May your mind be renewed. And may God be known to you.
We pray to live life fully - prayer is an experience and it is our offering.
Try not to worry about the rightness or wrongness of anything I say - never mind if some words I say don’t align with your ways. Just allow the structure of corporate prayer to carry you - enjoy the flow.
Our format is to relax, then concentrate a little, rest in meditation, consciously realise Truth, and close with appreciation. And we begin where we are, just as we are.
Relaxation
Purpose: Settle the nervous system so the mind can release control.
Prayer posture
Soften
Natural breathing
The Prayer of Protection - James Dillet Freeman
The Light of God surrounds you.
The Love of God enfolds you.
The Power of God protects you.
The Presence of God watches over you.
The Mind of God guides you.
The Life of God flows through you.
The Laws of God direct you.
The Peace of God abides within you.
The Joy of God uplifts you.
The Strength of God renews you.
The Beauty of God inspires you.
Wherever you are, God is!
And all is well. Amen.
We welcome silence already….stillness and silence….breathing in, breathing out….
Haere mai, welcome.
Concentration
Scripture (Jesus → Action + Elimination)
Romans 12:2 (used by Jesus’ followers to articulate his teaching):
‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ (NRSV)
Key alignment
Renewal is not addition. Renewal requires removal.
Jesus consistently taught repentance (metanoia) - not moral guilt, but a changed way of thinking. Repentance is a turning away from - a complete change of direction. A change.
We can imply here, that old ways of doing things, and old ways of being, must go.
Old ways of thinking, old ways of behaving, old ways of hoarding, old ways of worrying,
old ways of slipping into habits that no longer serve us - it is time for them to go.
Concentration
Redirection becomes real when I remove what no longer agrees with Truth.
Charles Fillmore on Elimination - paraphrasing:
Elimination is the divine activity that removes from consciousness whatever is no longer useful or true, restoring harmony and flow.
Let’s do something now, to restore harmony and flow. Mind you, flow never stops; it’s just we sometimes step out of the flow of the river … the river is flowing … let’s just do some things to help us get back in the river and go with the flow of our life.
I invite you to work with these questions:
What habit no longer benefits me or my world?
What expectations no longer matches my hopes, plans and prayers?
(I have mentioned this before, I think, that there is a saying in metaphysical circles - we don’t get what we pray for, we get what we expect. Let’s check in on our expectations.)
As some answers come to mind, don’t discuss them or form arguments around them in your mind.
Don’t try patch these things up to make them acceptable to you.
Do what we invoked with our opening prayer - let the light of God surround you.
Let’s do the work now:
I’m going to read and you are invited to repeat - out loud if you are able, or quietly on the inside if necessary - don’t agonise over what to insert in the gaps, speak what comes to mind.
Habits, erroneous thoughts, tired expectations … we’re going to speak them all and actively renew our minds as the Lord instructed us to. This is active participation in our faith.
The habit of [ ] no longer serves me. I repent of this habit, I renunciate its hold on my life, and I embrace the new. I now insert a pause and something new, where I would normally begin this old habit. This is my spiritual act of worship.
The Mind of God guides me.
Habitual thoughts about [ ] no longer serve me. I repent of this mad, repetitive negativity, and I embrace new thoughts. I now insert a pause and I renew my mind with thoughts of God. This is my spiritual act of worship.
The Life of God flows through me.
Past expectations that no longer align with my experience of God and the fulness of my life, now get the special treatment of my repentance and renunciation. I now bring fresh, new, vibrant, truthful expectations to my thoughts and prayer life. I insert a pause before I pray, and I welcome new expectations as actively participate in the renewing of my mind.
The Love of God enfolds me.
Let things flow now: (if time allows….)
The habit of [ ] has had its time. Out it goes. I now choose [ ].
Habitual thoughts about [ ] have had their time. Out they go. I now choose thoughts of [ ].
Old expectations that life will treat me badly are so far out of alignment with God’s Law and the truth that is written on my heart. I now choose Life and all its fullness.
Look at the reading again - look for how it is not enough to just let go of old thoughts and ways. There is something that will be revealed to us, and that also requires our action. Out with old, and in with the new! This is very important. Romans 12:1-2:
‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ (NRSV)
Meditation
Our Purpose: Let Stillness do the work.
You’ve already named this clearly.
Instruction:
Stillness speaks. No guidance. No language. Sit. Listen.
2-3 minutes - you be in your stillness and silence, and I’ll keep a time and present mind - you go … sometimes it’s a bit clunky in group prayer to really go into the silence, but just the beginning of silence is wonderful anyway.
Realisation
Purpose: To seal our insight through denial and affirmation.
Denial: I deny that I must continue to carry what has completed its purpose.
Affirmation: I affirm that what no longer serves me releases naturally.
Denial: I deny that redirection requires my struggle or force.
Affirmation: I affirm that right action becomes clear as day as my resistance drops away.
Denial: I deny the belief that renewal means adding more effort and things to my life.
Affirmation: I affirm that renewal begins with removing the unnecessary, the tired, and the superfluous.
Denial: I deny that silence leaves me empty or lost.
Affirmation: I affirm that the pause and the stillness restores my clarity and direction. I welcome the ensuing silence.
Denial: I deny attachment to habits formed in past seasons of my life.
Affirmation: I affirm alignment with what is alive and current now.
Denial: I deny the fear that letting go diminishes me.
Affirmation: I affirm that release refines, strengthens and renews me.
Denial: I deny confusion about what must be eliminated.
Affirmation: I affirm that Divine Intelligence reveals what belongs and what does not.
Let’s personalise the Prayer of Protection - it’s not selfish, it’s a renewing of your mind.
The Light of God surrounds me.
The Love of God enfolds me.
The Power of God protects me.
The Presence of God watches over me.
The Mind of God guides me.
The Life of God flows through me.
The Laws of God direct me.
The Peace of God abides within me.
The Joy of God uplifts me.
The Strength of God renews me.
The Beauty of God inspires me.
Wherever I am, God is!
And all is well. Amen.
Appreciation
Purpose: That our gratitude stabilises this shift, this renewal.
Poet David Whyte on Gratefulness:
‘Thankfulness finds its full measure in generosity of presence, both through participation and witness. We sit at the table as part of every other person’s world while making our own world without will or effort. This is what is extraordinary and gifted. This is the essence of gratefulness: Seeing to the heart of privilege. Thanksgiving happens when our sense of presence meets all other presences. Being unappreciative might mean we are simply not paying attention.’
Thank you, Lord, God, Creator God, Life, Love, and Light … by name we thank you for all that we have put aside, without a battle. Thank you for all that remains, this very moment, sufficient.
And our closing tradition, we share the prayer that Jesus taught us to use:
The Lord’s Prayer - Recited together.
Prepared by Jacinda Faloon-Cavander for Unity of NZ